With so many Counterspell related threads I apologise in advance if this question/scenario has been covered, and thus too for my pathetic attempts to locate such a thread...
I play an awesome (if I don't say so myself) Level 7 Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline origin/Fire affinity) and in a recent session (inexplicably for the first time) I tried to use the latter part of the Elemental Affinity feature (PHB, pg. 102);
This states "When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add +4 to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour".
My spell use declaration (Scorching Ray) included my intent to expend a Sorcery Points for the resistance bonus. This was promptly and successfully counterspelled by an opposing Sorcerer (and a far too joyful DM for my liking... lol). We were in the heat of a hectic battle, and when I queried if that also affected the resistance and if the point was lost as well he made the quickly considered call that yes, that the resistance was also cancelled out/point lost. At the time it certainly made sense so I was happy with the call. Our DM also noted (which is his usual approach) that he was happy for us to look into later and correct for future as needed, Hence my attempted research and this question....
Does Counterspell cancel the use of a Sorcery Point (as well as the spell being cast)?
The Counterspell description states: "You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. If the creature is casting a spell of 3rd level or lower, its spell fails and has no effect. If it is casting a spell of 4th level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the creature’s spell fails and has no effect.
While I am leaning toward my DM's original decision as to how we should play this scenario out, ongoing (and I'm hoping its a rare scenerio indeed), I can see how this could be interpreted in multiple ways'..
a. Yes, you lose the sorcerer point and the resistance bonus on a successful Counterspell if you recognise the act of spell casting itself as expending the sorcerer point (instead of a bonus action), or
b. You don't get to apply the resistance because the Counterspell eliminated the option to expend the Sorcery Point in the first place if you recognise the point is expended at the time you roll damage dice ? (thus you retain that point), or...
I would say "no, you don't lose the point." Because counterspell makes the spell have no effect. That means it does not deal fire damage so your feature can't be used on it. That is my impression anyway. So, B.
1 C option to consider though: you activate the feature before the spell is countered, the countered spell has no effect, but the feature isn't countered by counterspell and you still get resistance. I would consider this the second most likely option.
I would say "no, you don't lose the point." Because counterspell makes the spell have no effect. That means it does not deal fire damage so your feature can't be used on it. That is my impression anyway. So, B.
1 C option to consider though: you activate the feature before the spell is countered, the countered spell has no effect, but the feature isn't countered by counterspell and you still get resistance. I would consider this the second most likely option.
My counterpoint is that if you miss with Scorching Ray, you still expend the sorcery point, despite not dealing fire damage in this specific instance, since the trigger is the casting, not the dealing of damage. I think the wording can be read as requiring actually dealing fire damage, but that seems at odds with "when you cast." At the end of the day, it feels ambiguous and up to the DM to rule at the table.
I would say "no, you don't lose the point." Because counterspell makes the spell have no effect. That means it does not deal fire damage so your feature can't be used on it. That is my impression anyway. So, B.
1 C option to consider though: you activate the feature before the spell is countered, the countered spell has no effect, but the feature isn't countered by counterspell and you still get resistance. I would consider this the second most likely option.
My counterpoint is that if you miss with Scorching Ray, you still expend the sorcery point, despite not dealing fire damage in this specific instance, since the trigger is the casting, not the dealing of damage. I think the wording can be read as requiring actually dealing fire damage, but that seems at odds with "when you cast." At the end of the day, it feels ambiguous and up to the DM to rule at the table.
Well, "dealing fire damage" is arguably still the spell's effect even if it misses.
But if it is countered it loses that effect and becomes a spell that cannot deal fire damage, whereas when it misses it just failed to deal fire damage.
Then there is also the discussion of "is a spell cast at the beginning or end of its casting time?" Which can also mess with rulings.
They say "The spell fails and has no effect". The way I read that, the spell was not stopped from being cast, it was counter-acted. The spell slot is used, the Sorcery Point expended, and you get nothing. I'm a cruel and heartless DM. What happens to the characters also applies to the monsters, and if a character is burning spell slots to counterspell, they ought to get something more than just making the enemy have to repeat themselves doing the same exact thing until they run you out of spell slots.
