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<blockquote data-quote="PsyzhranV2" data-source="post: 7993789" data-attributes="member: 7015332"><p>Just gonna copypaste the dragon breath weapon vs antimagic field example from Sage Advice Compendium... seems people are overthinking things beyond that (and that the 5e team needs to hire a few more stylistic copyeditors...)</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Is the breath weapon of a dragon magical?</span></strong></p><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">If you cast <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/antimagic-field" target="_blank">antimagic field</a>, don <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/armor-of-invulnerability" target="_blank">armor of invulnerability</a>, or use another feature of the game that protects against magical or nonmagical effects, you might ask yourself, “Will this protect me against a dragon’s breath?” The breath weapon of a typical dragon isn’t considered magical, so <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/antimagic-field" target="_blank">antimagic field</a> won’t help you but <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/armor-of-invulnerability" target="_blank">armor of invulnerability</a> will.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">You might be thinking, “Dragons seem pretty magical to me.” And yes, they are extraordinary! Their description even says they’re magical. But our game makes a distinction between two types of magic:</span></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">the background magic that is part of the D&D multiverse’s physics and the physiology of many D&D creatures</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">the concentrated magical energy that is contained in a magic item or channeled to create a spell or other focused magical effect</span></li> </ul><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">In D&D, the first type of magic is part of nature. It is no more dispellable than the wind. A monster like a dragon exists because of that magic-enhanced nature. The second type of magic is what the rules are concerned about. When a rule refers to something being magical, it’s referring to that second type. Determining whether a game feature is magical is straightforward. Ask yourself these questions about the feature:</span></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Is it a magic item?</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Is it a spell? Or does it let you create the effects of a spell that’s mentioned in its description?</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Is it a spell attack?</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Is it fueled by the use of spell slots?</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Does its description say it’s magical?</span></li> </ul><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">If your answer to any of those questions is yes, the feature is magical.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Let’s look at a <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/adult-white-dragon" target="_blank">white dragon’s</a> Cold Breath and ask ourselves those questions. First, Cold Breath isn’t a magic item. Second, its description mentions no spell. Third, it’s not a spell attack. Fourth, the word “magical” appears nowhere in its description. Our conclusion: Cold Breath is not considered a magical game effect, even though we know that dragons are amazing, supernatural beings.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="PsyzhranV2, post: 7993789, member: 7015332"] Just gonna copypaste the dragon breath weapon vs antimagic field example from Sage Advice Compendium... seems people are overthinking things beyond that (and that the 5e team needs to hire a few more stylistic copyeditors...) [B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Is the breath weapon of a dragon magical?[/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)] If you cast [URL='https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/antimagic-field']antimagic field[/URL], don [URL='https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/armor-of-invulnerability']armor of invulnerability[/URL], or use another feature of the game that protects against magical or nonmagical effects, you might ask yourself, “Will this protect me against a dragon’s breath?” The breath weapon of a typical dragon isn’t considered magical, so [URL='https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/antimagic-field']antimagic field[/URL] won’t help you but [URL='https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/armor-of-invulnerability']armor of invulnerability[/URL] will. You might be thinking, “Dragons seem pretty magical to me.” And yes, they are extraordinary! Their description even says they’re magical. But our game makes a distinction between two types of magic:[/COLOR] [LIST] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]the background magic that is part of the D&D multiverse’s physics and the physiology of many D&D creatures[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]the concentrated magical energy that is contained in a magic item or channeled to create a spell or other focused magical effect[/COLOR] [/LIST] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]In D&D, the first type of magic is part of nature. It is no more dispellable than the wind. A monster like a dragon exists because of that magic-enhanced nature. The second type of magic is what the rules are concerned about. When a rule refers to something being magical, it’s referring to that second type. Determining whether a game feature is magical is straightforward. Ask yourself these questions about the feature:[/COLOR] [LIST] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Is it a magic item?[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Is it a spell? Or does it let you create the effects of a spell that’s mentioned in its description?[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Is it a spell attack?[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Is it fueled by the use of spell slots?[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Does its description say it’s magical?[/COLOR] [/LIST] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]If your answer to any of those questions is yes, the feature is magical. Let’s look at a [URL='https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/adult-white-dragon']white dragon’s[/URL] Cold Breath and ask ourselves those questions. First, Cold Breath isn’t a magic item. Second, its description mentions no spell. Third, it’s not a spell attack. Fourth, the word “magical” appears nowhere in its description. Our conclusion: Cold Breath is not considered a magical game effect, even though we know that dragons are amazing, supernatural beings.[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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