Counterspell & Dispel Magic

Post date: Jun 26, 2017 5:5:18 PM

Magic is a innate part of D&D and understanding how unraveling magic can be pivotal.

Counterspell: This spell works as a reaction against a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell that you can see.

• • Since this requires sight, this can be blocked by effects that block visibility (fog cloud, walls, invisibility, subtle metamagic spell).

  • Since it has a range limit of 60 feet, counterspell doesn't work against spellcasters casting spells from further away.

  • Since this involves casting a spell, then a magical item that creates a magical effect without it being described as you casting the spell cannot be counterspelled.

  • If you cast a (bonus) action spell on your turn (such as a quickened spell), you cannot counterspell in the same turn (since it's not a cantrip).

Dispel Magic: This spells works to remove ongoing spells affecting a creature, object, or area.

• • This can be used to end multiple ongoing spells affecting a particular creature. This means you can cancel all of the following spells affecting the target with a single casting: bless, charm person, spirit guardians, mage armor.

  • Dispel magic ends a spell on one target. It doesn’t end the same spell on other targets. This means if you want to end a spell that affects multiple targets (such as Bless, Conjure Animals, Confusion, 4th level fly spell), you would need a separate dispel magic on each target.

  • Since this is a single target spell (vs Antimagic Field which is a area), then you must follow the targeting rules and can only target something you can pinpoint.

  • Since this only affects spells, it does nothing against magical effects that are not spells. Dispel magic has a particular purpose: to break other spells. It has no effect on a vampire’s Charm ability or any other magical effect that isn’t a spell. It also does nothing to the properties of a magic item. It can, however, end a spell cast from a magic item or from another source. Spells—they’re what dispel magic is about. For example, if you cast dispel magic on a staff of power, the spell fails to disrupt the staff’s magical properties, but if the staff’s wielder casts hold monster from the staff, dispel magic can end that spell if cast on the target of hold monster. There are abilities and other spells that can end or suspend magical effects that aren’t spells. For example, the greater restoration spell can end a charm effect of any sort on a target (such as a vampire’s Charm or a dryad’s Fey Charm), and a paladin’s Aura of Devotion can prevent or suspend such an effect. Three of the most versatile spells for ending certain magical effects are lesser restoration, greater restoration, and remove curse.

  • Since this only affects ongoing spells, instantaneous spells cannot be effected. Whenever you wonder whether a spell’s effects can be dispelled or suspended, you need to answer one question: is the spell’s duration instantaneous? If the answer is yes, there is nothing to dispel or suspend. Here’s why: the effects of an instantaneous spell are brought into being by magic, but the effects aren’t sustained by magic. The magic flares for a split second and then vanishes. For example, the instantaneous spell animate dead harnesses magical energy to turn a corpse or a pile of bones into an undead creature. That necromantic magic is present for an instant and is then gone. The resulting undead now exists without the magic’s help. Casting dispel magic on the creature can’t end its mockery of life, and the undead can wander into an antimagic field with no adverse effect. Another example: cure wounds instantaneously restores hit points to a creature. Because the spell’s duration is instantaneous, the restoration can’t be later dispelled. And you don’t suddenly lose hit points if you step into an antimagic field! In contrast, a spell like conjure woodland beings has a non-instantaneous duration, which means its creations can be ended by dispel magic and they temporarily disappear within an antimagic field.

  • You cannot ready this spell to work like counterspell. The easiest way to stop a spell is to cast counterspell on its caster while it’s being cast. If successful, counterspell interrupts the other spell’s casting, and that spell fails to take effect. Counterspell works against any spell, regardless of a spell’s casting time or duration. With the Ready action, dispel magic can be cast in response to another spell being cast, yet dispel magic can’t substitute for counterspell. The main reason is that dispel magic removes a spell that is already on a target, whether that target is a creature, an object, or some other phenomenon. Dispel magic can’t pre-dispel something. If a spell isn’t already present on a target, dispel magic does nothing to that target. The best that a readied dispel magic can do is dispel a spell immediately after it’s been cast to prevent it from having any effect after the action used to cast it. For example, on your turn you could say something like this: “I ready dispel magic, and if the high priest casts a spell on anyone, I cast dispel magic on the target if the spell takes hold.” If the high priest then cast hold person on your companion who fails the save against it, you could unleash your readied dispel magic and end hold person.