Hmm. This is a tricky one. As Geann points out, counterspell does not stop the spell from being cast, you still spend the spell slot and you can't cast any other spells that turn, etcetera.
If I would be making the ruling, this would be my thought process:
Caster decides to cast a spell.
Caster decides which resources to spend for that casting (what level spell slot, maybe an inspiration die, maybe a sorcerer point).
Appropriate rolls are made. This includes to hit and save rolls but in also any potential counterspells.
The results of the casting is worked out.
Since the resource spending comes before the counterspell, anything put into that "pot" is part of what the counterspell counters. Compare and contrast that to, for example, a paladin smite which says "when you hit" so the resource spending takes place before the final result instead of before the appropriate rolls are made. It's not a perfect analogy.
Full disclosure, there might be a better or "more correct" way but this is fast and simple which often is quite valuable in a game, especially during combat.
"When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add +4 to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour"
I read this in two parts, you cast a spell that deals fire damage(I take this to reference the text of the spell not the hit/miss/resulting damage roll)
Casting that spell allows you to use the feature.
So I would rule the spell is cast but the effect is cancelled by counter spell, but the ability triggers giving you resistance.
If you read counter spell to mean the spell fails and is not cast, you wouldn't have the opportunity to spend the sorcery point
Counterspell doesn't prevent a spell being cast, it makes the spell fail without any effect. So if you have a feature that provides its own benefit when you cast a spell, you still get that benefit: so you still get damage resistance from draconic affinity, if it was a transmutation spell, you still get to change your transmuter's stone -- these features are triggered by the casting, not by the success or effect of the spell. This also means the resources are still expended - such as the sorcery points or the spell slot.
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Bottom line: yes, you correctly lost your Sorcery Point & the spell slot used. No, you did not correctly lose your resistance as well.
The only Metamagic option you would not lose any points for is Empowered Spell, and that is because you choose to use that MM option when you are actually rolling damage (your spell was successfully cast). Everything else has to be declared at the time of casting, and you do lose those SPs if the spell is foiled or otherwise fails to connect.
[edit] I read the details of Elemental Affinity more closely, and realized it is a distinct case
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
So is the general consensus that draconic affinity doesn't get countered? Point spent, resistance gained.
I would say no.
...when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry,
Since the spell did not deal any damage, it did not deal damage of the type associated with the sorcerer's draconic ancestry. I would say the situation does not allow the feature to be used. No sorcery point spent. No resistance gained.
So is the general consensus that draconic affinity doesn't get countered? Point spent, resistance gained.
I would say no.
...when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry,
Since the spell did not deal any damage, it did not deal damage of the type associated with the sorcerer's draconic ancestry. I would say the situation does not allow the feature to be used. No sorcery point spent. No resistance gained.
Idk... I can kinda see two arguments, but I'm going to personally go with "yeah, it works"
Elemental Affinity
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add your Charisma modifier to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour.
"When you cast a spell" seems to be the initial triggering condition, not "when you roll damage for a spell" (like Empowered Spell).
I don't think there's a valid argument against that being the case, but the real question is what "at the same time" means. If it's "at the same time as when you cast a spell", then you can spend 1 SP to gain resistance regardless of the spell's outcome. If it's "at the same time as when you roll damage", then you cannot spend 1 SP to gain resistance.
I think the intent lies with the former, but I can see the logic as supporting either conclusion.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
"When you cast a spell" seems to be the initial triggering condition, not "when you roll damage for a spell" (like Empowered Spell).
The phrase you quoted is the first of two qualifications for the feature. A countered fireball is still a cast spell, but it does not deal 8d6 fire damage.
"When you cast a spell" seems to be the initial triggering condition, not "when you roll damage for a spell" (like Empowered Spell).
The phrase you quoted is the first of two qualifications for the feature. A countered fireball is still a cast spell, but it does not deal 8d6 fire damage.
Correct, but we have to be aware of what the mechanical process is for this specific feature, and what actually causes SP to be consumed.
