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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 133025" data-attributes="member: 2013">Line of Effect...I agree that I liked Caliban's treatment, but I would prefer to err on the side of simplicity and have a &quot;hard-and-fast&quot; rule rather than a &quot;DM adjudicates&quot; rule.&nbsp; It cuts down on arguments from players.My personal rulings would be:Ruling 1:&nbsp; Attempting to cast a spell while within the area of an AM field means that the spell automatically fails as though the caster had failed a Concentration check.&nbsp; The spell slot is used up and nothing happens.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; It seems to me that the intent of an AM field is to prevent magic entirely, not to delay it.Ruling 2:&nbsp; Attempting to cast a spell while targeting a target (creature, area or otherwise) within the AM field fails as in #1.&nbsp; Again, this is because it seems that the AM field should prevent magic within its confines.&nbsp; Corollary 1 to ruling 2:&nbsp; For spells with area effects, the point at center of the area is considered the target.&nbsp; IOW, if the center is set within the AM field, the spell fails totally.&nbsp; This also means that in the case of a continuous effect, the effect winks out entirely as soon as its center enters the AM field (supressed per normal AM rules).Corollary 2 to ruling 2:&nbsp; If the center of an area spell is set outside an AM field, the spell goes off normally, but the effect does not enter the AM field.&nbsp; IOW, first find the area of the spell, but apply its effects only to the area outside the AM field.&nbsp; The area inside the AM field is completely unaffected.[Edit: The AM field &quot;blocks&quot; the spell as a wall of force - if, for example, a lightning bolt were cast on one side trying to get through to the other, it would run until it hit the field, then peter out.&nbsp; Similarly, a fireball cast near a corner of a cone could &quot;turn the corner&quot; as a spread to catch creatures &quot;behind&quot; the corner.]Ruling 3:&nbsp; An AM field does NOT otherwise block a line of effect.&nbsp; I see magic as having a &quot;launch point&quot; (the caster) and a &quot;detonation point&quot; (the target creature or center of the target area) but, in classic quantum-mechanical style, can take any route to get there, including moving through otherwise impenetrable potential barriers (such as an AM field).&nbsp; IOW: The spell can be surpressed at its launch point (AM at the caster) or its detonation point (AM at the target) but not between as it does not have to actually physically travel the intervening distance... it just appears there (like a good quantum mechanical particle).[Edit: This also keeps three-dimensional analysis from being a problem... if my halfling is 1 foot in front of the beholder and 2 feet on its right and wants to cast a spell at another halfling 1 foot in front of the beholder and 2 feet to its left (both are out of the AM cone), can he do it (assuming the spell normally has sufficient range)?&nbsp; Well, I could say that the halfling has a line of effect because he can &quot;look under&quot; the cone but it just gets too complex... that's why I like a &quot;quantum theory&quot; rule of magic]This method is a bit counter-intuitive for those who don't like quantum mechanics, but makes ruling simple and, as I mentioned, the point of my ruling is to make simple, iron-clad decisions.--The Sigil</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 133025, member: 2013"] [b]Line of Effect...[/b] I agree that I liked Caliban's treatment, but I would prefer to err on the side of simplicity and have a "hard-and-fast" rule rather than a "DM adjudicates" rule. It cuts down on arguments from players. My personal rulings would be: Ruling 1: Attempting to cast a spell while within the area of an AM field means that the spell automatically fails as though the caster had failed a Concentration check. The spell slot is used up and nothing happens. Why? It seems to me that the intent of an AM field is to prevent magic entirely, not to delay it. Ruling 2: Attempting to cast a spell while targeting a target (creature, area or otherwise) within the AM field fails as in #1. Again, this is because it seems that the AM field should prevent magic within its confines. Corollary 1 to ruling 2: For spells with area effects, the point at center of the area is considered the target. IOW, if the center is set within the AM field, the spell fails totally. This also means that in the case of a continuous effect, the effect winks out entirely as soon as its center enters the AM field (supressed per normal AM rules). Corollary 2 to ruling 2: If the center of an area spell is set outside an AM field, the spell goes off normally, but the effect does not enter the AM field. IOW, first find the area of the spell, but apply its effects only to the area outside the AM field. The area inside the AM field is completely unaffected. [Edit: The AM field "blocks" the spell as a wall of force - if, for example, a lightning bolt were cast on one side trying to get through to the other, it would run until it hit the field, then peter out. Similarly, a fireball cast near a corner of a cone could "turn the corner" as a spread to catch creatures "behind" the corner.] Ruling 3: An AM field does NOT otherwise block a line of effect. I see magic as having a "launch point" (the caster) and a "detonation point" (the target creature or center of the target area) but, in classic quantum-mechanical style, can take any route to get there, including moving through otherwise impenetrable potential barriers (such as an AM field). IOW: The spell can be surpressed at its launch point (AM at the caster) or its detonation point (AM at the target) but not between as it does not have to actually physically travel the intervening distance... it just appears there (like a good quantum mechanical particle). [Edit: This also keeps three-dimensional analysis from being a problem... if my halfling is 1 foot in front of the beholder and 2 feet on its right and wants to cast a spell at another halfling 1 foot in front of the beholder and 2 feet to its left (both are out of the AM cone), can he do it (assuming the spell normally has sufficient range)? Well, I could say that the halfling has a line of effect because he can "look under" the cone but it just gets too complex... that's why I like a "quantum theory" rule of magic] This method is a bit counter-intuitive for those who don't like quantum mechanics, but makes ruling simple and, as I mentioned, the point of my ruling is to make simple, iron-clad decisions. --The Sigil [/QUOTE]

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