What happens if a mage is caught in Antipathy/Sympathy

dnd-5espells

I’m unclear on how much, if at all, the Antipathy/Sympathy spell charms the victim into not wanting to resist.

For example, if a wizard were caught in the spell and failed the save, could they recognize it as magic and attempt to dispel it?

Best Answer

Failure has consequences

Failing the save means that the wizard is affected by the Antipathy/Sympathy spell. It's a very powerful (8th level) enchantment intended to cause revulsion or attraction, so that's what it does when it works. Until the affected creatures are no longer subject to the effects, they don't know that they're being externally affected. The Ending the Effect section states [emphasis mine]:

On a successful save, the creature is no longer affected by the target and recognizes the feeling of repugnance or attraction as magical[...]

The wizard, or anyone else, doesn't recognize that they're being controlled unless they succeed on their saving throw. (In my opinion, anything else is 'meta-gaming')