Level
3rd
Casting Time
1 Minute
Range/Area
10 ft
(10 ft *)
Components
V, S, M *
Duration
1 Hour
School
Abjuration
Attack/Save
CHA Save
Damage/Effect
Control (...)
You create a 10-foot-radius, 20-foot-tall cylinder of magical energy centered on a point on the ground that you can see within range. Glowing runes appear wherever the cylinder intersects with the floor or other surface.
Choose one or more of the following types of creatures: celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead. The circle affects a creature of the chosen type in the following ways:
The creature can’t willingly enter the cylinder by nonmagical means. If the creature tries to use teleportation or interplanar travel to do so, it must first succeed on a Charisma saving throw.
- The creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets within the cylinder.
- Targets within the cylinder can’t be charmed, frightened, or possessed by the creature.
- When you cast this spell, you can elect to cause its magic to operate in the reverse direction, preventing a creature of the specified type from leaving the cylinder and protecting targets outside it.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the duration increases by 1 hour for each slot level above 3rd.
* - (holy water or powdered silver and iron worth at least 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
When using this spell could you trap part of a huge creature within the space of the magic circle? Would it trap the part of the creature within the circle or take damage when trying to remove itself from the circle?
I would rule that if you tried that, roll a DC 15-20(Depending on the strength of the creature) ability check with your spellcasting ability modifier. On a success, the spell expands to accommodate the creature. On a failure, the spell fails and is wasted. This is to show being able to keep the spell active against the strength of such a massive creature, and being able to change the spell as it is cast. Otherwise, the creature breaks out of the spell.
Questions (and answers) like this are why I read the comment section. I never would have thought of that, but it’s bound to come up eventually (probably paired with Glyph of Warding).
I would like to point out that it’s 10 ft. radius (20 ft. across) so a “Huge” creature should fit, but the point still stands for creatures that are on the larger side of “Gargantuan” (or “Colossal” in old addition terms).
Does the holy water/powdered silver have to be worth 100GP, or just the iron?
I use an arcane focus and want to plan ahead.
The way I think it reads is your choice of either 100g holy water or 100g worth of powdered silver and powdered iron.
The later of which is technically real world thermite.
neat
so is this good for anything other than summoners who simply want to cast planar binging or people who needs to defend an tower from hordes of the undead/ fiend, and maybe protecting from mass possesion? it feels like the inverted circle is the only thing this thing ever gets used for, and while the inverted circle is great and i love it, it feels nonversitle
Protesting a door or hallway via having it intersect across and to place an item you need to guard while you fight things off could be a simple option. There is also the horrid escort mission where you know you are going to be ambushed/attacked by whatever and you set up in the best spot to fight them off. So, you place the NPC into the circle and prepare. This also does not say you can't come and go as you need so it is also a good place for the healer so that you can withdraw and get minded then get back out there.
I think with the list of possible things to use against it can be a good tool for a strategy with just a bit of consideration. Up Cast it with an Up Cast Glyph and you can have an emergency bunker against a lot of supernatural things or a detainment trap while other glyphs drop poison clouds or Sickening Radiance and it's lights out for most things.
imagine the storytelling opportunities if we assume that an NPC is able to cast an permanent version of this spell tho, imagine all the places guraded by this spell
I was debating using it to trap a sleeping or held in place creature. Place them in the circle then cast a spell like daylight to keep them in the damaging radius. The creature inside could still hit you from inside the circle with spells or ranged attacks, correct?
They can but it is at a disadvantage.
if an affected creatures is standing in an area where two castings of magic circle overlap and the creature attempts to use some kind of conjuration spell to escape, would he or she need to make the saving throw only once or would it need to do so once for every inverted magic circle they are in and trying to get out of? The rules for combing magical effects are pretty clear on how numeric effects of the same spell overlapping does not stack, but does this situation really fall under that same banner? I am not really attempting to "stack" the same game effect, i am trying to force an creature to make multiple saving throws against the same effect, and the effect in question is more binary than it is numeric, it can ether be true or false, you ether escape or you dont, if the target creature fails once with its attempt, it needs make no more saving throws
What part of the casting cycle are the target focus and creature type announced?
I hope my DM doesn’t see this but I plan to use a Ring of Spell Storing, have the cleric cast Magic Circle in it, and **** over the final boss since it’s a demon.
Subtle Spell + Magic Circle + Team Distraction. ===========================================
_________. _______
|. | .|. |
|_______ | |_____ |. Ofit
|. |. L.
|. |. L
If you try this, your DM would point out that Magic Circle has a casting time of 1 minute. Using a Ring of Spell Storing won't change the casting time, it would still take a minute to cast.
This is basically a fortification spell, which I like.
It’s cool for players to have the options for when the opportunity arises to take a fight on their own terms.
Artificers should have this spell also.
My favorite thing to do is trapping one of the targets in a wall of force orb long enough for me to cast this spell under neath it, I have done it a crap ton now in my current champagne and hasn't failed me yet.
If a creature polymorphs itself into a creature of another type (i.e. a variant genie using true polymorph to become a dragon), does this spell no longer affect it?
I'd rule it would have to make its new form permanent for the spell to be fooled.