Interesting Dispel Magic Questions

[schm0]

RSP I am not sure what you are going for here. You have been given the clear opinions of at least 3 different people that Dispel Magic targeted at the caster of Shadow Blade will dispel it. While I don't have time to look at all of them, I imagine any spell with a range of self will end up working the same way, they are dispellable if Dispel Magic targets the caster, likely all for the some reason. They are a buff/magical effect on the caster (this is what a range of self means), that can then be used to affect other things.

But that's not what a range of "self" means. The range of the spell has nothing to do with what the nature of the magical effect will be. It simply dictates where the spell effect is created.

The magical effect of shadow blade is the shadow blade itself, not any sort of effect on the caster (i.e. a "buff"). The caster remains precisely the same as they were before. Instead, the magical effect created by the spell takes the form of an object.

Another example is the spell spirit guardians. It has a range of self as well. But the spell effect created is "spirits" that "flit around you". In this case, the spirits are valid targets for dispel magic, but not the caster. There is no spell effect on the caster. Indeed, the spirits fly around the caster. So the spell effect originates on the caster (i.e. a range of self), but the spell effect is all around them.

A spell like armor of agathys, on the other hand, has a range of self, but it creates a "protective magical force" of "spectral frost" that surrounds the caster. The spell originates on the caster, and the spell effect is on the caster.

The range of the spell just explains where the spell effect is (or can be) created. It's the nature of the effect of the spell that matters for dispel magic.