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One player in my campaign just used the Wand of Wonder and got the effect:

66-69 — You shrink yourself as if you had cast enlarge/reduce on yourself.

Enlarge/reduce has a duration of:

Concentration, up to 1 minute

Does the effect last the full minute, or can you end the effect early?

We ruled that it's the full minute because the wand is the one that cast the effect so it's "concentrating". Is this correct?

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    \$\begingroup\$ A roll of 50-53 has a similarly unclear-duration effect: "You enlarge the target as if you had cast enlarge/reduce. If the target can't be affected by that spell, or if you didn't target a creature, you become the target." \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Jul 28, 2018 at 7:53

2 Answers 2

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Yes, it will last the full minute*

*Unless the effect is removed by some other mechanic.

There is a difference between Casting a Spell (see Chapter 11 of PHB) and gaining the effects of a spell as if you had cast it. In this case, the effect is external.

The wand is providing the effects of the Reduce/Enlarge spell but doing so without having you cast it. Since you aren't casting it, you also have no control over how long it lasts.

Can you turn it off at will?

It's not a concentration spell that you have control over so RAW it doesn't seem like you can turn it off. This is similar to ending a non-concentration spell early and that RAW it doesn't seem possible but I think many tables allow it. In this case, you are controlling the wand and it wouldn't be unreasonable for a DM to allow you to turn the effect off at will. However, that would be on a DM decision and not purely within the mechanics.

Removable via other mechanics/abilities

This is still a magical effect and a spell effect. Mechanics such as dispel magic or even a Paladin's cleansing touch could remove the spell effect early if a DM didn't permit the wand owner to do so (or if someone else wanted to end it.)

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The wand isn't the caster, "you" are.

Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item.... The user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires concentration. (DMG p.141)

So the duration of the effect is up to 1 minute, subject to the concentration of the wielder of the wand when the effect was generated.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It might be worth noting that the Wand of Wonder's relevant description says "as if you had cast enlarge/reduce on yourself", not "you cast enlarge/reduce on yourself"... Though in that case I'm not sure what the duration is, because none is specified. (Some of the other possibilities for the wand say instead that you do cast the relevant spell.) \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Jul 28, 2018 at 7:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ Is there any speculation on what the effective difference is between this wording and the other effects which say "you cast X"? If all the stuff (concentration, duration, etc) are the same as if you cast it why the different wording? Are we sure we aren't missing something here? \$\endgroup\$ Feb 4, 2019 at 19:52

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