Does Arcane Trickster Magical Ambush impose disadvantage on Area of Effect/line spells?

3 thoughts on “Does Arcane Trickster Magical Ambush impose disadvantage on Area of Effect/line spells?

  1. D. Walker says:

    MAGICAL AMBUSH
    Starting at 9th level, if you are hidden from a creature when you cast a spell on it, the creature has disadvantage on any saving throw it makes against the spell this turn.

    Seems pretty clear cut to me. If you’re casting a spell, and it affects a creature, and you are hidden from that creature, and it has to make a saving throw, it has disadvantage on that saving throw.

    The only way I could see to insert ambiguity into the reading would be to focus in on the exact phrasing of “when you cast a spell on it”. What does that mean, exactly? It’s not an established mechanical term.

    So how to proceed? Well, when a term is not established to mean a certain thing, the rule is that you interpret it as you would in normal English.

    When you “Target” a creature with a spell, are you casting a spell on it? Yes.
    When you “Affect” a creature with a spell, are you casting a spell on it? Yes.
    When an enemy is within the AoE of a spell, are you casting a spell on it? Yes.

    There’s no real situation in which you force a creature to roll a saving throw against a spell you’ve cast, in which you could be said to NOT cast a spell on it.

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