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Moonbeam states that:

A silvery beam of pale light shines down in a 5-foot-radius, 40-foot-high cylinder centered on a point within range. Until the spell ends, dim light fills the cylinder.

There is no sight requirement. It is simply a targeted area within 120 feet.

Wall of Force states:

Nothing can physically pass through the wall. It is immune to all damage and can't be dispelled by dispel magic.

I've seen answers saying that you can't hit a target through a Wall of Force because it acts as total cover (from Jeremy Crawford). But moonbeam isn't targeting a person or object, it is targeting a position.

Also Moonbeam is light, not a physical object.

So my question is: Can you cast Moonbeam through Wall of Force, despite it being considered "total cover" and in-spite of it being a non-physical object?

Related: Can spells be cast through a Wall of Force?

Purple Monkey
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Chusha
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  • Understood. I've added more clarification. I read through your link before posting, and didn't find an answer for this unique situation since moonbeam doesn't use site, and may not follow the "Nothing can physically pass through the wall" rule. – Chusha Nov 04 '21 at 03:51
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    I don't agree with the closing. In this question, beam created by the spell never goes through the wall, so circumstances are significantly different. – Mołot Nov 04 '21 at 12:16
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    @Mołot This question as it is currently written definitely seems ot be asking of the chosen point of origin for the beam's effect can be on the other side of the wall of force. You are right, "can the beam effect of moonbeam pass through a wall of force?" is a different question, but it is not at all clear that this is what is being asked here. – Thomas Markov Nov 04 '21 at 14:02

1 Answers1

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Targeting something beyond a wall of force is impossible

The rules on spell targeting state:

To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover.

Note that this rule makes no exceptions for when targeting a point, a creature, or anything else. No matter what you are targeting, you need a clear path.

The wall of force spell provides total cover by not allowing anything to pass through. For further reading on that, we have the following two questions:

And to quote an extremely well upvoted answer to the second question:

Therefore, regardless of the "physicality" of magic, the official ruling on this issue is that wall of force provides total cover, and therefore blocks magic.

So when casting moonbeam which has a range of 120 feet and targets "a point within range", that point cannot be behind total cover. Therefore, you cannot cast moonbeam through a wall of force.

For a comparison, a window would block moonbeam just the same by preventing you from targeting a point beyond it.

Exempt-Medic
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