D&D 5E Forcecage and Beholders

[trentonjoe]

What happens when a beholder is "forcecaged"?

Forcecage creates a:

An immobile, Invisible, cube-shaped prison composed of magical force springs into existence around an area you choose within range. The prison can be a cage or a solid box as you choose.

And a Beholder's disentegration beam can:

If the target is a Huge or larger object or creation of magical force, this ray disintegrates a 10-foot cube of it.


It should be able to blast it's way out, right?

 

[Mort]

Unlike a wall of force, a forcecage can't be disintigrated. So unless it can teleport, the beholder is trapped.

Edit: Doing my research, looks like my reading is WAY in the minority and that Disintegrate works. Basically it targets the forcecage itself, and since the forcecage is a magical construct - it disintegrates.

So go with that.

 

[J.Quondam]

That's how I read it, yes.

 

[Mort]

That's how I read it, yes.

How so?

The forcecage blocks ALL spells, except, possibly teleportation spells, which are listed as a specific exception.

Unlike a wall of force, which lists disintegrate as a specific exception.

Of course, you could read that the beholder ray is NOT a spell and therefore it's specific text beats anything general in the forcecage.

Edit: See above, looking into it further - seems the forcecage goes away!

 

[Stormonu]

Can’t the beholder just use it’s central Anti-magic eye to waltz out?

 

[Torquar]

Unlike a wall of force, a forcecage can't be disintigrated. So unless it can teleport, the beholder is trapped.

Where are you getting this from? Disintegrate works on force creations, Forcecage is a force creation.

 

[Mort]

Where are you getting this from? Disintegrate works on force creations, Forcecage is a force creation.

Well I was getting this from the fact that no magic gets in OR out and unlike wall of force, Disintegrate is not called out as working.

But upon further investigation and review - I've changed my position and the forcecage can be disintegrated.

 

[trentonjoe]

It was actually a DEATH TYRANT so it's central eye doesn't have antimagic zone.

and a force cage only blocks spells in or out,

A prison in the shape of a box can be up to 10 feet on a side, creating a solid barrier that prevents any matter from passing through it and blocking any Spells cast into or out of the area.

 

[Lyxen]

Well I was getting this from the fact that no magic gets in OR out and unlike wall of force, Disintegrate is not called out as working.

But upon further investigation and review - I've changed my position and the forcecage can be disintegrated.

It certainly can as it is a creation of magical force, and the disintegrate does not need to go through the sphere, it just targets if from inside.

 

[Staffan]

Can’t the beholder just use it’s central Anti-magic eye to waltz out?

That's what I thought this thread was going to be about, but at first I didn't think that would work. The anti-magic field is projected from the eye, so once the eye is outside the force field/bars would return with the beholder caught in them. But reading the spell, it says that if a creature is caught partially in the spell's area, it is forced outward until it is entirely outside, so that sounds like what would happen.