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Spells such as conjure animals, conjure elemental, confure fey etc. all have limited durations - minutes or hours. This makes them of limited use for long-term guarding applications.

The 7th-level spell sequester makes a target invisible and undetectable by most means, and holds them in place. It states:

If the target is a creature, it falls into a state of suspended animation. Time ceases to flow for it, and it doesn’t grow older.

(emphasis mine)

If sequester doesn't just cause suspended animation but actually stops the flow of time, does this include pausing the clock on the duration of conjure spells? For example, could you use conjure fey, convince the summoned creature(s) to allow you to sequester them, and be sure of having them still be friendly for an hour after sequester ends?

anaximander
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2 Answers2

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No. Time may pause for the creature, but it's the caster's spell that is keeping them summoned, and Sequester doesn't pause time for the caster or their spell. A caster's spells will still run out their duration even if part of the effect of the spell is in some kind of stasis.

It's besides the point for this question, but it's even debatable whether Sequester cast on the caster of a spell would have any effect on the spell either, since the spell isn't the creature and Sequester only pauses time for a creature. I won't offer an answer to that un-asked question, but I'm willing to say that it's not obviously true that Sequester could even pause a spell attached to its target.

SevenSidedDie
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NO it doesn't.

"A spell's duration is the length of time the spell persists." (PHB p.203) there is no mention of any dependency on the flow of time experienced by the caster or the target or anyone or anything else. This means that, unless stated otherwise in a specific case, it is independent.

The spell states (PHB p.274): "it [the creature] falls into a state of suspended animation. Time ceases to flow for it, and it doesn’t grow older". It is only for the creature itself that time ceases to flow. Also note that this is only a clause for a creature, not for an object, which implies the intent is that this is merely so a creature does not age and can be sequestered for thousands of years

It is clear that modifying the duration of a spell is very significant in terms of balance and the ability to do so is extremely limited. The sorcerer metamagic Extend Spell ability is one of the very, very few examples in the game. From this it can be inferred that the intent of the rules is to avoid things that modify spell durations. So if there is a rules call or interpretation to be made we should err on the side of spell durations not being modified

Even without these general points the conjured creatures are not sequestered, the magic once cast is "external" to the caster so would not be within the sequester effect in any case

Most conjurations generally require concentration. Conjure Fey, for example, has a duration of "Concentration, up to 1 hour" (PHB p.226) and as a DM I would rule that being in suspended animation means you lose concentration

All this adds up to a no.

A related question: what happens if you sequester a conjured creature/object which has an applied spell duration?

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Protonflux
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  • Technically, doesn't the rules for conjuration now actually summon critters? With that if you sequester one that is summoned when the conjuration duration is up the sequestered critter still goes back to where it was plucked but is still sequestered? Just a thought as a DM that likes it when players weave the rope that hangs themselves. – Slagmoth Feb 01 '17 at 20:47
  • I think the answer is difficult to read because of the bullet points. It might be best if they were formatted as regular paragraphs. Also, the questions you propose at the end of the answer probably shouldn't be included in the answer; they should be posted as questions. – LegendaryDude Feb 01 '17 at 20:52
  • Slagmouth: I think you are right. There is nothing in the spell description to suggest that the sequestered thing can't be moved, they are just very invisible. The thing that is summoned would return to whence it came still sequestered... Of course sequester only works on a willing subject, one that can make the choice to accept the spell, so it wouldn't work on an "unintelligent" animal, which cannot make such a choice. – Protonflux Feb 02 '17 at 10:54
  • LDude: I have re-formated and it is indeed better, thanks! As to the final points I said that these could be raised in other questions. I thought they were too important to understanding the answer, contextually, to miss out. I've updated the text to make this clear. – Protonflux Feb 02 '17 at 10:57