Talk:Power Word Obliterate (5e Spell)

In regard to the selection of Enchantment as the school, I felt it added to the intrigue of the spell's effect. My understanding of Evocation is magic that in some way creates something, even if that thing is a destructive force. It was described in the 3.5e PHB as: "The evocation school of magic included spells that manipulated energy or tapped an unseen source of power in order to produce a desired end. In effect, they created something out of nothing." This spell can only destroy; it cannot be evocation. It could reasonably be a Necromancy or Transmutation spell, but I like how Enchantment reinforces the idea that this will destroy you in a way no other spell could, simply commanding your mind and soul to no longer exist, anywhere, ever. It feels like the most appropriately mystical option to me so far, but I'm open to it being a different school besides evocation.--Malachai (talk) 18:27, 2 August 2022 (MDT)

In 5th edition, the school of Evocation is the magical equivalent of applying raw brute force; plain and simple as that. Evocation is perfectly capable of causing pure destruction, and is widely known for it, but it can also be used to describe other spells that apply raw energy, such as heal.

The school of Enchantment, by comparison, is a lot more abstract. Its primary function is manipulating the mind of another creature to influence or control its behavior, which can extend to a creature's mind doing things to its own body that it normally couldn't, somehow. However, Enchantment is also used as the go-to school for more traditional magic like you'd see in ancient folklore tales, such as curses and other weird miscellany that doesn't cleanly fit into any other school.

Power Word spells are a trendy theme of advanced 7th-to-9th level spells, usually codified by inflicting a significant effect with no saving throw. Power Words don't particularly adhere to any school of magic. Comparing Power Word Obliterate with power word kill, Kill says it compels a creature to die instantly; while Obliterate states that it... well... obliterates them outright. I think this description makes it fit more with Evocation than Enchantment. Endermage77 (talk) 19:19, 2 August 2022 (MDT)

I haven't seen a 5e-specific description of the school of magic that doesn't say "create" or "produce" somewhere. Evocation wizard subclass: "You focus your study on magic that creates powerful elemental Effects such as bitter cold..." Player handbook: "Evocation spells manipulate magical energy to produce a desired effect." The root word, evoke, means "to call forth or up." There are no evocation spells in the game that erase something from existence like this. The closest I could think of would be destroy water, bringing this more in tune with Transmutation. I still like the esoteric flavor of Enchantment, though.--Malachai (talk) 19:41, 2 August 2022 (MDT)