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If you take a mundane Longsword and enchant it with Continual Flame (or Light), do attacks using the enchanted weapon count as a magical attack for the purposes of overcoming immunities or resistances to nonmagical attacks?

Kerrick
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3 Answers3

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No, because spells only do what they say they do.

Spells like Magic Weapon and Holy Weapon specifically state that the enchanted weapon "becomes a magic weapon," which implies that becoming a magic weapon is a distinct behavior that can be covered by the text of a spell. Spells like Light and Continual Flame don't say they do that, so they don't do it.

Note that "a magical attack is an attack delivered by a spell, a magic item, or another magical source" (Monster Manual, pp. 8):

  • The Continual Flame spell does not deliver an attack.
  • The Continual Flame spell did not cause the sword to become a magic item (or a subset of that, a magic weapon).
  • Neither the Continual Flame spell nor the magical flame created by it deal any damage.
Kerrick
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  • This answer could be improved by stating why an attack with a continually flaming sword would not be an attack delivered by "another magical source". – Kirt Nov 02 '23 at 05:01
  • @Kirt Great point! I've updated it with detailed bullet points about each option in that phrase. – Kerrick Nov 02 '23 at 05:11
4

There's a spell for that

There is spell to turn weapons into magic weapons, aptly called magic weapon. It says:

You touch a nonmagical weapon. Until the spell ends, that weapon becomes a magic weapon

Continual flame does not say anything like that. As spells only do what they say, it does not turn the weapon into a magic weapon.

Nobody the Hobgoblin
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Per Jeremy Crawford’s unofficial ruling, no.

https://www.sageadvice.eu/would-casting-the-light-cantrip-on-a-weapon-render-it-a-magic-weapon

A weapon with a spell cast on it is under the effect of that spell, but does not itself become magical (unless stated so by the spell). The general rule is also that spells do only what they say they do and nothing more. Light and continual flame do not say anything about overcoming resistance to nonmagical BPS damage.

Thomas Markov
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Daniel Tose
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    "Per sage advice" could be confusing here, in that the Sage Advice Compendium is a source of official rulings, but sageadvice.eu is a collection of unofficial designer tweets. – Kirt Nov 02 '23 at 04:59
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    I find the uncommented downvotes on this one a bit harsh. Yes, the link to the inofficial SA site is not that relevant, but the actual content of the answer, even if lacking in citation support, is essentially the same as for the other answers, and coming from a new contributor. I feel it would be more helpful to Daniel if those that downvoted at least explained why, to give Daniel the chance to learn and improve his contribution. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Nov 02 '23 at 12:19
  • @NobodytheHobgoblin Thank you, agreed. – Kirt Nov 02 '23 at 15:33
  • @NobodytheHobgoblin I personally believe that Crawford’s tweets cited in a vacuum aren’t just unhelpful, but can even be harmful. So I almost always downvote answers that only cite tweets. – Thomas Markov Nov 02 '23 at 16:24
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    @ThomasMarkov Sure, but to Groody's point it would also be helpful to explain that as your criteria to a user on their first post, as you just did. – Kirt Nov 02 '23 at 16:59