Is a caster aware when one of their spells has been dispelled?


Rules Questions


Specifically, if a caster leaves a glyph of warding somewhere, or an alarm, or a wall of force, and leaves the area, are they aware of a successful dispel of that spell? I believe they aren't.

Following on from that, is a spellcaster aware when a spell affecting their person, such as a shield or protection from evil is dispelled? How aware are casters of what spells of theirs are active?


As a DM, I would rule that they would notice any spell they can see being dispelled. Anytime my players come across someone with magical buffs on them, I describe there being a blurry aura or discoloration around them. Also it lets the BBEG notice the buffs the players have cast on themselves.

Scarab Sages

RAW, no, unless the spell specifically says that it does. There might be some wiggle room for spells that only allow one to be cast per caster, and if you can mentally control something (like a sum on) you know if it's dispelled.

Liberty's Edge

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Interesting question. Many spells are essentially fire and forget. The caster has no further control over them. Others have effects that are controlled by the caster. Finally, some spells can be dismissed my the caster.

By RAW, casters know whether spells have been effective re: saving throws. This doesn't answer your question, but is related tangentially. By RAW, dispelling or activating an event triggered spell isn't know by the caster. The whole point of the alarm spell is to provide that information. However, in the case of a spell that is controllable after being cast, or which can be dismissed, there reasonably seems to be some ongoing feedback. This really starts to get into corner cases and on the fly rulings, though. What you might do really is a matter of play style.


Thanks guys; Trueheart in my games there is generally no visible effect of a spell unless specifically stated (eg. displacement yes, shield no until it causes an attack to miss).

I agree Vamp; obviously if you have dominated someone and then that domination is dispelled you will be aware that the mental link is gone, for example.

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