@JeremyECrawford hot topic at our table right now – can Dispel Magic be used to end Banishment? #dnd5e #InquiringWizardsWantToKnow
— S.B.🌹 (@WhorgasBored) January 7, 2018
Dispel magic is cast on a creature, an object, or another phenomenon that is under the effect of a spell. You don't cast it on that spell's caster. To dispel a spell like banishment, you'd have to somehow cast dispel magic on the banished target. #DnD https://t.co/4X1ihYv3dH
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 8, 2018
How is Crawford so astoundingly obtuse?
The obvious implication of the question is that a person who has been Banished has Dispel Magic cast on them, to end the Banishment.
This is not a remotely unlikely scenario to encounter. If a spellcaster who can Dispel Magic gets Banished, then they can just cast it on themselves.
Presumably, it works. But in failing to understand the simple question he was being asked, Jeremy also failed to provide a simple answer, and confirm one way or the other. He got too wrapped up worrying about where the Dispel Magic came from and what it targetted, to actually confirm whether it would work or not.
D. Walker I believe they would have clarified had they thought Mr. Crawford didn’t understand the context of the question. I think that is exactly what SB asked. Your assumptions about the question and Mr. Crawford are way off and seem to be just a convenient way to attack his credibility. Also if you actually wanted Mr. Crawford to see your response you would have tweeted, not post here in the shadows.
That said your scenario is a lot more interesting than the posed question so lets discuss… here in the shadows lol.
The sceranio of the target having dispell could absolutely happen however the Banishment spell says “you banish the target to a harmless demiplane. While there, the target is incapacitated”. They would not be able to do anything let alone cast Dispell on themselves.
The only way your scenario works is if the target has dispell magic and is native to a different plane of existence than it was targetted on. RAW this would place the target on their home plane and would not incapacitate them (RAIdebatable). It is then that they could cast dispell on themselves and potentially end the effect.
But Jeremy *did* say that it could, so long as the target affected — vs. the caster/originator of the Banishment — could be targeted by Dispel Magic. Re-read his comment again more carefully. He cited the not targeting the original caster so as to preempt any question about whether casting DM on *them* would make a difference. This was actually one of JC’s better answers for a given question, not his worst. (To clarify further: while your point about the Banished individual possibly being the dispeller, himself, is valid within its own scope, it is situationally more likely, statistically speaking, that *another* member of the party (or an NPC) will be targeted vs. the dispeller in question. Therefore, JC’s point about noting being able to target the Banished individual is important.)