Wall of Force spell range

[bbangerter]

Wall of force has a range of close.

Does this mean:
1) The entire area of the wall of force must be within close range of the caster?
2) The starting point/corner of the wall of force must be within close range of the caster?
3) At least one section of the wall must be within close range of the caster?

This would apply to other walls spells as well, though given most are medium range, by the time a caster can cast them the distance is much less likely to matter.

[Azothath]

see CRB Magic RAW
scrolling down to Conjuration, "The creature or object must appear within the spell's range, but it does not have to remain within the range." shows there are exceptions to

CRB Magic, Spell Descriptions, Range
A spell’s range indicates how far from you it can reach, as defined in the range entry of the spell description. A spell’s range is the maximum distance from you that the spell’s effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the spell’s point of origin. If any portion of the spell’s area would extend beyond this range, that area is wasted. Standard ranges include the following. ...

→Wall of Force:K5
Range:(25 +5×⌊CL/2⌋), or within 45-75ft of the caster.
Effect: [10×10ft planar section]×CL or 9*100sqft to 20*100sqft wall section.
Square Packing in a circle shows radius of circle needs to be 2.3 that of square height, or for semicircle I'd say 2 or so as in PF1 a partial square will make the whole square count but the flat base will dictate the geometry of the packing.

[Azothath]

I'd guess
semicircle radius (r, 10ft sqrs) | Area (10ft sqrs) | nmbr 10 ft squares |distance to base of semicircle (D, 10ft sqrs)
2 | A=6.28 | 7 as 4+3 | 0 to 1.8{15ft} ( =SQRT(2.5 +⌊CL/2⌋/2 -r^2))
3 | A=14.14 | 12 as 6+4+2 | 0
4 | A=25.13 | 20 as 8+6+4+2 | 0
the practical result is the distance of the caster to the center of a maximized size wall is only going to be 0 to 5ft. A flying caster could be at 15-20ft to try to maximize the circular area for a bit more distance.

you could use 5ft as your distance for tighter rounding but it shouldn't make a big difference.

[thorin001]

bbangerter wrote:

Wall of force has a range of close.

Does this mean:
1) The entire area of the wall of force must be within close range of the caster?
2) The starting point/corner of the wall of force must be within close range of the caster?
3) At least one section of the wall must be within close range of the caster?

This would apply to other walls spells as well, though given most are medium range, by the time a caster can cast them the distance is much less likely to matter.

All of the wall of force must be withing the spell's range. No part of the wall can extend beyond that range when cast. So choice 1.

[Diego Rossi]

The correct application of the rules is 1.
Note that it matters only when the spell is cast:

Quote:

A spell’s range is the maximum distance from you that the spell’s effect can occur, as well as the maximum distance at which you can designate the spell’s point of origin.

After the effect has happened, even if the spell has a duration, the caster can freely move.

There are two possible (but unstated) exceptions:
- spell with a duration of Concentration
- spells that can be manipulated after they have been cast, like some illusions.

My opinion is that the caster needs to be in range to concentrate on a spell or to manipulate it, but there is no general rule about that, AFAIK.
Some spells have specific text about that, but it isn't present in all of them.

An example of unclear text:

Project Image wrote:

Objects are affected by the projected image as if they had succeeded on their Will save. You must maintain line of effect to the projected image at all times. If your line of effect is obstructed, the spell ends. If you use dimension door, teleport, plane shift, or a similar spell that breaks your line of effect, even momentarily, the spell ends.

Line of effect doesn't care about range, so, apparently, you can move away from the Image (or have the Image move away from you) and still use it, even if you exceed the spell's range.

[Pizza Lord]

bbangerter wrote:

Wall of force has a range of close.

Does this mean:
1) The entire area of the wall of force must be within close range of the caster?

Like the others have said, this is correct. Just to be clear, however:

The entire area of the wall does not have to be within close range, but any part that would extend past it does not form/occur. I am sure no one misinterpreted, but for thoroughness sake, you don't have to have it all in there (for whatever reason).

Think of a fireball. You can target it all the way to end of its Long range and it will explode, but even though it has a 20-foot radius, it will not pass that point, but it will have a (roughly) hemispherical area of effect 20 feet within the range. Its magical effects cannot go beyond the range.

Azothath's mathing for a 9th to 10th-level caster (having 90–100 square feet of wall or nine to ten 10x10 sections) is pretty much on the spot. Your range would be about 45–50, meaning you would have to have the center of the wall at your space pretty much to have it extend its full distance in both directions.

I can't speak for all GMs, and this is probably what others do, but I would allow a caster to increase the wall's height, adding 10x10 sections atop each other, as long as it was the same uniform height across (meaning, basically half the length to get a 20 foot high wall, not with gaps up above like crenellations or such).

[Azothath]

I really just wanted to check the conic sections to see how far away a caster could get it. Not far! lol... If you're just blocking a doorway with one section, yeah, 45ft or so. sadly casters cannot layer/laminate them within A casting.