Do class features count as magical effects? Someone is using a soul knife rogue/psi warrior fighter multiclass, and we are going to fight. Would its class features count as magical? I need to know so I can decide if I should get a spellguard Shield.
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DM: “Who’s your patron?”
Warlock: “Ummm”
DM: “Hurry Up”
Warlock: “yOu”
*All other players look at each other with utter fear*
__________________________________________________________________________________ Check out my homebrew: My Homebrew
Someone is using a soul knife rogue/psi warrior fighter multiclass, and we are going to fight. Would its class features count as magical?
In general, something is magical when you're told its magical, but there are some synonyms for it - e.g. spell effects are magical effects - and some terms that are DM-dependent, which may come up here. In general, you need to ask your DM.
In terms of game stats, almost nothing about either says they're magical, so the answer is no. Exceptions: The Soulknife's daggers and invisibility are called out as magical in the text of their features.
The shield will do nothing against the psychic blade feature of a soulknife; while the creation of the weapon is definitely something that could be called "magical", the blade itself is run as a weapon attack, not a spell attack. Really, nothing I'm seeing on a Soulknife would be affected by the shield. You might be able to argue that the Telekinetic Thrust feature of Psi-Warrior should be affected, but there's no explicit use of something like "magically" in the feature description and so it's probably in the same category as things like dragon breath- yes, they're clearly "magical" in the sense of "this is a fantastic effect", but not in the mechanical sense features check for. Overall, probably not a good investment.
Do class features count as magical effects? [...] Would its class features count as magical? [...]
In the case of Psychic Blades, the description contains this wording (emphasis mine):
Psychic Blades You can manifest your psionic power as shimmering blades of psychic energy. Whenever you take the Attack action, you can manifest a psychic blade from your free hand and make the attack with that blade. This magic blade is a simple melee weapon with the finesse and thrown properties.
Another example of a feat that many DMs consider magical is the druid's Wild Shape:
Starting at 2nd Level, you can use your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen before.
Do class features count as magical effects? Someone is using a soul knife rogue/psi warrior fighter multiclass, and we are going to fight. Would its class features count as magical? I need to know so I can decide if I should get a spellguard Shield.
None of the Soul Knife / Psi-Warrior features would be affected by a Spellguard Shield being no spell or magical effects causing a saving throw or spell attack.
While they are both magical there is a difference between a magic item and a magical effect
The spellguard shield gives advantage for saves against spells and other magical effects a lot of things hers is up to the DM here are a few of examples
A cleric's channel divinity is decribed as usig divine energy to fuel magical effect therefor the spellguard shield shield gives you advantage against radience of the dawn
A [magcitem]dagger of venom[/magicitem] magically produces poison does that mean it is a magical effect or is the source of the poison irrelevent and the effect is the same as if the poison was applied manually on the blade?
If you are bitten by a summoned giant spider is that classed as a magical effect bearing in mind the attacks of summoned creatures ar enot inherantly magical?
I remember a big debate a while back on the forums whether a monk's stunning strike was magical, the case for was based on the description of ki as "a magical energy" the arguements against were that that phrase was just flavor text and stunning strike interferes with the flow of ki in an oppenents body. If ki is magical in the traditional sense then the ki in someones body would cease to flow if they entered an anti-magic field at least stunning then and possibly killing them.
Regarding the specific features:
Psychic energy is never descibed as magical using the SAC test none of the Psi warrior features are magical. Some features might appear magical so check with your DM to make sure.
Physic blades are magic weapons and thus make a weapon attack, this is not a spell attack so the shield does nothing
Rend mind is potentially a magical effect, it is an effect from using a magic item but the description does not say the effect is magical. Ask your DM (if they have enough levels for this to be possible), If I was your DM I would say it is not magical as the subclass appears ot be using physchic energy which is not magical.
I am reading the question in the original post as a more fundamental question of game mechanics. Are the class features themselves magical aspects of a character? Is the mechanical process of using a class feature creating some sort of magical effect?
Sort answer -- No. That's not what a class feature is.
