5
\$\begingroup\$

I noticed that the Wall of Stone spell includes this interesting tidbit in its first sentence (emphasized in bold):

A nonmagical wall of solid stone springs into existence at a point you choose within range.

The remainder of the spell mainly deals with how the wall can be shaped, and what happens to trapped creatures. The other relevant bit is the last paragraph:

If you maintain your concentration on this spell for its whole duration, the wall becomes permanent and can't be dispelled. Otherwise, the wall disappears when the spell ends.

So, the wall of stone is nonmagical, but the spell can be dispelled, which causes the wall to disappear. So, is the wall magic or not? What happens if another wizard casts Antimagic Field around the wall? Will it suppress the spell within the region? And if so, what does that mean for the "nonmagical" wall created and maintained by the non-nonmagical spell?

And even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer for this one, I'll ask it for the sake of completeness: what effect does Antimagic Field have on a wall of stone that has already been made permanent by concentrating on it for the full duration of the spell?

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
\$\begingroup\$

The spell is suppressed but the wall remains.

A relevant bit from the Sage Advice Compendium:

The breath weapon of a typical dragon isn't considered magical, so antimagic field won't help you but armor of invulnerability will.

I would argue that the precedent set here is that antimagic field doesn't suppress the existence of nonmagical things.

The wall created by wall of stone is specifically nonmagical and so not part of the spell effect (because spell effects are magical). The spell's effect is to create the wall (which then exists independently) and then remove it when the spell ends.

However, antimagic field doesn't end spells, so the wall isn't removed. (Whereas dispel magic does end the spell, so the wall is removed.)

If the wall of stone spell ends while it's being suppressed, then the portion of the wall inside the antimagic field would not get removed, since the spell effect doesn't happen in that area.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
4
  • \$\begingroup\$ So, by adding another wizard to cast antimagic field, you can create permanent stone walls in 1 round without need to concentrate for a 10 minutes and risk dispelling or concentration loss? \$\endgroup\$
    – Revolver_Ocelot
    Sep 15, 2020 at 13:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ Kind of an expensive way to do it, but I guess you could. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Wells
    Sep 15, 2020 at 15:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ Well, 2 rounds. Alice casts Wall of Stone, Bob casts Antimagic Field, and then Alice needs to stop concentrating and let the spell end. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Wells
    Sep 15, 2020 at 15:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ Hmm, this could be an interesting way to drop a 10-foot-radius 6-inch-think circular slab of stone on a couple of creatures' heads. (Make sure to prepare Featherfall as well, since this requires standing on the slab as it falls.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Ryan C. Thompson
    Jan 2, 2021 at 17:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .