AD&D Spell Spotlight: Wall of Force

Today we look at one of the strongest defensive spells in the Player’s Handbook..... Wall of Force. It is a fifth-level magic-user spell that creates an invisible barrier that nothing can pass through, not even breath weapons or spells. I’ll break down how it works, how different tables rule it, and how to use it to turn the tide of an encounter.

#ADnD #WallOfForce #MagicUser

Episode Transcript

(00:18):
Hey, welcome back to the podcastEvil Dungeon Master Universe
Podcast. I'm your host, Evil Dungeon
Master. Vince, this is the Advanced
Dungeons and Dragons Universe podcast by the Evil Dungeon
Master. Yeah, I mixed the name up a
different way for you. Hopefully you're doing well out
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It is a weekend upon us. Weekends usually mean gaming for

(00:41):
most people. Hopefully you have a game.
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(01:06):
All right, bullshit out of the way.
Anyway, So Advanced Dungeons andDragons a game we all love to
play. And the reason why you're
listening to this is because youenjoy Advanced Dungeons and
Dragons and you missed the role for initiative days, but it's
not coming back. So unfortunately they you only
have you're stuck with me. Anyway, today's topic we're

(01:28):
going to flip over to the player's handbook on page 82.
We're going to talk about Wall of Force, a fifth level magic
user spell you requires you to be ninth level to cast it.
Its range is 30 feet. Duration one turn plus one round
per level. Area of effect is 20 square feet

(01:51):
per level. No saving throw around, only
disintegrate destroys it. You need a pinch of powdered
diamond or powdered diamond dustto actually use this spell.
A wall of force creates an invisible barrier in the locale

(02:12):
desired by the caster up to the spells range.
The wall of force will not move and is totally unaffected by any
other spells, including dispel magic save Disintegrate spell
which will immediately destroy it.
Likewise, the wall of force is not affected by blows, missiles,
cold, heat, electricity, or anything similar.
Spells or breath weapon will notpass through it in either

(02:35):
direction. The magic user can, if desired,
shape the wall into a hemispherical or spherical shape
with an area equal to his or herability maximum of 20 feet
square per level of experience. The material is a pinch of
powdered diamond dust. Cool.
It just says pinch of powdered diamond, which is diamond dust.

(02:57):
But anyway, so at 10th level, you'd have like a 200 foot
square barrier, 10 foot by 20 foot long wall and things don't
know it's there, so it's going to slam into it.
So there's some things that it says no spells can go through

(03:20):
it. So that means that no light can
come through continual light, noclairvoyance or anything like
that. So those things can't go through
it. Now it is a wall of force, which
means things can smash into it. I want to know do what about

(03:41):
creatures with magical resistance?
Are they able to get through this wall with a proper I guess
roll or save? Would they be able to get
through it or not? Because there's just nothing
magical to get through? But if something is magical
resistant against the spell, does that mean it gets through?

(04:03):
Interesting huh? There's other things I think you
could use it to. I was thinking about how you
could use this in combat and theobvious ways are just basically
to block off areas and things like that.
But say, but a large amount of creatures is attacking, you can
slam the wall down in front of them to protect you as you get

(04:25):
away and they will go smash right into this barrier because
they can't see it. Trap things inside the
hemispheric sphere thing that you have and you have your own
little like, you know, prison, so to speak, for as long as your
spell lasts. But the thing that you do have

(04:45):
to worry about, air, nothing could pass through this.
So that means air does not pass through it either.
So you have a creature in there,you're going to suffocate said
creature or whatever in there unless you break the spell or
they wait the time limit and it can hold their breath for

(05:06):
depending 10 plus 1010 minutes at least.
And I don't think anybody can hold their breath 10 minutes at
least unless there's some type of magical creature that does
that. So you have to worry about that.
It could be used to protect the party against the dragon that
has a breath weapon or spell bombardment from a dragon.

(05:29):
Throw up this invisible wall. Nothing says that speaking
through it does not work though.I'm thinking about this if if
the considerations of air is a worry for this thing, Does that
mean that when you throw this wall down it will block sound as

(05:53):
well? So when you're speaking, it'll
sound like you're talking behinda wall, so to speak.
It just, it had me thinking about that you could use it as
an invisibility gotcha on monsters that slam into it.
Like I said, you just throw it up in a dungeon and they go
slamming into it when you were like, ha ha, you know something

(06:14):
funny like that. But trap the big bad behind this
wall. Or if you anticipate the big bad
constantly getting away, what you could do is you could throw
the sphere around the big bad orthrottle the wall of force
behind him so when he tries to retreat, bang right into the

(06:37):
wall and falls onto the ground. Things like that.
There's a couple other considerations I was writing
down when thinking about the spell.
Yeah, villains can use this too.Evil magic users or whatever can
use this wall force spell, and just like you could use it, they

