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Let’s suppose a spellcaster casts Blink on himself. He then uses ready action to move freely around the ethereal plane while not on his turn. After this, when his turn starts again, he will be teleported again to the material plane, within 10ft of the original place he blinked from.

The question is, can the caster move through walls that are on the material plane while he is on the ethereal plane?

Since the blink spell sends the caster to the ethereal plane, and grants him sight into the material plane this would allow the caster to actually see what is behind those walls safely. Is this possible?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ This question is indeed duplicate: rpg.stackexchange.com/q/124119/45773 sorry guys- I didn’t find it while i was searching the subject this morning. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17, 2018 at 17:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ I edited it to contemplate that this question actually adds up a little bit upon its doppelgänger. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 18, 2018 at 16:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ The edit has just added a second question, which is a duplicate of a question you’ve already asked. The second question also would result in it being held as “too broad” even if both weren’t duplicates. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 18, 2018 at 16:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SevenSidedDie perhaps. I’ll leave it as it was then- but I want to make it so that it is not the same as was asked before: the original question asks if you can use blink as a short distance teleport. My question is if I can use blink as short distance arcane eye. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 18, 2018 at 16:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ I don’t see how that’s actually different, but if you want to revise the question to explain that question in more detail, voters can judge if it’s a new question. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 18, 2018 at 16:56

1 Answer 1

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Yes. Blink could be used to move through walls in this fashion.

  1. Ready action to move contingent on blinking to ethereal plane
  2. Turn ends.
  3. Roll 11 on d20
  4. Blink to ethereal plane
  5. In the ethereal plane, move directly towards and through the wall in the Material plane.
  6. Get beyond the wall in the Ethereal, and the character can now see what is beyond the wall in the Material plane.
  7. Start of next turn.
  8. Blink back to Material in a location the character can see which is beyond the wall.

Limitations

Sight

The limitation is on what the character can see. Neither being in the Ethereal plane nor the blink spell grant the ability to see through walls. However, once the character is past the wall, they should be able to see through it so long as there is something there the character can see.

Distance

The place the character appears in must be within 10 feet of the place they vanished from. As such, the character would need to vanish from a spot directly adjacent to a 5' thick wall to be eligible to appear on the other side.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Great! Thanks! I think this is exactly how I imagined it would work! \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17, 2018 at 15:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Quick note, there's nothing saying you can't just 10ft Blink through a 9ft wall, either. It simply says "At the start of your next turn, or if the spell ends and you're still on the Ethereal Plane, you return to an unoccupied space within 10 feet of where you vanished". It doesn't say anything about seeing where you Blink to, or whether you actually know if it's even unoccupied. If you attempt to, and it fails, Blink simply just teleports you to another possible space at random. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17, 2018 at 15:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ @DanielZastoupil "At the start of your next turn, and when the spell ends if you are on the Ethereal Plane, you return to an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of the space you vanished from" \$\endgroup\$
    – GcL
    Jul 17, 2018 at 15:22
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    \$\begingroup\$ Oh, my bad. I was using a source that supposedly had accurate spell descriptions. Thanks for the heads up. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 17, 2018 at 15:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ @grosscol - the DM's guide says "The Ethereal Plane also disobeys the laws of gravity; a creature there can move up and down as easily as walking." You might want to revise your answer accordingly. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jack
    Jul 18, 2018 at 16:39

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