In all of the standard (not empowered) metamagic options, you spend SP to materially alter the way the spell functions, and you eat the SP cost of that "when you cast a spell", regardless of whether you are successful or not. Counterspell is just one way to cause resources to be consumed without getting the intended effect; you can also just straight up miss.
Empowered Spell alters the function of the spell at the moment that damage is being rolled ("when you roll damage for a spell"), so the moment you roll dice, that SP is gone. If the result of your rerolled damage is less than the first roll, tough, it happened. If a creature hit by that spell manages to mitigate all of the damage dealt, that SP is still gone.
Elemental Affinity doesn't exactly follow either of those processes identically. We first have to consider that you do not have to spend SP at all to utilize the main aspect of this feature. "when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add your Charisma modifier to one damage roll of that spell" really means you get that any/every time you cast an eligible spell, and you pay nothing for it. You do not get to add to that damage roll without actually rolling damage, but you have fulfilled the prerequisite of the feature itself the moment you cast a spell that would be eligible.
When you have to decide to spend SP is the trickier point because "at the same time" can legitimately mean either "at the same time as when you cast a spell" or "at the same time as when you roll damage for a spell"; WotC definitely dropped the ball by failing to be clear and concise here. Considering the condition for the primary aspect of the feature is "when you cast a spell", I think it's more accurate to presume the secondary aspect of the feature also cues off of "when you cast a spell". It is also important to note that the effect of spending SP is not to alter the spell/effect itself; it is to produce an entirely distinct effect that affects the caster. Missing or otherwise dealing no damage with the spell would not stop the caster from receiving resistance to the relevant damage type for 1 hour.
Q.E.D., when you cast a spell that would deal damage of the type associated with the caster's draconic ancestry, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour. The spell itself can fizzle, miss, or otherwise fail to affect a target, while still granting the caster that resistance because that effect happens "when you cast a spell".
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Q.E.D., when you cast a spell that would deal damage of the type associated with the caster's draconic ancestry, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour. The spell itself can fizzle, miss, or otherwise fail to affect a target, while still granting the caster that resistance because that effect happens "when you cast a spell".
I take your point here, and I am suggesting the spell has to actually deal the damage, not simply be a spell capable of dealing the damage under better circumstances. The distinction I draw is that a countered fireball is incapable of doing damage to anyone, as opposed to a fireball that goes off and a rogue successfully evades it for instance. In that case, you still cast a spell that dealt damage, but the recipient was able to avoid all of it. It would also work with a fireball cast harmlessly into the sky. The spell still goes off, and you could (if you wanted) roll damage to see how strong it was, even though nobody would take the damage.
So you take the conditional statement "when you cast a spell that deals damage" as analogous to "when you roll damage for a spell"? Is that correct? Like I said before, that's a legitimate reading of the conditional even if I don't agree with it.
What I'm not sure about is the context you're using... if you cast a fireball harmlessly into the sky, the spell did not deal damage (unless your DM wants to roll percentile dice to see if you hit some birds? 😂). If you're saying that circumstance would allow the Sorcerer to then spend 1SP for resistance, then that's really just "when you cast a spell" with extra steps. Could you clear up your intent for me?
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Looking at it from the other end, would you say a countered fireball deals any fire damage?
I think the argument for that being a legal trigger is that Fireball is a spell that as written deals fire damage.
Its a question of does "When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry," mean when a spell actually deals the damage, or does it refer to the spell description.
My personal rulings tend to favor the player so I would rule the trigger based on the spell description, otherwise missing with scorching ray or similar wouldn't allow the ability to be used.
But really the only ruling I would have an issue with based on this thread is the one where the sorcery point is used, and the ability doesn't trigger.
Looking at it from the other end, would you say a countered fireball deals any fire damage?
No, it wouldn't, and the caster would not be able to use Empowered Spell as a result. If you are presuming "when you roll damage" to be the conditional for spending 1SP to gain resistance with Elemental Affinity, then that would not be applicable to a countered fireball either.
