If the watchers let you get completely out of sight and hearing, sure, you can ready a spell while there and cast it when you come out, but there's no good reason the watchers would permit that.
If you are readying a spell casting, are you still waving your hands around (like Wanda Maximoff) whilst holding a spell with somatic components, or muttering little holding words for a verbal spell?
1. While still out of sight, ready spell with appropriate trigger. 2. Walk out and surrender. 3. Profit.
all within a 6 second turn. not sure it flows well enough for me...
It was (mostly) meant tongue in cheek. Nonetheless, I think you could 'rule of cool' it in a narrow set of circumstances, so long as it wouldn't drastically change an inevitable outcome.
Let's say you've built urgency and the party is really feeling the pressure. You put in their way a group of particularly stupid and arrogant gobbos - real C-team material even by gobbo standards. Not much of a threat, just cannon fodder thrown at them to slow them down. I'd 100% allow the wizard to ready an AoE spell and faux-surrender. The gobbo's are stupid/arrogant enough to think they've won, and react immediately and incautiously, and get incinerated. If the wizard tries it again against an enemy with more than 2 brain cells, I'd absolutely rule that the enemy delays long enough for the spell to fizzle. Perhaps even with some cheesy dialogue calling back to the original - "Haha, you must think me stupid gobbo!" (my party is quite fond of a little cheese now and again, we don't take things too seriously)
When I absolutely, positively wouldn't allow it - if the enemy has more than 2 brain cells, or if the trigger is blatantly going to take so much time that you can't just hand waive it away "I ready a spell to release when they take me to their leader".
If the watchers let you get completely out of sight and hearing, sure, you can ready a spell while there and cast it when you come out, but there's no good reason the watchers would permit that.
If you are readying a spell casting, are you still waving your hands around (like Wanda Maximoff) whilst holding a spell with somatic components, or muttering little holding words for a verbal spell?
If the watchers let you get completely out of sight and hearing, sure, you can ready a spell while there and cast it when you come out, but there's no good reason the watchers would permit that.
If you are readying a spell casting, are you still waving your hands around (like Wanda Maximoff) whilst holding a spell with somatic components, or muttering little holding words for a verbal spell?
All the rules say is that you're "concentrating".
Not according to this passage from the PHB and Basic Rules.
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell's magic requires concentration. If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends, and if you take damage before you release magic missile with your reaction, your concentration might be broken.
All of the casting, including components, are performed during your Action. The spell effect just doesn't happen until the trigger condition has been met. Or, if the trigger never happens, then the spell dissipates and the action is wasted.
When you hold a spell, the slot is consumed regardless to if it was released or not. This implies that it is cast already.
I'd do it like this if they are being observed. Anything with a material component is an auto fail, you can't grab reagents or wave around a wand without people seeing that.
Verbal only and its possible they can do it quietly Somatic, much harder but you might be able to do a simple spell.
The higher the spell level the higher the DC. If the spell fails it's not just that it's noticed, its that the spell backfires somehow.
Id do a performance check for vocal only Slight of hand for somatic only For both, do both and take the lower (split disadvantage)
I like this because it's one of the few times the VSM used in spell casting can come into play.
all within a 6 second turn. not sure it flows well enough for me...
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If you are readying a spell casting, are you still waving your hands around (like Wanda Maximoff) whilst holding a spell with somatic components, or muttering little holding words for a verbal spell?
It was (mostly) meant tongue in cheek. Nonetheless, I think you could 'rule of cool' it in a narrow set of circumstances, so long as it wouldn't drastically change an inevitable outcome.
Let's say you've built urgency and the party is really feeling the pressure. You put in their way a group of particularly stupid and arrogant gobbos - real C-team material even by gobbo standards. Not much of a threat, just cannon fodder thrown at them to slow them down. I'd 100% allow the wizard to ready an AoE spell and faux-surrender. The gobbo's are stupid/arrogant enough to think they've won, and react immediately and incautiously, and get incinerated. If the wizard tries it again against an enemy with more than 2 brain cells, I'd absolutely rule that the enemy delays long enough for the spell to fizzle. Perhaps even with some cheesy dialogue calling back to the original - "Haha, you must think me stupid gobbo!" (my party is quite fond of a little cheese now and again, we don't take things too seriously)
When I absolutely, positively wouldn't allow it - if the enemy has more than 2 brain cells, or if the trigger is blatantly going to take so much time that you can't just hand waive it away "I ready a spell to release when they take me to their leader".
All the rules say is that you're "concentrating".
Not according to this passage from the PHB and Basic Rules.
All of the casting, including components, are performed during your Action. The spell effect just doesn't happen until the trigger condition has been met. Or, if the trigger never happens, then the spell dissipates and the action is wasted.
When you hold a spell, the slot is consumed regardless to if it was released or not. This implies that it is cast already.
I'd do it like this if they are being observed.
Anything with a material component is an auto fail, you can't grab reagents or wave around a wand without people seeing that.
Verbal only and its possible they can do it quietly
Somatic, much harder but you might be able to do a simple spell.
The higher the spell level the higher the DC. If the spell fails it's not just that it's noticed, its that the spell backfires somehow.
Id do a performance check for vocal only
Slight of hand for somatic only
For both, do both and take the lower (split disadvantage)
I like this because it's one of the few times the VSM used in spell casting can come into play.