A big part of D&D is kicking in the door and hitting things with your axe. Sometimes, though, you gotta kick in the door with magic.
Doors are the natural enemy of adventurers. They stand between a capable adventurer and the loot that so rightfully lies just on the otherside, often in the hands of an unsuspecting monster. But how do you get through the door? Especially when the door might be locked?
Well, like everything in D&D, magic is the answer. Because even when you can just make a Strength check to push open a door, sometimes you really want to make a good impression. Or everyone dumped Strength because you’re all playing spellcasters. Either way, you have to be careful, because doors are immune to most magic by the sheer dint of not being a creature. Don’t worry, though. Here’s how to blast through the door and start looting.
Shatter
Shatter is the D&D equivalent of a breaching charge from Rainbow Six, sort of. This is a magical spell that creates a sudden loud ringing noise that erupts in a 10-foot radius sphere, dealing 3d8 thunder damage to anything within it, including creatures and nonmagical objects. This is enough to, on average, blast open most doors. Sure, you might have trouble with a heavily fortified or metal door. But by and large, this spell gets the job done.
Knock
Maybe you don’t want to break the door forever, but just get it open. Fine, I guess. In that case, you probably want a spell like Knock. You don’t even have to touch or be near the door. You just cast the spell, pick a door within 60 feet of you, and it instantly becomes unlocked, unstuck, and unbarred. Once that happens, you’ll have to open the door yourself, but this spell works even in the face of a door that has been held shut by Arcane Lock.
Searing Smite
One of the important distinctions about Searing Smite is that it is a spell you can cast whenever you hit “a target” with a Melee weapon or Unarmed Strike. Meaning you can use this even if you hit an object (a lot of spells – and indeed most Smites – require you to specifically target a creature). And with Searing Smite, not only do you gain increased fire damage when making your attack to smite down the door, you set it on fire. Meaning you can potentially burn down the door and the rest of the dungeon!
Gaseous Form
Sometimes you don’t want to actually blast down the door, merely get past it without leaving trace of your presence. For instance, if you wanted to get into a treasure vault or the like but not have anyone know that the vault had been breached. Gaseous form is a great friend then, because you become a different sort of blast as you become vapor and can slither through narrow openings, including between the cracks of stonework or under the door. But it has the added benefit of you’re just a gaseous form, so if there’s someone inside the vault, they might not see you. And you’re resistant to damage, and can run away. Unlike with Dimension Door, which is much better at getting out of the vault once you’ve looted it.
Disintegrate
Finally there’s Disintegrate. When you absolutely, positively, have to get through to the next room, this is the universal opener. It can even create doors where none exist, so long as you roll well enough on your damage!
Happy Adventuring!
