[RPG] Does wall of force allow the caster to essentially end encounters with one spell

balancednd-5espells

I've been looking at wall of force and it looks really overpowered to me.

It just seems like a get-out-of-almost-any-fight free card. If I'm reading it right, you could escape almost any fight by casting wall of force behind you and running away.

The spell description says that nothing can pass through and that it is indestructible except for a disintegrate spell, so enemies (or players) will be stuck unless they happen to know disintegrate.

Am I missing something or is this spell overpowered as an option to end battles with one action?

Best Answer

No, it is not overpowered.

Wall of Force is certainly a powerful spell. It can be used to split a group of hostiles into smaller pieces, which can be very useful to ensure the party is not overwhelmed. It even blocks spells (somewhat arguably). It can temporarily keep out the largest threat so you can eliminate the minions before the boss. It is a useful battlefield control spell and can in a sense let the PCs split one encounter into two, which is very useful when considering the action economy.

While it is very useful, it is a fifth level spell. Those are meant to be fairly powerful. Your arcane caster is using wall of force instead of other also very powerful spells like cloudkill, hold monster, or dominate person, all of which can have a major impact on a fight.

Running away is rarely a problem in practice in DND-5e

Using wall of force to run away is not normally a problem in practice. At least in the groups I am familiar with, they tend to be very reluctant to run away. (I am not the only one that has noticed this) Few groups in practice will use wall of force to escape an encounter that is remotely balanced. Most GMs will want their group to have a reliable way to escape from a truly unbalanced encounter that could result in a TPK. In short, this particular use would not be overpowered even if it guaranteed that the PCs could get away.

Notably, it doesn't make that guarantee. Assuming PCs are able to fully contain the other side (such as by putting them in a dome or using terrain to box them in), it gives the PCs a head start of about 10 minutes. Now 10 minutes is a long time in DnD and they might get away or they might use that time to otherwise prepare a more favorable battlefield. But 10 minutes is not so long that it guarantees escape against an opponent with any sort of tracking ability...

Also, that assumes they can trap all of the opposition. If they are spread out enough and the terrain is not favorable, its very possible the wizard cannot trap them all. In that case, we are back to the use case of cutting the enemy into groups to be dealt with separately. Certainly useful and powerful, but not an automatic end to the fight, especially since it requires concentration and a smart enemy might go out of their to end the concentration and free their allies.