Antimagic Confusion

[Belzbet]

My question conerns the ability to cast spells inside an antimagic area... can you do it? Lets say there is a room where only a portion is under the effects of antimagic (its a 40 by 40 foot room and the very center 15 by 15 foot square is under antimagic. There is a monster in the antimagic and the PC's are entering the room from a door on the north wall (the PC's are not in antimagic). The question is: can the monster cast out of the antimagic and, if the spells point of origin is outside the antimagic, can the monster effect the PC's with spells? I reread antimagic and im still unsure how it works... can a creature cast inside the effect of an antimagic and, if the spells origin is outside the antimagic, can the creatures spell effect still be successful?

 

[Alzrius]

In a word, no.

If you're in an area of antimagic, you can't cast spells successfully, even if you're setting their point of origin to be outside the effect of the antimagic field.

 

[Belzbet]

Thats what I figure and that makes sense but I cant find in the spell description or in the rules compendium where it says you cant cast spells in an antimagic (maybe im looking but not seeing ya know lol)... Only that they are suppressed... it says any spell cast within is suppressed but NOT dispelled... And that it does not block line of effect... and in the rules compendium it says:

"Spells don’t function in an antimagic
area, but an antimagic area
doesn’t block line of effect. If a
spell’s point of origin is inside an
antimagic area, that spell is entirely
suppressed. When a spell’s point
of origin is located outside an antimagic
area, but part of that spell’s
area overlaps the antimagic area, that
spell’s effect is suppressed where the
two areas overlap. Time elapsed within
an antimagic area still counts against a
spell’s duration.
If an instantaneous spell is entirely
suppressed, that spell is effectively canceled.
(It’s suppressed, and its duration
instantaneously expires.) An instantaneous
area spell is only entirely suppressed and
effectively canceled if its point of origin is
within the antimagic area"

This is where my confusion arises... its not altogether clear whether its impossible to cast a spell in an antimagic field (lets say i cast mage armor on myself unwittinlgy in an antimagic field, it seems the spell works but it is suppressed, if I happen to leave the antimagic field within the duration of the mage armor it would work even though I cast it in an antimagic field; at least it seems this is a way of interpreting things, if this is true then I could cast a spell inside an antimagic area (even one with instantanteous duration and it would work as long as its point of origin is outside the area, but of course inside the area teh spell would nto function... at least this is where the confusion comes into play...)

 

[Belzbet]

Example you cannnot teleport or dimension door out of a antimagic field since the target is you or creature touched (the point of oriign is inside the zone)... But I say you could cast a fireball out of an antimagic zone as long as its point of origin is out of the zone... Really it doesnt say that casting is impossible in a zone (or at last I cant find that)... Or that all casting in a zone auto fails as if you failed a concentration check...

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

This has been discussed before.
Here, Here and Here.
Here is a handbook on the subject.
The official Website says This. note,"Spell areas that include both an antimagic area and a normal area, but are not centered in the antimagic area, still function in the normal area. If the spell's center is in the antimagic area, then the spell is suppressed."

 

[Belzbet]

thanks for the threads but if i dont want to read them all what is the consensus (I looked through many but there is alot of back and forth)... the question is: does casting in an antimagic field create a situation where the spell automatically fails (or does it merely suppress the spells in the area, so if I am in an antimagic zone but I cast a spell with a point of origin out of the zone does it succeed or does it auto fail, I cant see in the description where it says it auto fails)?

 

[Belzbet]

I think one thread was immensely confused about what point of origin meant (someone concluded (and no one corrected the person)that you cannot cast within an antimagic field because it says that a spell whose point of origin is within an antimagic field is completely suppressed, and if I cast a fireball in an antimagic field the fireballs point of origin is myself, which this is not true the point of origin is not the the source).... They interpreted "point of origin" to mean the source of the spell but a point of origin is the point where the spell is supposed to take effect....
Alas that threads didnt help much... ill look through the other...

 

[Greenfield]

The point of origin for a Fireball is the caster's finger, since you send a tiny bead to the detonation point.

There are, however, other spells with points of origin well away from the caster. You need a good line of effect, but AntiMagic doesn't block line of effect so it doesn't matter.

For example, Chain Lightning lets the caster pick the primary target, and the spell is centered there, after which it branches out to other targets within the limit of the area. As written, you could cast that from within an AntiMagic zone.

If you were standing near the edge, so the "corner of your square" was at the border, you could arguably cast ray, cone or line type spells. (You count range and area from that corner of your square, which is not within the Anti Magic zone.)

This is all "letter of the law" stuff, and as I said, it's arguable. I've argued it more than a little myself.

As a DM, you have to ask yourself, "Do I want to deal with this mess?". if the answer is no, then don't. Make a ruling that you can't cast while within, that you can't summon the magical forces in Anti Magic, no matter where they manifest.

Why is it a DM's call? (Aside from the fact that, in the end everything is, i mean?) Because the rules are unclear. They suggest that you might be able to, under some circumstances.

Your example of a 15 foot square with the monster standing in the middle is easy though: Under no interpretation could he project any spell that started at him (Fireball included), unless he had a 15x15 base (making "the corner of his square" coincide with the edge of the zone).

If you aren't the DM, then live with whatever the DM rules and move on from there.

In either case, whatever the DM rules is correct, at least for that game.

 

[Belzbet]

The point of origin for a Fireball is the caster's finger, since you send a tiny bead to the detonation point.

I dont know why there is confusion on this point it is VERY clear according to the "aiming a spell" section in the PHB that a fireballs point of origin is not the casters fingers ( a point of origin is ALWAYS a grid intersection)...

 

[Belzbet]

Your example of a 15 foot square with the monster standing in the middle is easy though: Under no interpretation could he project any spell that started at him (Fireball included), unless he had a 15x15 base (making "the corner of his square" coincide with the edge of the zone).

I dont think it is clear... I am envisioning a creature totally inside the area of an antimagic field... The question is can it cast a spell... I dont think it is clear as per RAW...