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This is an interesting issue that was brought to our table a couple of days ago: Lets say I use the summon monster spell to summon multiple creatures, and then one of those creatures is targeted by dispel magic and is successfully dispelled...what happens?
Does that one single creature get dispelled, or do all of them vanish?
From the dispel magic rules:
"If you target an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by summon monster), you make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature."
Ending the spell would, presumably, also dispel all other creatures summoned by that particular casting of the spell.
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I would agree that ending the spell makes all creatures summoned with the spell disappear.
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Yup, the above are correct. You target the spell, not the creature. They would all go poof.
I'm pretty sure there was rules text explicitly saying that you could only dispel the summoned creature you target.
I'm pretty sure there was rules text explicitly saying that you could only dispel the summoned creature you target.
If such rules text exist I would absolutely love to see it, as I'm sure we all would.
I wasn't sure how it worked honestly. I mean, yes, it makes sense that all of them would be dispelled since you are targeting the 'spell' and all, but at the same time it also seems like each individual creature would need to be dispelled in order to make them vanish (or, at the very least, you need to use an 'area' dispel' to make sure you get them all).
My understanding is that all of the creatures are tethered to this plane by the same spell. End that spell, and the connection they all rely upon is cut.
Ithink I might be wrong. Either way, I'm too lazy to go look for the specific text myself, especially if I'm not that sure it exists.
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Targeted Dispel: One object, creature, or spell is the target of the dispel magic spell. You make one dispel check (1d20 + your caster level) and compare that to the spell with highest caster level (DC = 11 + the spell's caster level). If successful, that spell ends. If not, compare the same result to the spell with the next highest caster level. Repeat this process until you have dispelled one spell affecting the target, or you have failed to dispel every spell.
For example, a 7th-level caster casts dispel magic, targeting a creature affected by stoneskin (caster level 12th) and fly (caster level 6th). The caster level check results in a 19. This check is not high enough to end the stoneskin (which would have required a 23 or higher), but it is high enough to end the fly (which only required a 17). Had the dispel check resulted in a 23 or higher, the stoneskin would have been dispelled, leaving the fly intact. Had the dispel check been a 16 or less, no spells would have been affected.
You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire). You must name the specific spell effect to be targeted in this way. If your caster level check is equal to or higher than the DC of that spell, it ends. No other spells or effects on the target are dispelled if your check is not high enough to end the targeted effect.
If you target an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by summon monster), you make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature.
It can be read either way, but:
"If you target an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by summon monster), you make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature." use the singular, so if you target 1 creature out of several conjured by a spell you dispel only that creature.while
"You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire)." would allow you to dispel the a spell if you target the spell specifically, naming it, but not if you simply target one of the summoned creatures. The problem is that the summon line of spells don't affect an area. They affect one or more creatures, so we return again to targeting 1 creature at a time.
Let's change the question to see if the replies change:
A cast haste on 6 friends.
B cast successfully dispel on one of them.
The spell is dispelled on all 6?
This FAQ, where you use diametrically opposed spell to dispel a ongoing spell seem to imply that you affect only the people that you can target, not the whole spell, but it is only circumstantial evidence.
Dispelling: If I use a "diametrically opposed" spell to counter or dispel another spell (bless vs. bane, haste vs. slow, and so on), does my spell have any effect other than dispelling?
It depends on whether you are using the spell as a counterspell or as a dispel.
If used as a counterspell, your spell has no effect other than to counter the target spell. If used as a dispel, there may be "spillover" from your spell or the target spell, depending on whether you affect more or fewer targets than the opponent's spell.
Counterspell Example: You are a 5th-level wizard, your opponent is a 6th-level sorcerer. On your turn, you ready an action to counterspell. The sorcerer begins to cast slow. You succeed at the Spellcraft check to identify the spell and cast haste as a counterspell against it. Your haste counters the slow, and neither spell has any effect.
Dispel Example: You are a 5th-level wizard, your opponent is a 6th-level sorcerer. On her turn, the sorcerer casts slow and targets 6 of your allies; all 6 of them fail their saves and are slowed. On your turn, you cast haste and target 5 of your allies; this automatically dispels (no caster level check needed) the slow spell on those allies, leaving them without the effect of slow or haste (your 6th ally is still affected by slow). Note that this does not merely suppress the slow effect for the duration of your haste—the effect is completely dispelled on those 5 allies. Note that it doesn't matter if the target would normally get a saving throw or spell resistance to negate or avoid the spell used to dispel (such as casting slow to dispel an already-caste haste); to speed up gameplay and prevent lopsided applications of this sort of dispelling, the "diametrically opposed" spell automatically dispels its opposite, regardless of the desires of the creature affected by the opposite.
Update 5 June 2013: FAQ clarified as to the difference between using an opposed spell to counterspell and using it as a dispel.
Update 6 June 2013: Additional text added to dispel example about saving throws and spell resistance.
Dispel will not work on a called creature, yet does on the same creature when summoned. What does this tell you? That the dispel is affecting the summoning magic and not the creature. Since the summoning magic is a single thing, even when 3 creatures come, all the creatures will be dispelled.
/cevah
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Dispel will not work on a called creature, yet does on the same creature when summoned. What does this tell you? That the dispel is affecting the summoning magic and not the creature. Since the summoning magic is a single thing, even when 3 creatures come, all the creatures will be dispelled.
/cevah
You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire).
A summon spell affect an area? No
So you are left with the "specifically end one spell affecting the target" option. That option don't care about how many target where affected by the spell, it affect only 1 target.
It's the same spell tethering them all to the material plane. There wasn't multiple spells cast to summon them all, a single spell is holding them all here. Once that one spell is gone, they are all gone.
You're not dispelling the creature. You're dispelling the summon monster spell.
Targeted Dispel: One object, creature, or spell is the target of the dispel magic spell. ...
For example, ...
You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire). ...
If you target an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by summon monster), you make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature.
It can be read either way, but:
"If you target an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by summon monster), you make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature." use the singular, so if you target 1 creature out of several conjured by a spell you dispel only that creature.
while
"You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire)." would allow you to dispel the a spell if you target the spell specifically, naming it, but not if you simply target one of the summoned creatures. The problem is that the summon line of spells don't affect an area. They affect one or more creatures, so we return again to targeting 1 creature at a time.Let's change the question to see if the replies change:
A cast haste on 6 friends.
B cast successfully dispel on one of them.
The spell is dispelled on all 6?This FAQ, where you use diametrically opposed spell to dispel a ongoing spell seem to imply that you affect only the people that you can target, not the whole spell, but it is only circumstantial evidence.
FAQ <snip>
Linked the FAQ for you.
The last thing you bolded has the answer:
"If you target an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by summon monster), you make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature."
You are not ending the spells effect upon the creature, but you are ending the spell period. Your target is the spell, not the creature.
If B casts Dispel Magic on one of them, the spell is dispelled on all 6 per the Dispel Magic text.
If B casts Slow on all of them, the spell is dispelled only on those that failed their save, as per the FAQ.
The FAQ referenced casting Haste on some targets to dispel slow on those same targets and not casting against the Slow spell. It dispels because it is diametrically opposed. It does not mention Dispel Magic at all.
/cevah