Antimagic Fields and Command Word activation of something outside the AMF?

[StreamOfTheSky]

If I were in an antimagic field and my Fire Seed holly berry bombs in a nice little pouch are outside of an antimagic field, can I use the command word to make them go boom?

We're heading into a beholder den soon, and their antimagic cones are a bit worrying, I realize I'm pretty much beyond useless in an AMF and even the beholder's weak bite attack vs. my garbage AC would win in a duel vs. my nonmagical scimitar. I don't know what the terrain will be like, obviously escaping the AMF or staying out of bite range is ideal, but if that's not an option, I'm trying to plan for the worst.

So one thing I thought of that'd be amusing is... beholder has me in its AMF cone, I flee away and "drop" (oops!) my seed pouch, while ending my movement still inside the cone (either for protection from its eye rays or more likely b/c the room isn't large enough to let me get out of it), then ready an action to COMMAND WORD! as it passes by my seed pouch, pursuing me.
Would that actually work, though? Is the command word itself "magical", or just the seeds (that are out of the cone as it passes over them)?

If you have any other advice/tactics beyond ridiculous stuff like shrink item tinfoil hats, please share. I'm a 14th level Druid.
I have another idea involving Fire Trap on some flasks (just aim for a part of the beholder outside the large eye, and it's not in the AMF and thus suitably goes "boom"), but that only works for people other than me doing the throwing per RAW (I can't set off my own fire trap).
Yes, acorn grenade Fire Seeds would work by the same premise, but their damage is pitiful for the spell level, honestly.
Splinter Bolt is unlikely to help much, it hits full AC and beholders have pretty high AC if not hitting touch. Ideally we'd stay far away (long range spells easily out-range their eye beams) and blast them like crazy, but I'm guessing inside a beholder hive that won't be viable.

[Tzardok]

Spontaneously, I would say that works. I think the magic is solely in the fireseed.

[Biggus]

I don't know of any RAW on this subject. The closest related things I can find are:

Antimagic doesn't block line of effect for spells (RC p.11)

There's nothing in the description of activating magic items by command word (DMG p.213) that suggests the word itself is in any way magical

So by inference from the above, I'd say it should work.

[Chronos]

The one thing that would give me pause is that it's only you who can use the command word, not anyone else. The berries aren't just "listening for the right word"; they have some way of knowing that the word is coming from their caster. That recognition might plausibly be cut off by an Antimagic Field.

[Tzardok]

Maybe they simply have voice recognition. This offers the fun possibility that beings that can imitate voices can set off your berries while you are carrying them.

[Duke of Urrel]

If I were in an antimagic field and my Fire Seed holly berry bombs in a nice little pouch are outside of an antimagic field, can I use the command word to make them go boom? […]

So one thing I thought of that'd be amusing is... beholder has me in its AMF cone, I flee away and "drop" (oops!) my seed pouch, while ending my movement still inside the cone (either for protection from its eye rays or more likely b/c the room isn't large enough to let me get out of it), then ready an action to COMMAND WORD! as it passes by my seed pouch, pursuing me.

Would that actually work, though? Is the command word itself "magical", or just the seeds (that are out of the cone as it passes over them)?

The description of the Antimagic Field spell doesn't explain all the ways that magic can interact with it. The reason for this is that sometimes, magic has an effect beyond the creature or object that merely carries the magic.

For example, most people agree that a sense-enhancing spell, such as Darkvision, Deeper Darkvision, Dragonsight, Ebon Eyes, Low-Light Vision, Scent, or Tremorsense, endows you with an extraordinary sense that works even inside an antimagic field, provided that you, the carrier of the spell, are outside of it. Most people also agree that divinatory senses created by magic work just like extraordinary senses created by magic. Thus, the Arcane Sight spell, the Greater Arcane Sight spell, and the See Invisibility spell can reveal things inside antimagic fields, provided that you, the carrier of the spell, are outside of all antimagic fields.

When I am the dungeon master, I distinguish three categories of spells or magical powers that have effects beyond their carriers and that may penetrate antimagic fields, though only from the outside. One category is the sense-enhancing category just mentioned above. Two other categories are: (1) spells or magical powers that create extra-magical accessories and (2) spells or magical powers that create extra-magical agents.


