anti-magic field effect on spells

[Herzog]

Last night, we had an 'interesting' encounter (in which my 13th lvl character had to fall back on natural attacks and crossbow) in which the entire battlefield was an anti-magic zone.

Now, I know magic item functionality is 'suppressed' while in the AM field, but I'm a bit hazy on what happens once we left this field:

1. I lost a 4th lvl sorcerer (bonus) spell slot because my cloak of charisma wasn't functioning. Do I regain that slot once I leave the field?
2. I lost a 4th lvl wizard (bonus) spell because my headband of intellect wasn't functioning. Do I regain that slot once I leave the field? If so, do I need to re-prepare the spell? Can I?
3. I lost a whole bunch of first level wizard spells and sorcerer spell slots because my ring of Wizardry I wasn't functioning. Do these slots follow the same rules as under 1. and 2.?

Also, If you cast a spell inside a AM field but the effect lies outside the AM field, does it function? (we all were a bit hazy on that).

 

[Jimlock]

Here's a thread I started a few months ago... hoping to find out how the AMF finally works...

Good LucK!

 

[Sekhmet]

I believe Dandu mentioned (and I seconded) the idea that magic items that provide bonuses take effect 24 hours after donning them (or simply, the next day). You couldn't immediately use those spell slots, but the next day you could prepare spells in them.
Inside an AMF, you cannot cast any spell, regardless if it is targeted outside the AMF.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

AMF suppresses magic. It does NOT dispel it. You never "lost" those spell slots / spells prepared, you merely lost access to them. Huge difference. The magic never goes away, it's just being blocked from functioning. So, the answer to all 3 of your questions is, "you have them available the second you step out of the AMF."

I normally respect and agree with Dandu's views, but if he actually thinks that's how it works... Losing the use of your magic items for 24 hours if you so much as get put into an AMF for 6 seconds is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

 

[Greenfield]

Hmm.

ANTIMAGIC
An antimagic field spell or effect cancels magic altogether. An antimagic effect has the following powers and characteristics.
• No supernatural ability, spell-like ability, or spell works in an area of antimagic (but extraordinary abilities still work).
• Antimagic does not dispel magic; it suppresses it. Once a magical effect is no longer affected by the antimagic (the antimagic fades, the center of the effect moves away, and so on), the magic returns. Spells that still have part of their duration left begin functioning again, magic items are once again useful, and so forth.
• Spell areas that include both an antimagic area and a normal area, but are not centered in the antimagic area, still function in the normal area. If the spell’s center is in the antimagic area, then the spell is suppressed.
• Golems and other constructs, elementals, outsiders, and corporeal undead, still function in an antimagic area (though the antimagic area suppresses their spellcasting and their supernatural and spell-like abilities normally). If such creatures are summoned or conjured, however, see below.
• Summoned or conjured creatures of any type, as well as incorporeal undead, wink out if they enter the area of an antimagic effect. They reappear in the same spot once the field goes away.
• Magic items with continuous effects do not function in the area of an antimagic effect, but their effects are not canceled (so the contents of a bag of holding are unavailable, but neither spill out nor disappear forever).
• Two antimagic areas in the same place do not cancel each other out, nor do they stack.
• Wall of force, prismatic wall, and prismatic sphere are not affected by antimagic. Break enchantment, dispel magic, and greater dispel magic spells do not dispel antimagic. Mage’s disjunction has a 1% chance per caster level of destroying an antimagic field. If the antimagic field survives the disjunction, no items within it are disjoined.

According to this, you can cast spells in an Antimagic field or effect, as in it never says that you can't. They just don't have any effect within that field.

If you stood, just within the field, you could cast emanations such as cones and line effects outside of the field just fine. Spells like Fireball would also work normally, so long as the center of the burst, the target point if you will, is outside the effect.

 

[Omegaxicor]

I'm sorry, Greenfield you are wrong in your interpretation, if you cast a cone spell from within an AMF then the cone is centred on YOU which is within the AMF and therefore it fails.

