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When using the Path of the Wild Soul barbarian's Wild Surge feature (from Unearthed Arcana: Barbarian and Monk), if you roll a 3 on the Wild Surge table, it has the following effect:

You conjure 1d4 intangible spirits that look like flumphs in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet of you. Each spirit immediately flies 30 feet in a random direction. At the end of your turn, all spirits explode and each creature within 5 feet of one or more of them must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 force damage.

Do these "intangible spirits" move through walls and other objects when they fly 30 feet in a random direction?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Hi, welcome to RPG.se. Please take our tour. I will try and edit the question a little bit, but can you pin point what is your confusion? \$\endgroup\$
    – HellSaint
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 5:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance. I've edited the DDB link to point directly to the UA, since the linked content will be removed from DDB when the playtest period is over (or potentially changed if the content is published in a future book). I've also tried to clarify what you're asking; please check to make sure I haven't changed your intent. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 7:53

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Yes

From the text you linked, it says

You conjure 1d4 intangible spirits that look like flumphs in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet of you. Each spirit immediately flies 30 feet in a random direction. At the end of your turn, all spirits explode and each creature within 5 feet of one or more of them must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 force damage.

As far as I know, Intangible is not a in-game term, therefore, we should interpret it in plain English.

Intangible, from Google, says:

unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.

Since it "can not be touched" and does not possess any physical form, there is no reason for them to be stopped by a wall or any other object. The fact that they are spirits also supports this interpretation. Again, simply "spirits" is not an in-game term, so, we should go with usual reading: spirits are incorporeal and can move through walls.

As another indicator of this intention, as V2Blast mentioned in the comments, there is no reason to even include the term "intangible" as a description to the spirits if it was not meant to state that they ignore physical obstructions (such as walls).

PS: I am reading your question as "can the spirits", rather than "do the spirits", which I believe is what you meant. Ultimately, what the spirits do, in fact, depends on the DM, but they certainly can move through walls.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It may also be worth specifically noting that there's not much of a reason to include the word "intangible" if the spirits were not meant to ignore physical obstructions of any kind. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 7:54
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    \$\begingroup\$ @V2Blast Done. Nice catch - it is a very explicit statement. You would usually already assume a spirit is intangible anyway, so including that seems to really intend to reinforce that idea. \$\endgroup\$
    – HellSaint
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 8:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ @V2Blast I'm pretty sure I've seen 5e use the term "intangible" several times in order to prevent the intangible thing getting attacked. Healing Spirit, for example, is also intangible, but since you need to be in its space to receive healing, I believe the main use of "intangible" there is to make it immune to attacks etc. (although of course it still benefits from being able to move through walls). It's arguably harder to even be able to attack spirits that only exist for one turn (as in this question), but it may still justify the phrasing. \$\endgroup\$
    – PixelMaster
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 12:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ that being said, I also believe the spirits are able to move through walls. I just don't think that's the primary (or even a) reason why "intangible" was used here :) \$\endgroup\$
    – PixelMaster
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 12:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PixelMaster: Well, sure, being intangible also prevents other physical interaction. I'm not saying they included it to let the spirits move through walls. I'm saying that the spirits ignoring physical obstructions is an inevitable result of being intangible (if the feature doesn't explicitly call out that they don't move through walls or that you have to see the space or whatever). In contrast, healing spirit can't be moved into walls/objects unless you can see that space, since it requires a space you can see. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Jun 27, 2020 at 23:34

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