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Suppose a Paladin casts a Zone of Truth on a space 60ft away.

Then, suppose a Wizard casts Antimagic Field and stands next to the Paladin, including them both in its area, but the Zone of Truth remains because it is outside the area.

Finally, suppose a Rogue then enters the Zone of Truth.

Zone of Truth states that the Paladin knows whether or not the Rogue failed their save, but the Paladin is in an Antimagic Field and thus cannot be affected by spells.

Is this transfer of knowledge blocked by the Antimagic Field?

Does the Paladin know whether or not the Rogue failed their save?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Related: [How does the Antimagic Field spell affect the caster of a Zone of Truth's ability to know whether a target succeeded or failed the save?(rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/147000/…) \$\endgroup\$
    – TheLittlePeace
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 13:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ ^Not a duplicate, but heavily related. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 14:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ Are these two questions functionally the same: "Is this transfer of knowledge blocked by the Antimagic Field? Does the Paladin know whether or not the Rogue failed their save?"? Or are you trying to find out two different pieces of information? \$\endgroup\$
    – Token
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 17:09

2 Answers 2

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No, the Paladin would not immediately know if the Rogue failed or not.

Antimagic Field states (Emphasis mine):

Any active spell or other magical effect on a creature or an object in the Sphere is suppressed while the creature or object is in it.

The ability to sense whether or not someone resisted the Zone of Truth is itself a magical effect of Zone of Truth for the paladin. Being in the Antimagic Field would suppress that effect.

The knowledge is lost, but the Paladin may still be able to deduce if they were affected or not after stepping out of the Antimagic Field.

@BenBarden pointed out that since the knowledge only happens when they make the saving throw, the knowledge is lost. If the Zone of Truth has ended, the Paladin will never know. However, per this question and accepted answer, if the spell is still ongoing and the Rogue succeeded in their saving throw, they will continue making saving throws, so the Paladin would be able to tell after they step out of the Antimagic Field. And, if they had already failed, they will stop making saving throws. So the Paladin can assume

  1. If they are getting new information from Zone of Truth, the Rogue had resisted the effects while the Paladin was in the Antimagic Field
  2. If they get no new information, the Rogue had failed to resist, and must tell the truth

Again, though, the Paladin would need to step out of the Antimagic Field to be able to tell anything at all.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Looks like the knowledge transfer is an in-the-moment thing. If it suppresses the transfer of knowledge - especially if the rogue is no longer in the Zone of Truth when the Paladin comes out - what basis do you have for asserting that the Zone of Truth would tell them then? What if the Zone of Truth expired while the paladin was in the Antimagic Field? \$\endgroup\$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BenBarden I did think about that, and assumed that since the Zone of Truth is ongoing, it would continue to let him know if they failed or not. But after taking another look, it does say when a creature "enters the spell’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there", so I think you're right. I'll edit it with more information. \$\endgroup\$
    – TheLittlePeace
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ Characters don't have knowledge about saving throw dice rolling the same way that players do. It would be a breach of metagaming etiquette if the paladin used his player's knowledge of the saving throw dice roll in order to deduce the rogue's failure. \$\endgroup\$
    – Token
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Token Zone of Truth says "You know whether each creature succeeds or fails on its saving throw." The Paladin may not know what a saving throw is, but they do know if the creature is still resisting, or has succumbed. And, if they are a seasoned paladin, they know that as soon as the creature isn't resisting anymore the Zone of Truth is working. \$\endgroup\$
    – TheLittlePeace
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 15:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Token I think I understand the confusion now - I'm talking about when the paladin exits the Antimagic Field after the rogue makes their initial save. My previous answer alluded to that, and I forgot to keep it in. It is now added. \$\endgroup\$
    – TheLittlePeace
    Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 18:53
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Given your scenario, the Paladin will not know whether or not the Rogue succeeded or failed on their saving throws against Zone of Truth.

Spells and their effects are magical:

PHB p 201, What is a spell?

A spell is a discrete magical effect

This includes the following ability granted by Zone of Truth:

PHB p 289

You know whether each creature succeeds or fails on its saving throw.

Antimagic Field specifically suppresses spells and magical effects:

PHB p 213

Spells and other magical effects (…) are suppressed by the sphere and can't protrude into it. (…) While an effect is suppressed it doesn't function.

We can be certain that the paladin can't magically know the rogue's success or failure - given your conditions; the rogue can lie their pants on fire and the paladin has to rely on not-magic to discern it.

Additionally, if there were some other way for the Paladin to know whether or not the rogue succeeded or failed the saving throw, then it is unlikely that the text would have explicitly given the paladin that ability.

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