There are a number of spells that conjure different sorts of vines/thorns (Entangle, Thorn Whip, Spike Growth, etc). Can these be destroyed by blades or fire? Does it make any difference whether the fire is magical or nonmagical?
The "Objects" section of the Dungeon Master's Guide (p. 246-247) gives some loose guidance for determining AC, hit points, vulnerabilities, and resistances for arbitrary objects. The "Magic Item Resilience" section (p. 141) specifies that magic items have resistance to all damage (though I think it would be incorrect to call conjured vines "magic items"). But I can't seem to find anything specifically spelling this out.
So this brings me to a couple of questions:
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Can magical vines be destroyed at all?
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If they can be destroyed, what are the mechanics?
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Do they have AC? Do they have HP?
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Do the creations of other spells work the same way (leaving aside
those where the spell specifies the durability of the creation)?I'm looking for a RAW answer here, preferably citing which manual the answer comes from.
I'm suspicious that the answer to my questions is, "unless the spell says otherwise, the only way to get rid of the vines is for the spell to end via a lapse in concentration, end of spell duration, or Dispel Magic". If this is the case, what happens if the characters try to burn or cut the vines?
Best Answer
You can't destroy them, unless the rules say you can
D&D spells work as stated in their description. If the rules say you can do something, you can do it. If they don't say you can do it, it becomes up for DM ruling.
As stated in an unofficial tweet by Jeremy Crawford:
Some spells that conjure vines do tell you how you can get free, such as Entangle:
That is the only way listed to get free, so it is the only way to break free; you can't, by the rules as written, decide to try and cut or burn your way free instead. How you and your DM justify why this isn't possible, or if you want to houserule it being possible, is entirely up to you.
Perhaps the plants will just instantly regrow, or perhaps they're made of magical unobtainium that is impervious to all damage. The rules don't care, they just care about what works for game balance.
Balance concerns:
Sure, this might mess with your internal sense of logic, because vines should be destroyable/burnable, but ruling that will make the spells a lot weaker than they already are. Why bother trying to use an action to break free against the opponent's saving throw if you can just cut your way out in the same action? It will essentially mean that the spell no longer scales in any way with the casters saving throw, because you've provided a new, easy way to get out.
But vines are flammable!
People are mentioning that vines should be flammable, but if they were, the spell would have told you so, such as the Web spell:
Per Jeremy Crawford:
If the vines were flammable or destructible, they would say so by the same reasoning. Spells that summon objects that are destructible will generally say so:
For example: Bigby's Hand:
Besides, not all vines are flammable. In the jungle, one of the best ways of getting fresh drinking water is by cutting open vines, that are full of delicious water. You won't likely be setting those on fire any time soon.