Contradictory spell area descriptors

[Learn34]

I'm AFB at the moment, but would like some help on adjudicating the area of Wall of Chains (BoVD). It has both the (S) "shapeable" tag and a description that it must be a straight wall anchored at both sides. My question is if it's possible to fragment the wall in any way (absent house-ruling the shape spell metamagic) or if wall area in excess of that required to bridge it's anchors is wasted.

[RNightstalker]

I'm AFB at the moment, but would like some help on adjudicating the area of Wall of Chains (BoVD). It has both the (S) "shapeable" tag and a description that it must be a straight wall anchored at both sides. My question is if it's possible to fragment the wall in any way (absent house-ruling the shape spell metamagic) or if wall area in excess of that required to bridge it's anchors is wasted.

It says it will insert itself into surrounding non-living matter IF its area is sufficient to do so. It's not a requirement that there has to be something for it to stick into.

[Nifft]

I'm AFB at the moment, but would like some help on adjudicating the area of Wall of Chains (BoVD). It has both the (S) "shapeable" tag and a description that it must be a straight wall anchored at both sides. My question is if it's possible to fragment the wall in any way (absent house-ruling the shape spell metamagic) or if wall area in excess of that required to bridge it's anchors is wasted.

It can be anchored, but anchoring doesn't seem to be a requirement. From the text it looks like it could just float in the air at an arbitrary height within range.


In terms of shaping, at minimum you can explicitly shape the edges, putting gaps where you want to allow passage.

At maximum, it's a flat & vertical plane like a canvas, and you can place 5 ft. tiles of chain-wall onto this canvas until you run out of area, shaping the edges and the middle to allow passage.

[Thurbane]

The only thing stopping it from it floating in mid-air are the general rules around Conjuration spells:


A creature or object brought into being or transported to your location by a conjuration spell cannot appear inside another creature or object, nor can it appear floating in an empty space. It must arrive in an open location on a surface capable of supporting it.

[Darg]

I'm not really understanding the question.


It must always be a flat plane, though the caster can shape its edges to fit the available space.

The wall must be flat along a single plane. If the path of the wall has a dip or hill like (---^---) you can shape the edge to accommodate as long as it isn't larger than 5 ft² and go around it as you are still keeping a flat plane as the spell can't form inside matter.

[Learn34]

So I guess I could've been more clear in my initial question: what I'm trying to figure out is if I can use this particular Wall spell to segment a room into multiple chunks (shaping the wall like the old computer game Snake) or if I'm limited to a genuine flat sheet. The latter significantly reduces the utility of the spell in the specific condition I'm looking to apply it (as an SLA for a boss monster/encounter in a constrained space).

[Darg]

Based on the wording, I don't think you can bend the wall itself, only the edges. You are also not prevented from increasing the length or height as you wish based on the caster level.