Bummer not an illusion wizard spell

So what is the use for this when enemies no longer cast spells, they just have "ranged attacks" so no verbal components, hell it doesn't even say they are technically magic effects at all? In the past it was amazing for shutting down spellcasters, but I am struggling to find any uses for this that are not incredibly niche.

Quote from theron >>

So what is the use for this when enemies no longer cast spells, they just have "ranged attacks" so no verbal components, hell it doesn't even say they are technically magic effects at all? In the past it was amazing for shutting down spellcasters, but I am struggling to find any uses for this that are not incredibly niche.

 It still shuts down most every spell in the game. It stops control spells like hold person/monster, AoE spells like fireball, direct damage spells like disintegrate, and mobility spells like misty step. It's got an incredibly broad usage against spellcasters, however it now isn't a one-stop shop for shutting them down no matter what. I'd say it's even more balanced now because of monster ranged spell attacks, because before all you needed was to have a level 3 spellcaster and a martial with sentinel to shut down every spellcasting statblock in the game. Now they can at least try to put up a fight, instead of being relegated to their dagger attack or relying on a lucky miss from the martial anchoring them in place.

Just as an check, I looked at all spells and it listed 46 pages. I then filtered on spells that have a Verbal component, which this spell would then affect, and the number of pages dropped to 44, roughly 95% of all spells. I wouldn't say that this affects a niche group of spells, but most all of them.

One question I did have: can this be cast on a movable object, like a rock, and carry it with you? (like the Light spell) or does it have to be spatial position that is 100% static in its placement? Any thoughts on that?

Quote from Lone0wolf >>

One question I did have: can this be cast on a movable object, like a rock, and carry it with you? (like the Light spell) or does it have to be spatial position that is 100% static in its placement? Any thoughts on that?

No, this spell can't be cast that way; if it could, that would be listed in the spell description, like it is for spells like Light and Darkness that do work that way. This spell says it is targeted at a fixed point.

…can this be cast on a movable object, like a rock, and carry it with you? (like the Light spell) or does it have to be spatial position that is 100% static in its placement?

1. The area-of-effect of the spell is immobile and cannot be relocated from its original location as a function of the spell itself. D&D’s designers are specific about semantics when it comes to objects and creatures, and the spell description states that its AoE is “centered on a point within range.” This is a contrast with the following sentence, which specifically uses the terms “creature” and “object.” This strongly suggests the definition of “point” intended here is the one used in mathematics: a fundamental concept that represents a specific location in space, and is 0-dimensional (ie: having neither length, width, nor depth, only position). Also, the Basic Rules’s section on “Casting Spells” references “If a spell has movable effects…” in its section on “Range,” so whether a spell’s effect is movable or not is clearly something the designers considered for the spells, and are not ambiguities left to a DM’s on-the-spot judgment call. Finally, in the section on “Targets,” it states: “A spell’s description says whether the spell targets creatures, objects, or something else.”

2. Technically, one could select a point that is located more-or-less on the surface of an object or creature, but “the caster must have a clear path to it, so it can’t be behind Total Cover” (see “Targets”), so the caster could not choose a point inside the object or creature if any part of the object or creature would technically provide Total Cover between the caster and the chosen point (eg: the caster couldn’t choose a point inside a rock, or on the opposite side of the rock facing away from the caster). Furthermore, if that creature or object moves/is moved, the spell’s effect does not move with it; it remains at that location, regardless of changes in location of said object or creature.

3. As a DM, I would rule that the point selected by the caster maintains its positional relationship to the plane of existence on which the spell was cast. Therefore, if cast on a world which, like ours, is a spherical, spinning planet, the selected point maintains its position relative to everything on that plane, and is not rapidly zooming away because the planet is spinning and revolving around a distant star at 67,000 mph. Obviously, because the alternative is totally bananas. 🍌🍌🍌     🌎💨