I have a wizard ho cast this spell around himself. He wants to cast Mind Sliver from inside. Reading the spell I feel that he cannot. He also wanted to use Hypnotic gaze. I wasn’t sure about that. Looking for suggestions.
Nothing--not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects--can pass through the barrier, in or out, though a creature in the sphere can breathe there. The sphere is immune to all damage, and a creature or object inside can't be damaged by attacks or effects originating from outside, nor can a creature inside the sphere damage anything outside it.
It is very clear that mind Sliver wouldn't work as Mind sliver damages the creature it is cast on.
Hypnotic Gaze RAW is a little open to interpretation. it is not a "spell" though it is magical. Ki is a magical energy that Monks use but it is not clear whether all magic (or at least hypnotic gaze) is magical energy. I think RAI is that you can not do anything magical or physicaly through the barrier. I wouldn't allow it but I think it is a DM call
Yeah Hypnotic Gaze is not a spell, it's a magical effect though so it's hard to say. A DM could treat it as energy akin to spell effect that still doesn't pass since it must save against your wizard spell save DC afterall.
"your soft words and enchanting gaze can magically enthrall another creature... On subsequent turns, you can use your action to maintain this effect..."
Nothing—not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects—can pass through the barrier, in or out.
If that's true, and it is since it is a direct quote from the spell... then, the sphere can't been seen through. The shimmering force must be opaque I guess.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Nothing—not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects—can pass through the barrier, in or out.
If that's true, and it is since it is a direct quote from the spell... then, the sphere can't been seen through. The shimmering force must be opaque I guess.
You could interpret it that way RAW but again probably not RAI. Air is a physical object but hte spell specificaly says you can breathe inside, so either air can pass thoufg (specific overules general) or tthe sphere magically allows you to breath. In our universe light is a form of energy but I don't know if that is the case in the D&D universe. It also say you can roll the shere to move at half your movement speed which while possible if you can't see you would think comment would be made if you can not see through the sphere.
I've always interpreted resilient sphere as opaque. It's a lot like an ideal security blanket, including the fact that the heat you generate inside it stays inside it and can't leak out.
Nothing—not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects—can pass through the barrier, in or out.
If that's true, and it is since it is a direct quote from the spell... then, the sphere can't been seen through. The shimmering force must be opaque I guess.
You could interpret it that way RAW but again probably not RAI. Air is a physical object but hte spell specificaly says you can breathe inside, so either air can pass thoufg (specific overules general) or tthe sphere magically allows you to breath. In our universe light is a form of energy but I don't know if that is the case in the D&D universe. It also say you can roll the shere to move at half your movement speed which while possible if you can't see you would think comment would be made if you can not see through the sphere.
Light is much more complicated that that. Light contains energy as a property it can transmit, just as the ocean has waves that transmit energy. Two photons can have different energy levels.
Tldr: light is weird.
If you are getting into IRL physics of "energy" then the sphere is immovable (from a universal frame of reference), a perfect insulator, either a mirror or the whitest thing possible, and the strangest thing is it isolates its inside from the effect of gravity.
Honestly, even from a just game perspective, I can't think of a reason for it not to block light though. Radiant is an energy damage type. Similarly, thunder is a common energy damage type, so it should block sound as well. Seems like gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy are unaffected by it, allowing weight and movement.
The harder you analyse this spell the weirder it gets. Maybe just keep it simple and let light and sound through with the air.
Nothing—not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects—can pass through the barrier, in or out.
If that's true, and it is since it is a direct quote from the spell... then, the sphere can't been seen through. The shimmering force must be opaque I guess.
You could interpret it that way RAW but again probably not RAI. Air is a physical object but hte spell specificaly says you can breathe inside, so either air can pass thoufg (specific overules general) or tthe sphere magically allows you to breath. In our universe light is a form of energy but I don't know if that is the case in the D&D universe. It also say you can roll the shere to move at half your movement speed which while possible if you can't see you would think comment would be made if you can not see through the sphere.
Light is much more complicated that that. Light contains energy as a property it can transmit, just as the ocean has waves that transmit energy. Two photons can have different energy levels.
Tldr: light is weird.
If you are getting into IRL physics of "energy" then the sphere is immovable (from a universal frame of reference), a perfect insulator, either a mirror or the whitest thing possible, and the strangest thing is it isolates its inside from the effect of gravity.
Honestly, even from a just game perspective, I can't think of a reason for it not to block light though. Radiant is an energy damage type. Similarly, thunder is a common energy damage type, so it should block sound as well. Seems like gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy are unaffected by it, allowing weight and movement.
The harder you analyse this spell the weirder it gets. Maybe just keep it simple and let light and sound through with the air.
Yeah good points. Though, TBH, I'm not sure air actually goes in/out of it. It says they can breathe while in it, sure. but, I mean, it is a decent sized sphere that'd have air in it with you trapped inside, and only lasts a minute. Hard to imagine you'd run out of breathable air inside the thing that quickly, thus, can breathe. I think it's easier to just assume it cuts you entirely off from the outside. Nothing affects the inside from out, not even light/sound, since those are functions of energy passing through, which it blocks. And then yeah, air is trapped in there with you but enough to breathe so suffocation isn't an issue.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
energy is also a vgue term, what they meant by energy? What in 5E is expressely labeled as energy?
