Dismissing spells while unable to cast them


Rules Questions

Sovereign Court

So, I've been building a new PFS character, an Ecclesitheurge Cleric who will eventually take a level or two in Monk. Basically, someone who is unable to do almost anything with armor on.

Tooling through spells recently, I rediscovered Instant Armor. I thought it might be a funny way to lock down my character in case of mind whammies or something similar. Paired up with a casting of Contingency, it could be worth a chuckle. But I was wondering, can I dismiss the spell when the threat has passed?

Ecclesitheurge's Vow wrote:
At 1st level, an ecclesitheurge makes a vow to his deity to protect himself solely with his faith, not with armor or shields. An ecclesitheurge who wears armor or uses a shield is unable to use his blessing of the faithful ability, to use cleric domain powers, or to cast cleric spells.

I can't cast spells while wearing the armor. But can I do other magic-related actions (such as dismissing the armor) while it's blocking my magic? I assume the answer would be the same as for the same situation in an Antimagic Field, but I don't have evidence there.


Dismissing should be fine. It's not a spell or a domain power, it acts more like a spell-like ability than anything. Which might make it problematic in an antimagic field.


D20PFSRD wrote:

(D) Dismissible

If the duration line ends with “(D),” you can dismiss the spell at will. You must be within range of the spell’s effect and must speak words of dismissal, which are usually a modified form of the spell’s verbal component. If the spell has no verbal component, you can dismiss the effect with a gesture. Dismissing a spell is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

A spell that depends on concentration is dismissible by its very nature, and dismissing it does not take an action, since all you have to do to end the spell is to stop concentrating on your turn.

D20PFSRD wrote:

Ecclesitheurge’s Vow

At 1st level, an ecclesitheurge makes a vow to his deity to be protected solely by his faith, not by armor or shields. An ecclesitheurge who wears armor or uses a shield is unable to use his blessing of the faithful ability, use cleric domain powers, or cast cleric spells.

Here are the relevant quotes. Please note the restrictions in the dismiss a spell entry and then the restrictions in the ecclesitheurge entry. As you have already cast the spell, it is in effect before the loss of casting privileges, but the act of dismissal is not spellcasting since it does not carry any of the specific restrictions of casting a spell (i.e. if you done armor, it does not interfere with the dismissal).

Ecclesitheurge is also specific in that you are unable to cast spells, but you are still able to dismiss them.

Sovereign Court

That's close enough to what I figured. Thanks aplenty! My Will save should be high enough that I won't often get to use the silly trick. Hopefully no enemies wise up and tell me to take the armor off.

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