If a caster under the effect of blink enters the Ethereal Plane, does that break contact with the target for purposes of ongoing witch bolt damage?
[RPG] Witch Bolt and Blink interaction
dnd-5espells
Related Solutions
The ongoing damages aren't attacks, and are unaffected by mirror image
Quoting the text of mirror image with emphasis:
Each time a creature targets you with an attack during the spell's duration, [...]
"Attack" has a specific definition (see this answer for more detail); it's only an attack if it requires an attack roll. Once the initial attack hits, subsequent applications of damage no longer require an attack roll, therefore they're not attacks as far as the rules are concerned. Since Mirror Image only works on attacks, it is ignored.
It depends on the caster's sight
Appendix C of the Player's Handbook (or the basic rules) says under the "Transitive Planes" heading that some spells allow you to see into the Ethereal Plane:
Its shores, called the Border Ethereal, overlap the Material Plane and the Inner Planes, so that every location on those planes has a corresponding location on the Ethereal Plane. Certain creatures can see into the Border Ethereal, and the see invisibility and true seeing spell grant that ability.
The see invisibility spell allows you to see into the Ethereal Plane. But any other ability to see into the Ethereal Plane (or vice versa), does NOT give you all the effects of the see invisibility spell.
The see invisibility spell description explicitly says it gives you two different abilities — to see invisible things AND see into the Ethereal Plane:
For the duration, you see invisible creatures and objects as if they were visible, and you can see into the Ethereal Plane.
Since spells do only what they say they do, the Blink spell gives you an ability to see the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane, nothing more. It does NOT give you the other effect of the see invisibility spell.
So you simply can see all the Material Plane — terrain, objects (including walls) and creatures. The blink ability imposes two restrictions though:
- You can't see farther than 60 feet into the Material Plane
- You can't see colors when perceiving the Material Plane
Beyond that, you use your own sight. That means all other restrictions of your own sight are still there:
- If you can't see through fog normally, you can't see through it from the Ethereal Plane
- If you can't see through darkness, you can't see through it from the Ethereal Plane
- If you can't see through walls, you won't see through walls from the Ethereal Plane
- If you can't see invisible creatures, you won't see them from the Ethereal Plane
The blink spell does not give you an ability to see invisible creatures, or see through walls. You will neither see through walls, nor invisible things, unless you already were able do that before casting blink.
Also, you will see the Ethereal Plane itself
The blink spell makes you "vanish from your current plane of existence and appear in the Ethereal Plane". It also says that you "can see and hear the plane you originated from". Since it doesn't say "can see only the plane you originated from", I assume you can see the Ethereal Plane as well, including creatures from this plane.
However, you can't look farther than 60 feet in Ethereal Plane (see DMG page 48, under the "Ethereal Plane" heading):
Visibility in the Border Ethereal is limited to 60 feet
Best Answer
Yes
The spell text of Blink (emphasis mine) states:
You are casting Witch Bolt but you are not on the ethereal plane. Therefore, you cannot affect someone who is on the ethereal plane by the effect of Blink.
Furthermore, you cannot percieve or interact with someone who has successfully become ethereal through Blink. Witch Bolt does not specifically require sight, but I would definitely classify targeting someone with a spell as an interaction.
Furthermore, as Tim Grant suggested in the comments, several magical effects have the caveat that the work so long as you and the target are both on the same plane of existence. If the target blinks away, they are not. The general rule of thumb is that spells do only what they say they do, and Witch Bolt does not permit the targeting of a creature on another plane. (Spells that do, such as Sending typically mention that it is a capability of the spell.)