(06:59):
can use it as well. So there's no saving throw
allowed for this. So if the evil magic user casts
this wall of force into the sphere around your character,
well your character is going to die unless they figure out a way

(07:20):
how to get rid of this spell around your character.
Now if the air situation is something that in fact does not
pass through it, then you, your character is doomed.
Just like a villain, your character is doomed.
So what's good for the you is good for them as well.
So don't forget, however you useit, the Dungeon Master can also

(07:42):
use it against you in the same manner.
I was also thinking now creativeways of casting it.
Obviously you have to direct it into an area where to cast it
and what area to cast it in. So what if you put the central
casting of said spell directly on the line path of your foe?

(08:08):
Now would it be like a wall thatforms around them and traps them
inside? The invisible wall force?
Does it go through their body? I don't know.
Something things like that you have to think about as a dungeon
master when a player comes up with these weird creative
things. What if Now doesn't say either

(08:31):
way in the rules that the wall force has to be placed on the
ground? It just says it makes a wall.
So what if a player that wore a dungeon master cast the spell
above you flat so that it falls and smashes on you?

(08:55):
So now you have the wall that iswe'll say you're about 10th
level. Like we said, 200 square feet
barrier, a 10 foot wall by 20 foot long wall falling on the
entire party. Now you have the whole rocks
fall in the party, but instead it's an involved force that
smashes down and crushes the enemy.

(09:17):
There's nothing that says you have to put it on the ground, it
just says pick your location, there it is.
So placing it in the air flat, it's going to fall just like any
other wall that you place. A wall could be placed anywhere
if you read the rules that way. I mean, you're the dungeon

(09:38):
master. You tell me was would that be a
way you handle in your games? I'd love to know because as a
creative person like I am, I would try that in my in the game
to see what the guy said as the dungeon Master.
And if he's like, no, no, you can't do that.
And I would probably say, well, the rules say I don't, but

(09:58):
you're the dungeon master. We'll talk about it later
because I feel it should be. And yeah, I'll talk to him about
it after the game. And then we could debate it all
we want. Never debated in the game.
I hate when people do that in the game.
That ruins the move. The dungeon master has the final
say. You can give a, you know, a
quick little, well, rebuttal if you'd like to try to, you know,

(10:21):
sway the decision. And I've made decisions in game
and I've had a player say, well,this, you know, maybe this,
this, this, this, this, this, this.
And I'd be like, you know what, You're right, all right, it
works and that's how games should work.
But remember, don't argue at thetable like that.
As far as taking it beyond a quick rebuttal, you know,

(10:44):
stating your case, stating your case is fine.
Anything else than that is just stop, stop, take it after the
game and debate it out then. And then going forward, if you
guys make a decision, that's howit'll work.
And that's generally how I handle things when it comes to
games. I like to make a decision
because I am the dungeon master.My rules are final.

(11:06):
You're allowed to say, well, consider this type statement and
then that's it. We talk about it after the game
if there's no, you know, consensus.
And a lot of times if I'm not 100% positive about how I want a
rule, I will give it to the group right then and there.
I'll say, what do you all think?Should I allow this or not?

(11:30):
And I told them, now don't forget, depending on the
situation, I say if I allow this, anybody can use it this
way as well. So it's not like just them.
And generally the group will give me an honest answer, no,
no, no, that won't work that way.
Or yeah, we want it to work thatway.

(11:50):
And they don't care if like the MPCS or the monsters can do it
as well. For example, when I was playing
basic Fantasy, why still AM? When you tie the armor class or
roll over it, you're allowed. You're supposed to hit.
That's how it works. But my group decided that if you

(12:11):
tie it, you don't hit. And that was a group consensus
and it worked both ways. Monster slash MPC versus PCs.
I'm fine with changing the ruleslike that as long as the group
is happy with it. Overall, didn't like the
decision, but you know what? It worked in my favor a bunch of
times too. So worked in their favor, worked

(12:33):
in mine. So that's the way you can
always, you know, have a group consensus and do things with a
group and actually get along. But enough about that.
Tell me what you think about theWall Force, how you would use it
in your games, any creative ways.
I'd like to hear your stories and the way you use it or the
way you've ruled it in your group.
I'm really interested in hearingthese stories and I thank those

(12:53):
people that comment and give me their opinions about certain
spells or items or how they use it even in other editions too.
I don't, I don't really care. It's always interesting to see
how people handle it. 5th edition, 4th edition, 3rd
edition, whatever, I don't care.It's always interesting to hear
how another Dungeon Master will adjudicate anything in any

(13:16):
edition of Dungeons and Dragons.So anyway, so I'm going to head
out, keep original, keep it old school.
Good night and God bless everybody.