I did a ctl-f in the PHB, and the examples are numerous. They include things from a Dragonborn's breath weapon to a monk's Ki. But I don't think energy is a well-defined game term, so we'd fall back on a combination of "plain English" and precedent from rules terms. That would mean the sphere would block real-world energy, like photons (otherwise you'd be able to shoot a thermal laser through it, which does not seem intended), as well as things described as energy in the book. Some examples of that include the ones I just said, as well as Channel Divinity from clerics (they channel divine energy from their deities). I suspect it's useful to think of the sphere as like a pocket dimension but different, much the same way as imprisonment's burial option copies resilient sphere's wording on nothing passing through the force sphere, but also offers a hedged prison option: when the sphere says nothing passes through it, nothing passes through it. Period.
There are no photons in 5E (if there were, the LO and HO rules wouldn't treat light the way they do). If the sphere was intended to be an inky black pit that blinded its prisoner/caster, it would say so.
There are no photons in 5E (if there were, the LO and HO rules wouldn't treat light the way they do). If the sphere was intended to be an inky black pit that blinded its prisoner/caster, it would say so.
It does say so, when it says "nothing [...] can pass through the barrier [...]". And the sphered creature isn't blinded (e.g. if they have Darkvision, they can see inside the sphere just fine) and the sphere isn't full of an ink blot (if the creature has a light source, the light source works inside the sphere). I don't think you have a very strong case that 5E assumes light is neither matter nor energy. It's perfectly reasonable for you to claim photons as you or I understand them leads to a poor interaction with the rules, but it's another thing entirely to claim "light" doesn't count as "not nothing".
Diving into D&D physical laws is largely an exercise in squabbling at each other about unsupported opinions, for or against. There's nothing in Vision & Light that suggests that light works as a ray instead of a quality of areas, and indeed expecting light to work like real life leads to conflict with the RAW lightly obscured and heavily obscured rules, but... there's also nothing saying that light doesn't work the way you're describing in general, LO and HO conflicts be damned. Fair enough.
But when we talk about the balance of spells and what they "do" in combat, its often pays to step back from slippery slopes. Is Resilient Sphere written in a way that suggests its intent is to entirely disable its occupant? When it talks about "nothing," does it talk about them being unable to see and hear out of the sphere, or for others to see or hear them? When it talks about "just large enough," does it talk about scrunching down so that they are enclosed but unable to freely move about? You could read it that way, you could slide down the slippery slope of "well, logically...." , but there really isn't anything about how the spell is written which indicates it's intended to be used that way. It's just as plain-Englishy to read "nothing" as in "no abilities, magical, physical, or other", as it is to read "nothing" as in "no matter or real-world energy whatsoever, but with magical life support"... and one of those interpretations seems much more in line with D&D not being a simulation of real-world physics than the other.
energy is also a vgue term, what they meant by energy? What in 5E is expressely labeled as energy?
I did a ctl-f in the PHB, and the examples are numerous. They include things from a Dragonborn's breath weapon to a monk's Ki. But I don't think energy is a well-defined game term, so we'd fall back on a combination of "plain English" and precedent from rules terms. That would mean the sphere would block real-world energy, like photons (otherwise you'd be able to shoot a thermal laser through it, which does not seem intended), as well as things described as energy in the book. Some examples of that include the ones I just said, as well as Channel Divinity from clerics (they channel divine energy from their deities). I suspect it's useful to think of the sphere as like a pocket dimension but different, much the same way as imprisonment's burial option copies resilient sphere's wording on nothing passing through the force sphere, but also offers a hedged prison option: when the sphere says nothing passes through it, nothing passes through it. Period.
Thanks for the research! So there ar numerous game element specifically calling for energy intéresting then. I suppose in many ways a spell-less magic effect could be a magical energy then
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I have a wizard ho cast this spell around himself. He wants to cast Mind Sliver from inside. Reading the spell I feel that he cannot. He also wanted to use Hypnotic gaze. I wasn’t sure about that. Looking for suggestions.
Nothing—not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects—can pass through the barrier, in or out.
The relevent paragraph of the spell says:
Nothing--not physical objects, energy, or other spell effects--can pass through the barrier, in or out, though a creature in the sphere can breathe there. The sphere is immune to all damage, and a creature or object inside can't be damaged by attacks or effects originating from outside, nor can a creature inside the sphere damage anything outside it.
It is very clear that mind Sliver wouldn't work as Mind sliver damages the creature it is cast on.
Hypnotic Gaze RAW is a little open to interpretation. it is not a "spell" though it is magical. Ki is a magical energy that Monks use but it is not clear whether all magic (or at least hypnotic gaze) is magical energy. I think RAI is that you can not do anything magical or physicaly through the barrier. I wouldn't allow it but I think it is a DM call
Yeah Hypnotic Gaze is not a spell, it's a magical effect though so it's hard to say. A DM could treat it as energy akin to spell effect that still doesn't pass since it must save against your wizard spell save DC afterall.