If you are presuming (like I do) that the conditional is "when you cast a spell", a countered fireball still does not deal actual damage, but the caster would still be able to spend 1 SP for resistance as it is an entirely separate effect from what happens with the spell itself. Spending 1SP to gain resistance to a damage type doesn't care about what actually happens with the spell, only that you've cast it, as it is with every other (non-empowered spell) metamagic feature. Gaining resistance is not a function of the spell itself, nor is the SP spent on altering the spell. Counterspell stops the spell itself from completing, but it does not stop the casting itself from happening, nor does it prevent an independent effect gained by the caster as a result of casting.
What I'm not sure about is if I understand your position entirely. Are you taking the [that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry] part of "when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry" to really mean "When you roll damage for a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry"? That's not a position I would agree with (and I mean if that were really the case, why wouldn't they have just written that to begin with, yeah?), but it is a valid interpretation.
If you're saying the condition is somewhere between both, or requiring both, then I would say the text does not support that. The condition is very clearly one or the other; it happens when you cast, or it happens when you roll damage.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
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Hello
With so many Counterspell related threads I apologise in advance if this question/scenario has been covered, and thus too for my pathetic attempts to locate such a thread...
I play an awesome (if I don't say so myself) Level 7 Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline origin/Fire affinity) and in a recent session (inexplicably for the first time) I tried to use the latter part of the Elemental Affinity feature (PHB, pg. 102);
This states "When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add +4 to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour".
My spell use declaration (Scorching Ray) included my intent to expend a Sorcery Points for the resistance bonus. This was promptly and successfully counterspelled by an opposing Sorcerer (and a far too joyful DM for my liking... lol). We were in the heat of a hectic battle, and when I queried if that also affected the resistance and if the point was lost as well he made the quickly considered call that yes, that the resistance was also cancelled out/point lost. At the time it certainly made sense so I was happy with the call. Our DM also noted (which is his usual approach) that he was happy for us to look into later and correct for future as needed, Hence my attempted research and this question....
Does Counterspell cancel the use of a Sorcery Point (as well as the spell being cast)?
The Counterspell description states: "You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. If the creature is casting a spell of 3rd level or lower, its spell fails and has no effect. If it is casting a spell of 4th level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the creature’s spell fails and has no effect.
While I am leaning toward my DM's original decision as to how we should play this scenario out, ongoing (and I'm hoping its a rare scenerio indeed), I can see how this could be interpreted in multiple ways'..
a. Yes, you lose the sorcerer point and the resistance bonus on a successful Counterspell if you recognise the act of spell casting itself as expending the sorcerer point (instead of a bonus action), or
b. You don't get to apply the resistance because the Counterspell eliminated the option to expend the Sorcery Point in the first place if you recognise the point is expended at the time you roll damage dice ? (thus you retain that point), or...
c. something I am missing?
Any insights welcomed ..
Respectfully,
nzShepard74
I would say "no, you don't lose the point." Because counterspell makes the spell have no effect. That means it does not deal fire damage so your feature can't be used on it. That is my impression anyway. So, B.
1 C option to consider though: you activate the feature before the spell is countered, the countered spell has no effect, but the feature isn't countered by counterspell and you still get resistance. I would consider this the second most likely option.
My counterpoint is that if you miss with Scorching Ray, you still expend the sorcery point, despite not dealing fire damage in this specific instance, since the trigger is the casting, not the dealing of damage. I think the wording can be read as requiring actually dealing fire damage, but that seems at odds with "when you cast." At the end of the day, it feels ambiguous and up to the DM to rule at the table.
Well, "dealing fire damage" is arguably still the spell's effect even if it misses.
But if it is countered it loses that effect and becomes a spell that cannot deal fire damage, whereas when it misses it just failed to deal fire damage.
Then there is also the discussion of "is a spell cast at the beginning or end of its casting time?" Which can also mess with rulings.
They say "The spell fails and has no effect". The way I read that, the spell was not stopped from being cast, it was counter-acted. The spell slot is used, the Sorcery Point expended, and you get nothing. I'm a cruel and heartless DM. What happens to the characters also applies to the monsters, and if a character is burning spell slots to counterspell, they ought to get something more than just making the enemy have to repeat themselves doing the same exact thing until they run you out of spell slots.
