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Antilife Shell reads:

A shimmering barrier extends out from you in a 10-foot radius and moves with you, remaining centered on you and hedging out creatures other than undead and constructs.

So creatures outside that range can't approach you, which makes sense. But what about the creatures already inside that radius? If the casting druid is under attack by a humanoid within 5 feet of them, is that humanoid pushed back? Or, as the second parts of the spell says, would that count as "forcing them through the barrier?

If you move so that an affected creature is forced to pass through the barrier, the spell ends.

If you cast it near a creature, are they pushed away from you, or does the spell end? What about if you cast it in a field? Does the grass stop it? Would microbes in a dungeon?

It seems like the spell could be either very powerful—create a dome where there is absolutely no life—or immediately gimp itself.

V2Blast
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user55434
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  • Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the [tour] if you haven't already, and check out the [help] for more guidance. – V2Blast May 12 '19 at 23:47

1 Answers1

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The first sentence of the spell reads:

A shimmering barrier extends out from you in a 10-foot radius and moves with you, remaining centered on you and hedging out creatures other than undead and constructs.

That last part answers your question. Anything that isn't an undead or a construct is ejected from (or “hedged out” of) the radius of the spell when it is cast.

The second part you quote means that if you move after the shell is up, and doing so will result in a living creature entering the area of effect, the spell immediately vanishes.

doppelgreener
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Allan Mills
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  • "Anything that isn't undead or construct is ejected from the radius of the spell." That's what I needed to know. That is AWESOME. Thank you so much. – user55434 May 12 '19 at 23:46
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    You may want to further clarify to state that grass in a field would be considered objects that don't collapse the shell nor do microscopic organisms as they're not recognized as creatures, living or otherwise. – Pyrotechnical May 14 '19 at 14:18
  • I don't think "hedged out" means "ejected", though. A hedge is a barrier. To hedge something in or out means to create a barrier that prevents exit or entry, surely? – Peter Chaplin Mar 26 '21 at 16:08
  • @PeterChaplin I'm not sure why that picked that phrase since it doesn't really fit. Hedging normally refers to playing things safe like hedging your bets, That being said, I can't think any any other meaning they could be going for. What would be the point of a spell that traps enemies in with you? – Allan Mills Mar 27 '21 at 19:24
  • @AllanMills Well "hedged out" would mean "prevented from entering", not "prevented from exiting". The point being to create a safe area for your allies that enemies cannot enter. And if there's an enemy already inside, you can move away from them and they can't chase you. – Peter Chaplin Mar 27 '21 at 21:59
  • @PeterChaplin That isn't how it works. It work on everything "alive" whether they be ally or enemy. The second sentence indicates that it prevents creatures from passing through. The statement about hedging non-living creatures out would be redundant if that was what it meant. – Allan Mills Mar 29 '21 at 05:52
  • @AllanMills 1. If it prevents creatures from entering and doesn't force creatures out, then it can be used to create a safe area for allies and keep enemies out, by casting it when your allies are within 10ft of you and your enemies are not. That would be the point of it. 2. This is a discussion about how it works, so saying "that isn't how it works" doesn't add anything meaningful, it's just circular logic. 3. Yes, that sentence would be redundant. So what? Many spells contain redundant text, that's part of DnD 5e's "natural language" approach. – Peter Chaplin Mar 29 '21 at 13:04
  • I thought the spell only ended if you moved such that an affected creature had nowhere to be pushed by the barrier. It would be silly if you could say "boo" and startle someone into moving slightly, and exploit that movement to make their anti-life shell drop (by having people on both sides leaning on the barrier). I think the point of that phrasing is so you can't use it to crush creatures into walls / corners. – Peter Cordes Oct 17 '21 at 09:48
  • But maybe I'm wrong; an analysis of the Pathfinder 1e version (How does the Antilife Shell spell work?) which has slightly different wording (forced against instead of to pass through) concludes that you can't even push people with it, so you can't use it like a ranged Shove attack. Only stop them no matter how hard they push. – Peter Cordes Oct 17 '21 at 10:30
  • That linked Q&A also concludes that you can cast it while other creatures are in the area, and they get to stay. 5e wording is less clear about that, but is compatible with that interpretation. (The pathfinder wording includes the same "hedged out" wording plus other stuff that is explicit about corner cases, but doesn't say it's an exception to the other rule.) – Peter Cordes Oct 17 '21 at 10:33