"your soft words and enchanting gaze can magically enthrall another creature... On subsequent turns, you can use your action to maintain this effect..."
What plaguescarred said. Resilient sphere blocks spells in or out, non-damaging non-spell magic is DM call.
If that's true, and it is since it is a direct quote from the spell... then, the sphere can't been seen through. The shimmering force must be opaque I guess.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
You could interpret it that way RAW but again probably not RAI. Air is a physical object but hte spell specificaly says you can breathe inside, so either air can pass thoufg (specific overules general) or tthe sphere magically allows you to breath. In our universe light is a form of energy but I don't know if that is the case in the D&D universe. It also say you can roll the shere to move at half your movement speed which while possible if you can't see you would think comment would be made if you can not see through the sphere.
I've always interpreted resilient sphere as opaque. It's a lot like an ideal security blanket, including the fact that the heat you generate inside it stays inside it and can't leak out.
Light is much more complicated that that. Light contains energy as a property it can transmit, just as the ocean has waves that transmit energy. Two photons can have different energy levels.
Tldr: light is weird.
If you are getting into IRL physics of "energy" then the sphere is immovable (from a universal frame of reference), a perfect insulator, either a mirror or the whitest thing possible, and the strangest thing is it isolates its inside from the effect of gravity.
Honestly, even from a just game perspective, I can't think of a reason for it not to block light though. Radiant is an energy damage type. Similarly, thunder is a common energy damage type, so it should block sound as well. Seems like gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy are unaffected by it, allowing weight and movement.
The harder you analyse this spell the weirder it gets. Maybe just keep it simple and let light and sound through with the air.
Yeah good points. Though, TBH, I'm not sure air actually goes in/out of it. It says they can breathe while in it, sure. but, I mean, it is a decent sized sphere that'd have air in it with you trapped inside, and only lasts a minute. Hard to imagine you'd run out of breathable air inside the thing that quickly, thus, can breathe. I think it's easier to just assume it cuts you entirely off from the outside. Nothing affects the inside from out, not even light/sound, since those are functions of energy passing through, which it blocks. And then yeah, air is trapped in there with you but enough to breathe so suffocation isn't an issue.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
energy is also a vgue term, what they meant by energy? What in 5E is expressely labeled as energy?
I did a ctl-f in the PHB, and the examples are numerous. They include things from a Dragonborn's breath weapon to a monk's Ki. But I don't think energy is a well-defined game term, so we'd fall back on a combination of "plain English" and precedent from rules terms. That would mean the sphere would block real-world energy, like photons (otherwise you'd be able to shoot a thermal laser through it, which does not seem intended), as well as things described as energy in the book. Some examples of that include the ones I just said, as well as Channel Divinity from clerics (they channel divine energy from their deities). I suspect it's useful to think of the sphere as like a pocket dimension but different, much the same way as imprisonment's burial option copies resilient sphere's wording on nothing passing through the force sphere, but also offers a hedged prison option: when the sphere says nothing passes through it, nothing passes through it. Period.
There are no photons in 5E (if there were, the LO and HO rules wouldn't treat light the way they do). If the sphere was intended to be an inky black pit that blinded its prisoner/caster, it would say so.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
It does say so, when it says "nothing [...] can pass through the barrier [...]". And the sphered creature isn't blinded (e.g. if they have Darkvision, they can see inside the sphere just fine) and the sphere isn't full of an ink blot (if the creature has a light source, the light source works inside the sphere). I don't think you have a very strong case that 5E assumes light is neither matter nor energy. It's perfectly reasonable for you to claim photons as you or I understand them leads to a poor interaction with the rules, but it's another thing entirely to claim "light" doesn't count as "not nothing".
Diving into D&D physical laws is largely an exercise in squabbling at each other about unsupported opinions, for or against. There's nothing in Vision & Light that suggests that light works as a ray instead of a quality of areas, and indeed expecting light to work like real life leads to conflict with the RAW lightly obscured and heavily obscured rules, but... there's also nothing saying that light doesn't work the way you're describing in general, LO and HO conflicts be damned. Fair enough.
But when we talk about the balance of spells and what they "do" in combat, its often pays to step back from slippery slopes. Is Resilient Sphere written in a way that suggests its intent is to entirely disable its occupant? When it talks about "nothing," does it talk about them being unable to see and hear out of the sphere, or for others to see or hear them? When it talks about "just large enough," does it talk about scrunching down so that they are enclosed but unable to freely move about? You could read it that way, you could slide down the slippery slope of "well, logically...." , but there really isn't anything about how the spell is written which indicates it's intended to be used that way. It's just as plain-Englishy to read "nothing" as in "no abilities, magical, physical, or other", as it is to read "nothing" as in "no matter or real-world energy whatsoever, but with magical life support"... and one of those interpretations seems much more in line with D&D not being a simulation of real-world physics than the other.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Thanks for the research! So there ar numerous game element specifically calling for energy intéresting then. I suppose in many ways a spell-less magic effect could be a magical energy then