1.
Telepathy, as most people understand it, is a magical power that creates extra-magical accessories. A creature that possesses telepathy as a supernatural ability, that is, a telepath, carries active magic when it either sends or receives a telepathic message. However, the non-telepaths who must receive telepathic messages from telepaths before they can respond to them telepathically do not carry any active magic. These creatures are what I call extra-magical accessories. As a house rule, I allow extra-magical accessories both to receive and to respond to telepathic messages from inside antimagic fields, provided that the telepath they communicate with is outside of all antimagic fields. I consider the Speak with Animals spell, the Speak with Plants spell, and the Stone Tell spell to work like this. These spells make extra-magical accessories out of animals, plants, or stones, respectively. Thus, I allow them to work as long as the spellcaster is outside of all antimagic fields.

2.
An extra-magical agent is just like an extra-magical accessory, except that the magic involved works in the opposite direction. Three spells of the Enchantment school and the Compulsion subschool of magic empower not the carrier of the spell, but the caster of the spell, to send telepathic messages and to read the carrier’s mind. These spells are the Dominate Animal spell, the Dominate Person spell, and the Dominate Monster spells. As a house rule, I allow an extra-magical agent, for example the caster of the Dominate Person spell, to continue to dominate the subject of the spell, even from within an antimagic field; however, the subject of the spell, who actually carries the magic of the spell, must be outside of all antimagic fields. I also consider the supernatural Dominate power of vampires to be a magical power that creates an extra-magical agent; thus, you are safe from the vampire's control if you are inside an antimagic field, but not if the vampire is.

This rule of mine covers the Fire Seeds spell. I consider this spell to be one that makes you an extra-magical agent, because the holly berries, which carry the spell's magic (because they are targets of the spell), are under your command, even though you don't carry any magic (because you are not the spell's target). So if I was your dungeon master, I would say that you can detonate magically charged holly berries by uttering a command word from inside an antimagic field. As long as the berries themselves are outside of all antimagic fields, they explode normally.

As a dungeon master, I make it a general rule that spells of the Divination school always target you, the spellcaster, even if the spell's description and stat block don't explicitly identify you as the spell's target. Thus, it is not only the scrying sensor or information-gathering device that carries magic when you use these spells, but also you. I apply this rule to the Message spell as well, even though it is a Transmutation spell. Spells of this kind create what I call divinatory links, which cannot work if either end of the link is inside an antimagic field. I require the supernatural Empathic Link or Telepathic Link that connects you to a familiar, a magical mount, or a homunculus also to create a divinatory link that works only when both ends of the link are outside of all antimagic fields. For specific reasons, I exempt a few Divination spells from this rule: Ghostharp, Listening Coin, Prying Eyes, and Greater Prying Eyes. These spells create what I call divinatory devices, which carry magic without requiring you to carry any magic; thus, these spells belong to the category of spells that create extra-magical agents. I allow you to use a divinatory device while you are inside an antimagic field, provided that the device itself is outside of all antimagic fields.


I'm a 14th level Druid. I have another idea involving Fire Trap on some flasks (just aim for a part of the beholder outside the large eye, and it's not in the AMF and thus suitably goes "boom"), but that only works for people other than me doing the throwing per RAW (I can't set off my own fire trap).

As a dungeon master, I would be inclined to say that the Fire Trap trick won't work. The reason is this passage from the description of the Symbol of Death spell (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/symbolOfDeath.htm).


You can’t use a symbol of death offensively; for instance, a touch-triggered symbol of death remains untriggered if an item bearing the symbol of death is used to touch a creature. Likewise, a symbol of death cannot be placed on a weapon and set to activate when the weapon strikes a foe.

The Symbol of Death spell is an 8th-level spell. If you are forbidden to use even this very powerful spell trap offensively, I believe it makes no sense to say that you can use a lower-level spell trap, such as the Fire Trap spell, offensively. Of course, I am not your dungeon master...

[StreamOfTheSky]

As a dungeon master, I would be inclined to say that the Fire Trap trick won't work. The reason is this passage from the description of the Symbol of Death spell (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/symbolOfDeath.htm).

I don't see why the rules for Symbol of Death (which includes an entire line of "symbol" spells that all follow the same activation rules) should apply to an entirely different spell. They certainly don't apply to Explosive Runes, for example. Which is a much more similar (and better! 6d6 force vs. d4+CL fire) spell of similar level.


The Symbol of Death spell is an 8th-level spell. If you are forbidden to use even this very powerful spell trap offensively, I believe it makes no sense to say that you can use a lower-level spell trap, such as the Fire Trap spell, offensively. Of course, I am not your dungeon master...

Fire Trap does d4+CL fire in a tiny 5 ft radius, reflex half.
Symbol of Death kills people outright, potentially a lot of them.
The spell being harder to use is hardly the only parameter one should look at when determining spell level.