Wall of force being invisible


Rules Discussion


Wall of force creates an invisible wall, and that leads me to ask some questions about how that works.

1. Is the wall undetected due to the invisible condition?

2. If no one successfully identifies the spell, is the wall unnoticed?

3. Does targeting the wall require a DC 11 flat check? The phrase "missing the broad side of a barn" comes to mind.

4. If someone tries targeting an enemy on the other side of an unnoticed wall, does the wall get targeted instead?

5. If someone tries placing an area effect (like a fireball) on the other side of an unnoticed wall, does the origin point appear on the near side instead?


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1. Yes. Including the AoN link it to the invisible condition.

2. Yes but not exactly doesn't notice it. Those who saw the spell being cast will know that some spell was cast without knowing its effect, yet this creature still can Seek to find something unusual and notice the wall with the GM having to judge the DC (probably using the spell DC).

3. It's a good question. RAW yes, but RAI, I doubt that is the intention. Maybe some GM may interpret that once you don't see the exact angle of the wall, your attack may fail in a similar way that it fails against an invisible creature or object. Yet this doesn't sound reasonable; it makes more sense if someone is trying to attack the wall, it won't need to do a flat check because the wall is much too large and plain to miss it more than a normal AC 10 check would.

4. RAW no. The attack just fails due to the lack of Line of Effect. RAI may be reasonable enough to hit the wall instead.

5. RAW the spell fails due to the lack of Line of Effect. RAI it still reasonable that a fireball exploded in contact with the wall.

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In general these cases aren't covered by the rules, so they are subject to GM fiat. Most interactions with objects fall into these undefined situations because we lack from clear rules about how many things interacts with objects (by RAW you cannot Strike objects for example even with many things in the game expecting that you can do).


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I think the entry for walls would be far too long if you had to cover every single possible ruling. GMs have to do their best with it.

From my perspective, it's still a wall. There is no missing it as long as you are striking where it is. It is a defensive wall so usually cast to protect something on the other side of it. It has an AC, hardness, and hit points, so it lasts as long as the hit points remain. If you're striking at something on the other side of it, you hit the wall doing damage to it if you exceed its hardness.

Just like you'd see in a movie with some kind of thick glass that someone is trying to batter or blast through. They're hitting the invisible "glass" wall first trying to shatter it to get to what's on the other side.

That's generally how I play a wall of force, thus my rulings that aren't explicitly covered align with that visual.

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