Recently my group and I got into a heated debate over the spell Blink, and weather or not it would continue if the person falls unconscious, causing their body to blink in and out until the spells duration ends.
This happened to our elven wizard in the middle of an intense battle, and I had ruled that since it could be ended with an action, falling unconscious would end the spell, and after the session we talked about it, and decided that arguments could be made in either direction.
So how would you rule it, or is there an official stance on this particular subject.
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"All will become equal now" | "Cause we're going to shout it loud, even if our words seem meaningless. It's like we're carrying the weight of the world"
What DxJxC said. The game tells you how long a spell lasts; whatever's in its duration section. There's no other way to end a spell early unless the spell says so.
There's no rule that causes a spell that can be dismissed as an action to end if the caster falls unconscious. On the contrary, requiring an action means it takes a deliberate effort to end the spell, so it couldn't possibly end on its own while the target is knocked out.
I had always played that a caster could end any spell they personally cast, and due to this thread I had to research that decision.
I found this under Sage Advice
You can’t normally dismiss a spell that you cast unless (a) its description says you can or (b) it requires concentration and you decide to end your concentration on it. Otherwise, a spell’s magic is unleashed on the environment, and if you want to end it, you need to cast dispel magic on it.
I also looked into the PHB and read the Spells section of the book, wherein I learned that there is nothing in the book that indicates you can end a non-concentration spell early. Of course there may be spells that create an exception in the description of the spell itself.
So, yea, if you cast Blink there is a line that states "You can dismiss this spell as an action". However, as you are unconscious, an Action is not possible so Blink would continue to work until it's duration is up.
The spell should continue for the duration if the caster dies, too.
Well, maybe. It depends on your DM.
The spellcasting rules don't really address what happens when a spell's target is suddenly no more, or transforms into something the spell wouldn't normally be able to target. For example, what happens if you cast Hold Person on a druid that then Wild Shapes, or Charm Beast on a Polymorphed character? What happens if someone True Polymorphs you into a sword, then someone else casts Magic Weapon on you, and True Polymorph ends? Or, what if someone casts Magic Weapon on your sword and then your sword breaks, becoming two non-weapon objects?
If you die, you (a creature) cease to exist for game purposes. What's left behind is an object. If you had Blink up, what happens next depends on how the DM decides to handle this kind of thing. They might say the spell keeps going, ends abruptly, or is suppressed antimagic field-style until you're revived.
If you die, you (a creature) cease to exist for game purposes. What's left behind is an object.
Not doubting, but is there RAW for that somewhere? Aha, nevermind--Crawford has said (at least for now :) that a corpse is an object.
However, that doesn't really change the difference between targeting a spell and the spell's effects continuing after the spell is cast. That a spell has to be 'cast on a creature' doesn't mean that the spell will only therefore continue for as long as the target is a creature. This goes for a lot of other spell targets--there are times when a spell wouldn't even make sense if the target had to remain exactly as it was when targeted for the spell to keep working. For example:
Animal Messenger has a target of a 'tiny beast you can see within range', but continues to take effect even when the target no longer fits that description because it has left the range or you cannot see it.
Blindness can only be cast on a target 'that can see'. But as soon as it fails its save, it can't see. But the spell continues.
Elemental Weapon targets a nonmagical weapon, turning it into a magical weapon for the duration...meaning it's no longer a nonmagical weapon. But the spell keeps going.
Animal Shapes is a very interesting case. It works on willing creatures. But there's no mention at all of what happens if, after the spell has taken effect, the creature is no longer willing. The caster has full control of the affected creature's shape for the duration. If you are willing at the start, and the magic takes effect, but you want to change yourself later...there's nothing that says you get to do that. Nothing says the target gets to end the spell at all. And in fact 5e precedent is that even the caster can't end some spells if he doesn't want them anymore. (For Animal Shapes the caster could stop concentrating, but the point is that the target, after the spell takes effect, doesn't have to be willing anymore.)
So you have to cast Blink on a creature. But there's nothing that says it has to stay a creature for the spell to continue to be in effect. The whole 'once you unleash the magic on the world you can't stop it' (aside from concentration or specifically allowed spells) part of 5e magic would seem to lead to this conclusion, I think.
Recently my group and I got into a heated debate over the spell Blink, and weather or not it would continue if the person falls unconscious, causing their body to blink in and out until the spells duration ends.
This happened to our elven wizard in the middle of an intense battle, and I had ruled that since it could be ended with an action, falling unconscious would end the spell, and after the session we talked about it, and decided that arguments could be made in either direction.
So how would you rule it, or is there an official stance on this particular subject.
"All will become equal now" | "Cause we're going to shout it loud, even if our words seem meaningless. It's like we're carrying the weight of the world"
It is not concentration and doesn't have an "if unconscious or dead" clause, so it should keep going for the durration or until dispelled.
What DxJxC said. The game tells you how long a spell lasts; whatever's in its duration section. There's no other way to end a spell early unless the spell says so.
There's no rule that causes a spell that can be dismissed as an action to end if the caster falls unconscious. On the contrary, requiring an action means it takes a deliberate effort to end the spell, so it couldn't possibly end on its own while the target is knocked out.
I had always played that a caster could end any spell they personally cast, and due to this thread I had to research that decision.
I found this under Sage Advice
I also looked into the PHB and read the Spells section of the book, wherein I learned that there is nothing in the book that indicates you can end a non-concentration spell early. Of course there may be spells that create an exception in the description of the spell itself.
So, yea, if you cast Blink there is a line that states "You can dismiss this spell as an action". However, as you are unconscious, an Action is not possible so Blink would continue to work until it's duration is up.
The spell should continue for the duration if the caster dies, too.
Which makes me really wish they had brought the Permanency spell into 5e. A permanently blinking decaying wizard corpse would be pretty cool.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Well, maybe. It depends on your DM.
The spellcasting rules don't really address what happens when a spell's target is suddenly no more, or transforms into something the spell wouldn't normally be able to target. For example, what happens if you cast Hold Person on a druid that then Wild Shapes, or Charm Beast on a Polymorphed character? What happens if someone True Polymorphs you into a sword, then someone else casts Magic Weapon on you, and True Polymorph ends? Or, what if someone casts Magic Weapon on your sword and then your sword breaks, becoming two non-weapon objects?
If you die, you (a creature) cease to exist for game purposes. What's left behind is an object. If you had Blink up, what happens next depends on how the DM decides to handle this kind of thing. They might say the spell keeps going, ends abruptly, or is suppressed antimagic field-style until you're revived.
Not doubting, but is there RAW for that somewhere? Aha, nevermind--Crawford has said (at least for now :) that a corpse is an object.
However, that doesn't really change the difference between targeting a spell and the spell's effects continuing after the spell is cast. That a spell has to be 'cast on a creature' doesn't mean that the spell will only therefore continue for as long as the target is a creature. This goes for a lot of other spell targets--there are times when a spell wouldn't even make sense if the target had to remain exactly as it was when targeted for the spell to keep working. For example:
So you have to cast Blink on a creature. But there's nothing that says it has to stay a creature for the spell to continue to be in effect. The whole 'once you unleash the magic on the world you can't stop it' (aside from concentration or specifically allowed spells) part of 5e magic would seem to lead to this conclusion, I think.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)