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Assume Hackslash the dwarven bard is currently fighting to the death against Glarcyon the gnome wizard. Hackslash successfully trapped both of them inside a forcecage, and Glarcyon already failed all charisma saves (woe to you, -2 dump stat) to try and exit the forcecage. His only defensive spell left is blink. None of his offensive options can finish Hack in one turn.

Unless he can shift to the ethereal, he will pay the ultimate price for making fun of the College of Valor this very round.

But if he can get to the ethereal plane, he can use his McGuffin of Ethereal Spell Slot and HP Restoration to win the battle.

But can he blink inside a forcecage?

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He can blink, but he can't get out

The spell text is pretty clear about this:

The cage also extends into the Ethereal Plane, blocking ethereal travel.

While he can certainly cast blink inside the cage, it won't help him escape. Note that this is an exception to the interplanar travel clause earlier in the spell--he can't even try to make a Charisma save to get out using ethereal travel.

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A bit (a lot) late, but you can absolutely escape a Forcecage with Blink. Forcecage extending to the ethereal plane prevents creatures with Etherealness from physicaly moving through the cage.

Blink though doesn't move you through the Ethereal plane, it teleports you. When it ends each turn, you reapear in a spot that you can see 10ft in any direction from where you ended your previous turn, similar to Misty Step.

This is in line with what Jeremy Crawford has said about spells targeting or crossing a space, it is simply a discontinuity, you are here then there. So if you pass your CHA save, you escape

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    \$\begingroup\$ You should mention that leaving via teleportation requires passing a charisma save. From the description of forcecage: " If the creature tries to use teleportation or interplanar travel to leave the cage, it must first make a Charisma saving throw. On a success, the creature can use that magic to exit the cage. On a failure, the creature can't exit the cage and wastes the use of the spell or effect." \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Feb 3, 2021 at 13:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasMarkov - Why do you even need to escape the forcecage? All that matters is getting to the ethereal plane, so even if he is inside the force cage but on the ethereal plane, mission accomplished. \$\endgroup\$
    – JohnP
    Feb 3, 2021 at 21:27

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