Can you use the metamagic option Twinned spell on the spell enemies abound? Normally I would say yes, because the spell itself only targets one creature. But then I read this tweet by Jeremy Crawford:

Dragon's breath can affect more than one creature with the exhalation. It therefore can't be twinned.

Now I'm not so sure anymore because while the spell enemies abound only targets one creature, this creature still can affect more than one creature

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    \$\begingroup\$ Possible duplicate of Can Hex be Twinned? \$\endgroup\$ – Xirema Oct 4 '18 at 17:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Xirema I dont' think it's the same. With the Hex Spell the target of the spell can change. The target of Enemies abound always is the initial target \$\endgroup\$ – Greenclif Oct 4 '18 at 17:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ It's not an exact duplicate, but if you look at the linked question, you'll see that there has been a lot of discussion about what it means for a spell to "target" a creature, and a lot of conclusions drawn from that discussion can be directly applied to Enemies Abound. \$\endgroup\$ – Xirema Oct 4 '18 at 17:45
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Xirema If it's not an exact duplicate, it shouldn't be closed as "an exact duplicate". \$\endgroup\$ – Please stop being evil Oct 4 '18 at 17:49

Enemies abound is eligible for Twinned Spell

Twinned Spell says:

When you cast a spell that targets only one creature and doesn't have a range of self [...] To be eligible, a spell must be incapable of targeting more than one creature at the spell’s current level.

Enemies abound seems to meet all of these requirements. The spell's only direct effect is:

[...] the target loses the ability to distinguish friend from foe [...]

Note the singular "target". The rest of the spell just describes how the mechanics affect that single creature if it chooses to do certain other things. However, none of those actions are caused by or even enhanced by the spell itself. So those creatures aren't even affected by the spell at all.

So, since enemies abound is a spell that is capable of targeting only one creature and whose range is not self, it is eligible to be twinned.

What about Crawford?

As you point out, Crawford has said:


However, dragon's breath is a completely different case from this. Dragon's breath targets a single creature but then allows them to target a group of creatures with an AOE affect that does stem somewhat directly from the spell itself.

There are those that strongly disagree with this reasoning, but for the purpose of this question it doesn't even matter. That is because, as I mentioned above, this spell has no indirect effects. The targeted creature chooses what actions they make and who to target with those actions. Just because the actions are happening as a result of the mental state of the creature (which is caused by the spell) does not mean that those creatures are affected by the spell, even by Crawford's logic.


Yes, Enemies Abound is eligible for Twinned Spell

For reasons that have been hashed out in other places, I don't feel Crawford has a correct ruling on Dragon's breath, and as such, conclusions drawn from it should not be considered.

The effect of Enemies Abound is to alter the behavior of one creature. It does not have effects on other creatures directly, and the fact that it might cause other creatures to be "affected" as a result of the targeted creature should not factor into consideration when deciding the eligibility of this spell.

Enemies Abound targets one creature with an effect.

Twinned Spell requires that the spell only be capable of targeting one creature.

Therefore, Enemies Abound is eligible to be affected by the Twinned Spell metamagic.


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