Resilient Sphere:
You create an immobile sphere of force to either trap or protect the target, blocking anything that would pass through the sphere. The sphere has AC 5, Hardness 10, and 40 Hit Points. It's immune to critical hits and precision damage. Disintegrate destroys the sphere instantly. If the target is unwilling, the effects of the sphere depend on the target's Reflex save.
Fireball:
A roaring blast of fire appears at a spot you designate, dealing 6d6 fire damage.
I'm planning on using a Demonologist who has Resilient Sphere, and I'm contemplating its various uses. "Blocking anything that would pass through" seems very clear when it comes to things like weapons, characters, or even spell effects like Telekenetic Projectile or Acid Arrow or Lightening Bolt. Any touch spell, that's out as well.
But you could probably target through a Sphere with Fireball, yes?
How about Heal vs Divine Lance? Divine Lance specifies "a beam" but Heal 2 action simply gives a range without defining how the magical energy "gets there."
How do you all play this? If the spell doesn't specify any form of a projectile, do you allow it to target something in a Sphere? Or for someone in a Sphere to target outside of the sphere?
This is addressed under Line of Effect.
There's an example specifically for Fireball as well.
Line of Effect
When creating an effect, you usually need an unblocked path to the target of a spell, the origin point of an effect’s area, or the place where you create something with a spell or other ability. This is called a line of effect. You have line of effect unless a creature is entirely behind a solid physical barrier. Visibility doesn’t matter for line of effect, nor do portcullises and other barriers that aren’t totally solid. If you’re unsure whether a barrier is solid enough, usually a 1-foot-square gap is enough to maintain a line of effect, though the GM makes the final call.
In an area effect, creatures or targets must have line of effect to the point of origin to be affected. If there’s no line of effect between the origin of the area and the target, the effect doesn’t apply to that target. For example, if there’s a solid wall between the origin of a fireball and a creature that’s within the burst radius, the wall blocks the effect—that creature is unaffected by the fireball and doesn’t need to attempt a save against it. Likewise, any ongoing effects created by an ability with an area cease to affect anyone who moves outside of the line of effect.
Rrriiiight! Thanks :) So since you need an "unblocked path" for a line of effect, and the Sphere specifies that it blocks anything," then you can't draw line of effect into or out of the sphere.
Perfect! Thanks for pointing that out :)
No prob! I was just checking out Resilient Sphere for similar reasons, so it was fresh.