<Insert clever signature here>
Hmm. This is a tricky one. As Geann points out, counterspell does not stop the spell from being cast, you still spend the spell slot and you can't cast any other spells that turn, etcetera.
If I would be making the ruling, this would be my thought process:
Since the resource spending comes before the counterspell, anything put into that "pot" is part of what the counterspell counters. Compare and contrast that to, for example, a paladin smite which says "when you hit" so the resource spending takes place before the final result instead of before the appropriate rolls are made. It's not a perfect analogy.
Full disclosure, there might be a better or "more correct" way but this is fast and simple which often is quite valuable in a game, especially during combat.
"When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add +4 to one damage roll of that spell. At the same time, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour"
I read this in two parts, you cast a spell that deals fire damage(I take this to reference the text of the spell not the hit/miss/resulting damage roll)
Casting that spell allows you to use the feature.
So I would rule the spell is cast but the effect is cancelled by counter spell, but the ability triggers giving you resistance.
If you read counter spell to mean the spell fails and is not cast, you wouldn't have the opportunity to spend the sorcery point
Counterspell doesn't prevent a spell being cast, it makes the spell fail without any effect. So if you have a feature that provides its own benefit when you cast a spell, you still get that benefit: so you still get damage resistance from draconic affinity, if it was a transmutation spell, you still get to change your transmuter's stone -- these features are triggered by the casting, not by the success or effect of the spell. This also means the resources are still expended - such as the sorcery points or the spell slot.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
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If a countered spell still uses the spell slot, then I would think it would use the sorcery point applied to the casting.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
So is the general consensus that draconic affinity doesn't get countered? Point spent, resistance gained.
Bottom line: yes, you correctly lost your Sorcery Point & the spell slot used. No, you did not correctly lose your resistance as well.
The only Metamagic option you would not lose any points for is Empowered Spell, and that is because you choose to use that MM option when you are actually rolling damage (your spell was successfully cast). Everything else has to be declared at the time of casting, and you do lose those SPs if the spell is foiled or otherwise fails to connect.
[edit] I read the details of Elemental Affinity more closely, and realized it is a distinct case
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I would say no.
Since the spell did not deal any damage, it did not deal damage of the type associated with the sorcerer's draconic ancestry. I would say the situation does not allow the feature to be used. No sorcery point spent. No resistance gained.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Idk... I can kinda see two arguments, but I'm going to personally go with "yeah, it works"
"When you cast a spell" seems to be the initial triggering condition, not "when you roll damage for a spell" (like Empowered Spell).
I don't think there's a valid argument against that being the case, but the real question is what "at the same time" means. If it's "at the same time as when you cast a spell", then you can spend 1 SP to gain resistance regardless of the spell's outcome. If it's "at the same time as when you roll damage", then you cannot spend 1 SP to gain resistance.
I think the intent lies with the former, but I can see the logic as supporting either conclusion.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I also see the other side of this argument. I don't think it's correct, but I'm not going to say there is NO way of seeing it the other way.
The phrase you quoted is the first of two qualifications for the feature. A countered fireball is still a cast spell, but it does not deal 8d6 fire damage.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Correct, but we have to be aware of what the mechanical process is for this specific feature, and what actually causes SP to be consumed.
In all of the standard (not empowered) metamagic options, you spend SP to materially alter the way the spell functions, and you eat the SP cost of that "when you cast a spell", regardless of whether you are successful or not. Counterspell is just one way to cause resources to be consumed without getting the intended effect; you can also just straight up miss.
Empowered Spell alters the function of the spell at the moment that damage is being rolled ("when you roll damage for a spell"), so the moment you roll dice, that SP is gone. If the result of your rerolled damage is less than the first roll, tough, it happened. If a creature hit by that spell manages to mitigate all of the damage dealt, that SP is still gone.
