Basically, title says it all...we were debating with our GM...I have seen many things online saying forcecage can NOT be counterspelled...but nothing explicit on DND5e (that I could find)...Essentially we were trying to place some NPCs into the forcecage, but one of the GM's wizards cast counterspell and negated the effects since the GM of course ruled in favor of being able to counterspell...we disagreed. So what's the ruling? Thanks!
Easy answer: your GM's ruling is the correct ruling... always. If your GM needed that counterspell to go off for narrative or encounter balance purposes, then there really is no argument to be made.
That said, if your GM is open to said arguments, then I don't see anything that would signify that it can't be counterspelled RAW. Is the idea that it can't be dispelled after it's been cast supposed to mean it can't be counterspelled? For coutnerspell, the effect hasn't taken...effect...yet. Nothing in the spell description should matter until the spell has been successfully cast. Counterspell disrupts that process.
Thanks all. Well, in the heat of the moment I was doing some quick google searching and the AI generated summary at top explicitly stated that "Forcecage cannot be counterspelled"...so with that in mind I went ahead because I didn't have more time to further research. Here's one AI summary I came across: "
AI Overview No, you generallycannot Counterspell a Forcecagebecause the spell description explicitly says it can't be dispelled, and its nature as an invisible, impenetrable magical construct usually prevents normal spell interaction, though high-level spells like Disintegrate or specific DM rulings can break it. While Counterspell works on spellcasting, Forcecage is designed as an anti-caster tool that resists magical interference.
Now reading that above, it reads as if it can't be counterspelled AFTER it takes effect, which makes sense...in my haste, I made a poor assumption. Ironically, after I posted this, this discussion is one of the first to pop up on the results page and thereby changed the AI summary on the top of Google results from what I saw yesterday lol
Thanks all. Well, in the heat of the moment I was doing some quick google searching and the AI generated summary at top explicitly stated that "Forcecage cannot be counterspelled"...
As a rule of thumb, please never ever trust the "AI Overview" at the top of the search page. It is (in my experience) almost always incorrect or, at the very least, missing important context.
Thanks all. Well, in the heat of the moment I was doing some quick google searching and the AI generated summary at top explicitly stated that "Forcecage cannot be counterspelled"...so with that in mind I went ahead because I didn't have more time to further research. Here's one AI summary I came across: "
AI Overview No, you generallycannot Counterspell a Forcecagebecause the spell description explicitly says it can't be dispelled, and its nature as an invisible, impenetrable magical construct usually prevents normal spell interaction, though high-level spells like Disintegrate or specific DM rulings can break it. While Counterspell works on spellcasting, Forcecage is designed as an anti-caster tool that resists magical interference.
Now reading that above, it reads as if it can't be counterspelled AFTER it takes effect, which makes sense...in my haste, I made a poor assumption. Ironically, after I posted this, this discussion is one of the first to pop up on the results page and thereby changed the AI summary on the top of Google results from what I saw yesterday lol
This is an excellent example of why this sort of "AI summary" should never be trusted for anything. AI tools like this are not capable of actually understanding the distinction between "counterspell" and "dispel", or anything else about the D&D rules, or anything at all. They are merely generating text in a format that looks like what you want.
[...] Ironically, after I posted this, this discussion is one of the first to pop up on the results page and thereby changed the AI summary on the top of Google results from what I saw yesterday lol
Thanks all. Well, in the heat of the moment I was doing some quick google searching and the AI generated summary
I hope you learned an important lesson here, which is that AI summaries are (pardon my French) bullshit
I actually tack '-ai' at the end of all my Google searches to eliminate them, because I'll just end up having to double-check whatever it says anyway
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Basically, title says it all...we were debating with our GM...I have seen many things online saying forcecage can NOT be counterspelled...but nothing explicit on DND5e (that I could find)...Essentially we were trying to place some NPCs into the forcecage, but one of the GM's wizards cast counterspell and negated the effects since the GM of course ruled in favor of being able to counterspell...we disagreed. So what's the ruling? Thanks!
There's no debate. Counter spell specifically allows you to counter any cast spell that uses V, S or M components.
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Basically, title says it all...we were debating with our GM...I have seen many things online saying forcecage can NOT be counterspelled...but nothing explicit on DND5e (that I could find)...Essentially we were trying to place some NPCs into the forcecage, but one of the GM's wizards cast counterspell and negated the effects since the GM of course ruled in favor of being able to counterspell...we disagreed. So what's the ruling? Thanks!
Easy answer: your GM's ruling is the correct ruling... always. If your GM needed that counterspell to go off for narrative or encounter balance purposes, then there really is no argument to be made.
That said, if your GM is open to said arguments, then I don't see anything that would signify that it can't be counterspelled RAW. Is the idea that it can't be dispelled after it's been cast supposed to mean it can't be counterspelled? For coutnerspell, the effect hasn't taken...effect...yet. Nothing in the spell description should matter until the spell has been successfully cast. Counterspell disrupts that process.
RAW, you can cast Counterspell against Forcecage. But once it's active, you cannot use Dispel Magic to remove it, as sabin76 said.
Just out of curiosity, could you share those online discussions?
I agree with sabin76 and TarodNet there's no RAW debate it sure can.
Thanks all. Well, in the heat of the moment I was doing some quick google searching and the AI generated summary at top explicitly stated that "Forcecage cannot be counterspelled"...so with that in mind I went ahead because I didn't have more time to further research. Here's one AI summary I came across: "
No, you generally cannot Counterspell a Forcecage because the spell description explicitly says it can't be dispelled, and its nature as an invisible, impenetrable magical construct usually prevents normal spell interaction, though high-level spells like Disintegrate or specific DM rulings can break it. While Counterspell works on spellcasting, Forcecage is designed as an anti-caster tool that resists magical interference.
As a rule of thumb, please never ever trust the "AI Overview" at the top of the search page. It is (in my experience) almost always incorrect or, at the very least, missing important context.
This is an excellent example of why this sort of "AI summary" should never be trusted for anything. AI tools like this are not capable of actually understanding the distinction between "counterspell" and "dispel", or anything else about the D&D rules, or anything at all. They are merely generating text in a format that looks like what you want.
pronouns: he/she/they
Yeah, clearly, the AI was wrong. But we counterspelled it one more time:
I hope you learned an important lesson here, which is that AI summaries are (pardon my French) bullshit
I actually tack '-ai' at the end of all my Google searches to eliminate them, because I'll just end up having to double-check whatever it says anyway
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
There's no debate. Counter spell specifically allows you to counter any cast spell that uses V, S or M components.