D&D 5E What can be dispelled?

[Quickleaf]

Personally I'd be reluctant to let dispel magic undo a vampire's or succubus' charm.

Allowing dispel magic (and remove curse while we're on the topic) to undo ANY magic effects or curses shuts down a whole lot of story lines that could make for great adventures.

 

[KarinsDad]

Because a spell creates a magical effect which is no longer a spell so cannot be dispelled. See what I did there?

Actually, you ignored the rules.

Spells have durations ("a spell’s duration is the length of time the spell persists"). Hence, the spell is still in effect.

Brownie points for trying though.

 

[baric]

It wasn't a try it was simple english comprehension. Either way my last sentence stands. Don't let the rules bog you down and kill the fun at the table. Rule Zero exists for a reason. I choose to use rule zero to adjudicate dispel magic old school. If you don't like it you do not have to join my games. Luckily I have a group that consists of multiple GMs and we discuss things such as this and we agree to run things at each of our tables the way we want them to be and we do not allow rules to kill the fun or the story. If everyone is not having fun then the game WILL fail.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Why should I care what the designers wanted? I run my game - not the rules, not the designers.

You may not care, but it sounds like you are doing exactly what the designers wanted.

 

[iserith]

You may not care, but it sounds like you are doing exactly what the designers wanted.

Those crafty bastards...

 

[Sunseeker]

My ruling, as DM, would give an equivalent-spell-level to supernatural effects. A harpy is a level 1 challenge, so I guess that would be equal to a level 1 spell.

Equivalent spell level = (challenge level)/2

I think this is best. Maybe DC8+CR of creature using the effect.

 

[AtomicPope]

Then the better question would be: how does one dispel a non-spell magical effect?

To end the Charm or other magical effects of that nature which are not spells you would use "Dispel Good and Evil", which replaced the old school "Break Enchantment". Another spell of the same level that removes Charm is "Greater Restoration". It has less restrictions but also costs 100gp to cast. "Remove Curse" may work when other spells don't seem to fit the bill. Although it seems like 5E monsters and effects will simply say that "Remove Curse" will get rid of that game effect, even when it's something that may be a condition. Off the top of my head, an example of this would be the poison arrow of an Erinyes.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Here's another Dispel-related question:

I'm a paladin/sorcerer with Mounted Combatant. I cast Polymorph on myself to turn myself and my steed into Tyrannosaurs. Someone else casts Dispel Magic on me and I turn back into a paldin. Is my steed still a Tyrannosaurus?

(If so, yay! Free advantage to attack large-sized creatures for the next hour.)

 

[Nebulous]

It does when I, as DM, say it does.

Why should I care what the designers wanted? I run my game - not the rules, not the designers.

That's the crux of it; if a DM wants to rule it a certain way in his campaign, that is perfectly acceptable and fine, and it might even work sometimes and NOT others and that is also the decision of the DM. Maybe this succubus charm can be dispelled, but no, this vampire's cannot, it's just too powerful, it beats your spell and no roll required. I think though, in the end what players might want is some kind of consistency so they can base their actions on what worked or did not work previously. Which creates a gray area with ad hoc adjudication.

 

[77IM]

If dispel magic can negate any magical effect, that removes the need for a slew of other spells, like remove curse and greater restoration. That seems like it would make the game less interesting.