Magical Effect

A magical effect is anything produced by magic. It is the umbrella category used whenever a rule needs to ask, "is this magic?"

What counts as a magical effect:

• Spells of any kind, ongoing or instantaneous
• The effects of magic items (a flame tongue's fire, boots of speed's burst, a ring of protection's bonus)
• Class features explicitly tagged as magical (a paladin's Lay on Hands, a monk's Ki at higher tiers, a sorcerer's Metamagic)
• Innate magical abilities of creatures (a dragon's breath weapon, a fiend's hellfire, a fey's glamour)
• Magical traps and hazards (a glyph of warding, an enchanted statue)
• Curses and persistent enchantments

What does not count:

• Mundane class features (a fighter's Action Surge, a rogue's Sneak Attack — these are skill, not magic)
• Alchemical effects (alchemist's fire, acid flasks, poisons) — these are mundane chemistry by default
• Psionics may or may not be magical depending on the DM's setting choice; the SRD defaults to treating them as magical

Why the category matters:

• Antimagic Field suppresses all magical effects within it
• Dispel Magic can end most magical effects of a level it can affect
• Detect Magic reveals magical effects within range
• Resistance or immunity to "damage from spells" or "magical effects" applies broadly
• Many monster traits (a golem's Magic Immunity, an iron golem's resistance to nonmagical damage) key off this distinction

Curses: A Curse is a magical effect but is often not removable by Dispel Magic — it typically requires Remove Curse or a specific remedy.