[RPG] Can a demon summoned by the Summon Greater Demon spell be summoned into and contained by the spell’s blood circle

dnd-5eplanesspellssummoning

Can a demon summoned by the Summon Greater Demon spell be summoned into and contained by the spell's blood circle?


I'm designing a character who can summon demons and bind them with Planar Binding.

The Dybbuk, in particular, is one demon which I'm drawn to due to its ability to possess any Large or smaller humanoid or beast corpse regardless of CR and the only real drawback is the fact it's undead and loses any class features, although it would still be able to use things like innate spellcasting. Its at-will Dimension Door is also extremely useful and I can think of numerous applications.

I described the Dybbuk as the example of focus to highlight that the reason I'm choosing not to just summon it into the Magic Circle is due to the fact that it can teleport at-will. So, while it can't just walk out, I'm extremely doubtful it's going to fail 600 Charisma saving throws during the hour I would be taking to cast the Planar Binding spell. By using a Hallow spell that allows fiends inside the area but disallows teleportation and extra-dimensional travel, this can be stopped but just adds even more expense and a whole 24 hours (and hence, a level of exhaustion) necessary time for preparation.

So, my solution is cast Summon Greater Demon for the Dybbuk into a Glyph of Warding. Since I have to actually cast the spell I'm storing, and can draw the blood circle as part of the casting, I would draw it around the Glyph in which the spell is stored. I would then trigger it so the Demon can be present without my concentration while I concentrate on the casting of Planar Binding.

Hence, since the description of the spell's blood circle only states that the demon cannot cross it (or target anyone in it), does this work inversely as the actual Magic Circle spell can?

Please note that I am not exactly looking for alternatives to this method, but am completely open to them. However, I mainly wish for the question to be answered based on RAW and RAI reading, as well as what you all think would be reasonable.

Best Answer

Yes, if the demon is small enough to fit in the circle.

Two parts of the spell description for Summon Greater Demon (XGtE, p. 166) lead me to this conclusion:

The demon appears in an unoccupied space you can see within range

and

As part of casting the spell, you can form a circle on the ground with the blood used as a material component. The circle is large enough to encompass your space. While the spell lasts, the summoned demon can’t cross the circle or harm it, and it can’t target anyone within it. Using the material component in this manner consumes it when the spell ends.

The spell doesn't explicitly say you can't put the demon in the circle, only that the circle is large enough to encompass your space, and that you summon the demon in an unoccupied space you can see. There's nothing stopping you from drawing the circle, stepping away, and summoning the demon inside the circle.