The introduction to Chapter 3 describes what a class feature is and how they function:
Adventurers are extraordinary people . . .
They are heroes, compelled to explore the dark places of the world and take on the challenges that lesser women and men can’t stand against . . .
Class is the primary definition of what your character can do . . .
Your class gives you a variety of special features, such as a fighter’s mastery of weapons and armor, and a wizard’s spells . . .
Each class entry in this chapter includes a table summarizing the benefits you gain at every level, and a detailed explanation of each one.
So, nothing about these features and benefits or their use is magical in and of itself.
For example, even when the Wizard uses his Spellcasting Feature, that does not create any sort of magical effect in and of itself. Now, there are many things that a Wizard might actually do when he uses his Spellcasting Feature, such as casting a spell, that would create a magical effect. But a Wizard might also use his Spellcasting Feature to just learn a new cantrip, or to make a copy of his spellbook. There's nothing particularly magical about those activities and the mechanic of simply accessing or activating the Spellcasting Feature in order to perform those activities also is not magical. The class Features are special abilities, but their use is not a magical activity.
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Do class features count as magical effects? Someone is using a soul knife rogue/psi warrior fighter multiclass, and we are going to fight. Would its class features count as magical? I need to know so I can decide if I should get a spellguard Shield.
DM: “Who’s your patron?”
Warlock: “Ummm”
DM: “Hurry Up”
Warlock: “yOu”
*All other players look at each other with utter fear*
__________________________________________________________________________________
Check out my homebrew: My Homebrew
Some of them do.
In general, something is magical when you're told its magical, but there are some synonyms for it - e.g. spell effects are magical effects - and some terms that are DM-dependent, which may come up here. In general, you need to ask your DM.
In terms of game stats, almost nothing about either says they're magical, so the answer is no. Exceptions: The Soulknife's daggers and invisibility are called out as magical in the text of their features.
The shield will do nothing against the psychic blade feature of a soulknife; while the creation of the weapon is definitely something that could be called "magical", the blade itself is run as a weapon attack, not a spell attack. Really, nothing I'm seeing on a Soulknife would be affected by the shield. You might be able to argue that the Telekinetic Thrust feature of Psi-Warrior should be affected, but there's no explicit use of something like "magically" in the feature description and so it's probably in the same category as things like dragon breath- yes, they're clearly "magical" in the sense of "this is a fantastic effect", but not in the mechanical sense features check for. Overall, probably not a good investment.
In the case of Psychic Blades, the description contains this wording (emphasis mine):
Another example of a feat that many DMs consider magical is the druid's Wild Shape:
We have this official ruling in the SAC about determining whether a game feature is magical:
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EDIT: apologies, I didn't read @The_Ace_of_Rogues' answer correctly at first. I've updated my answer accordingly.
About the interaction between Psychic Blades, Psi-Warrior and Spellguard Shield, I agree with @The_Ace_of_Rogues and @Plaguescarred.
None of the Soul Knife / Psi-Warrior features would be affected by a Spellguard Shield being no spell or magical effects causing a saving throw or spell attack.
While they are both magical there is a difference between a magic item and a magical effect
The spellguard shield gives advantage for saves against spells and other magical effects a lot of things hers is up to the DM here are a few of examples
Regarding the specific features:
I am reading the question in the original post as a more fundamental question of game mechanics. Are the class features themselves magical aspects of a character? Is the mechanical process of using a class feature creating some sort of magical effect?
Sort answer -- No. That's not what a class feature is.
The introduction to Chapter 3 describes what a class feature is and how they function:
So, nothing about these features and benefits or their use is magical in and of itself.
For example, even when the Wizard uses his Spellcasting Feature, that does not create any sort of magical effect in and of itself. Now, there are many things that a Wizard might actually do when he uses his Spellcasting Feature, such as casting a spell, that would create a magical effect. But a Wizard might also use his Spellcasting Feature to just learn a new cantrip, or to make a copy of his spellbook. There's nothing particularly magical about those activities and the mechanic of simply accessing or activating the Spellcasting Feature in order to perform those activities also is not magical. The class Features are special abilities, but their use is not a magical activity.