However you are correct, you can cast spells within the field, in the same way you can fire a bow without an arrow...it just fails

 

[Greenfield]

A cone-shaped spell shoots away from you in a quarter-circle in the direction you designate. It starts from any corner of your square and widens out as it goes. Most cones are either bursts or emanations (see above), and thus won’t go around corners. When casting a cylinder-shaped spell, you select the spell’s point of origin. This point is the center of a horizontal circle, and the spell shoots down from the circle, filling a cylinder. A cylinder-shaped spell ignores any obstructions within its area.
A line-shaped spell shoots away from you in a line in the direction you designate. It starts from any corner of your square and extends to the limit of its range or until it strikes a barrier that blocks line of effect. A line-shaped spell affects all creatures in squares that the line passes through.

According to this (emphasis mine) the starting point of line and cone spells isn't "you" (the caster), but any corner of their square. If the caster is in a square at the edge of the Antimagic effect, they can choose a corner at the edge of the effect and project outward from there. The origin point would not be within the effect, and so the spell could function.

Now I know that that's an arguable interpretation, since it presumes that the corner isn't "within" the square it helps define. Your DM may disagree, and if they do then they're right. (See "Rule Zero")

But lacking an official ruling to the contrary, this should work just fine.

<edit>Regarding your"bow without an arrow" comparison, I've looked at the spell Antimagic Field and I've quoted the general rule on Antimagic effects. No place in either description does it say that you can't cast spell while in the field. It affects where they can go off, not where they're cast from.

If you have a rules quote that disagrees with this, please feel free to provide it, and the source. I'll happily back down if shown to be wrong. But you do have to show it, not just claim it.

 

[Greenfield]

This topic brings up another question regarding AMF: There are spells that grant no SR because of the nature of the spell.

For example, using Telekinesis to throw a rock or dagger at an enemy would/should still affect them, since the AMF doesn't stop missiles.

What about spells like Ice Storm, which don't target the person directly with any magical force, but instead call forth hail stones and dump them onto the area? If someone used Control Weather to make it rain or snow, would the rain or snow somehow not penetrate the AMF? Would the temperature in the area drop in a blizzard called forth by Control Weather?

 

[Lwaxy]

What StreamOfTheSky said.

Non-magical objects launched from outside the spell zone will still have effect if they can move on their own and not upheld with magic. So anything falling from the sky would hit, anything propelled with enough force to keep on moving would hit, but levitating something inside etc would mean it would fall down just inside the field.

And yeah the temperature would still drop if the whole area is affected, simple physics.

You can't cast any spells inside an AMF because the magic originates from you, it matters not where it is targeted at.

 

[Omegaxicor]

According to this (emphasis mine) the starting point of line and cone spells isn't "you" (the caster), but any corner of their square. If the caster is in a square at the edge of the Antimagic effect, they can choose a corner at the edge of the effect and project outward from there. The origin point would not be within the effect, and so the spell could function.

If you have a rules quote that disagrees with this, please feel free to provide it, and the source. I'll happily back down if shown to be wrong. But you do have to show it, not just claim it.

"An antimagic field suppresses any spell or magical effect used within" - I would argue that spellcasting is a magical effect but yes I concede nowhere does it spell it out

For example, using Telekinesis to throw a rock or dagger at an enemy would/should still affect them, since the AMF doesn't stop missiles.

What about spells like Ice Storm, which don't target the person directly with any magical force, but instead call forth hail stones and dump them onto the area? If someone used Control Weather to make it rain or snow, would the rain or snow somehow not penetrate the AMF? Would the temperature in the area drop in a blizzard called forth by Control Weather?

I would say that if the effect of the spell entered the AMF then it would be treated as a natural effect entering an AMF and work fine but the rules do clearly state "Magical Effect" which may include magically generated natural effects, it is up to the DM without some other ruling