Elemental Affinity doesn't exactly follow either of those processes identically. We first have to consider that you do not have to spend SP at all to utilize the main aspect of this feature. "when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add your Charisma modifier to one damage roll of that spell" really means you get that any/every time you cast an eligible spell, and you pay nothing for it. You do not get to add to that damage roll without actually rolling damage, but you have fulfilled the prerequisite of the feature itself the moment you cast a spell that would be eligible.
When you have to decide to spend SP is the trickier point because "at the same time" can legitimately mean either "at the same time as when you cast a spell" or "at the same time as when you roll damage for a spell"; WotC definitely dropped the ball by failing to be clear and concise here. Considering the condition for the primary aspect of the feature is "when you cast a spell", I think it's more accurate to presume the secondary aspect of the feature also cues off of "when you cast a spell". It is also important to note that the effect of spending SP is not to alter the spell/effect itself; it is to produce an entirely distinct effect that affects the caster. Missing or otherwise dealing no damage with the spell would not stop the caster from receiving resistance to the relevant damage type for 1 hour.
Q.E.D., when you cast a spell that would deal damage of the type associated with the caster's draconic ancestry, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type for 1 hour. The spell itself can fizzle, miss, or otherwise fail to affect a target, while still granting the caster that resistance because that effect happens "when you cast a spell".
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I take your point here, and I am suggesting the spell has to actually deal the damage, not simply be a spell capable of dealing the damage under better circumstances. The distinction I draw is that a countered fireball is incapable of doing damage to anyone, as opposed to a fireball that goes off and a rogue successfully evades it for instance. In that case, you still cast a spell that dealt damage, but the recipient was able to avoid all of it. It would also work with a fireball cast harmlessly into the sky. The spell still goes off, and you could (if you wanted) roll damage to see how strong it was, even though nobody would take the damage.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
So you take the conditional statement "when you cast a spell that deals damage" as analogous to "when you roll damage for a spell"? Is that correct? Like I said before, that's a legitimate reading of the conditional even if I don't agree with it.
What I'm not sure about is the context you're using... if you cast a fireball harmlessly into the sky, the spell did not deal damage (unless your DM wants to roll percentile dice to see if you hit some birds? 😂). If you're saying that circumstance would allow the Sorcerer to then spend 1SP for resistance, then that's really just "when you cast a spell" with extra steps. Could you clear up your intent for me?
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Looking at it from the other end, would you say a countered fireball deals any fire damage?
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I think the argument for that being a legal trigger is that Fireball is a spell that as written deals fire damage.
Its a question of does "When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry," mean when a spell actually deals the damage, or does it refer to the spell description.
My personal rulings tend to favor the player so I would rule the trigger based on the spell description, otherwise missing with scorching ray or similar wouldn't allow the ability to be used.
But really the only ruling I would have an issue with based on this thread is the one where the sorcery point is used, and the ability doesn't trigger.
No, it wouldn't, and the caster would not be able to use Empowered Spell as a result. If you are presuming "when you roll damage" to be the conditional for spending 1SP to gain resistance with Elemental Affinity, then that would not be applicable to a countered fireball either.
If you are presuming (like I do) that the conditional is "when you cast a spell", a countered fireball still does not deal actual damage, but the caster would still be able to spend 1 SP for resistance as it is an entirely separate effect from what happens with the spell itself. Spending 1SP to gain resistance to a damage type doesn't care about what actually happens with the spell, only that you've cast it, as it is with every other (non-empowered spell) metamagic feature. Gaining resistance is not a function of the spell itself, nor is the SP spent on altering the spell. Counterspell stops the spell itself from completing, but it does not stop the casting itself from happening, nor does it prevent an independent effect gained by the caster as a result of casting.
What I'm not sure about is if I understand your position entirely. Are you taking the [that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry] part of "when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry" to really mean "When you roll damage for a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry"? That's not a position I would agree with (and I mean if that were really the case, why wouldn't they have just written that to begin with, yeah?), but it is a valid interpretation.
If you're saying the condition is somewhere between both, or requiring both, then I would say the text does not support that. The condition is very clearly one or the other; it happens when you cast, or it happens when you roll damage.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.