frankthedm said:
BTW does not the caster need a way to percieve the fear effect to be ABLE to target it?
![Devious :] :]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png)
Like from arcane sight or detect magic. Dispell does not seem to empower the caster to percieve spell auras.
I don't think anything in the
Dispel Magic description indicates you need to see the spell visually. You just need to know it's there and it needs to be in range of the spell. A Spellcraft check would have allowed the spellcaster a chance to recognize the spell as it was cast, if the
fear was caused by a spell. If not, or if the Spellcraft check fails, another Spellcraft check would allow the wizard to recognize an ongoing magical
fear effect present on the fighter. A success at either check would allow the wizard to successfully target the
fear with
Dispel Magic, IMO.
Anubis said:
Basically, can a spellcaster ignore buffs and protections they've cast on a person and target only negative effects?
No. If a spellcaster chooses to target an individual, all spells on that individual have a chance of being dispelled, including those cast by the spellcaster. Likewise, if the spellcaster chooses to target an area, then spells are checked in a specific order by
Dispel Magic to determine if a spell is dispelled, and which one is so removed. A spellcaster cannot choose to ignore some of the spells on the target(s) in these cases, whether he cast them or not.
The only way for the spellcaster to avoid removing other spells is for him to target the
fear effect specifically. In the case of the fighter, this should work fine. Were more than one PC affected by the
fear effect, or were the fighter under the effects of multiple detrimental spells, you'd be in a real pickle, however.