So, I know that if you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Bonus Action, you cannot cast another spell on your turn unless its a cantrip that uses your action to cast.
Do spells with reaction casting time have the same (or a similar) restriction?
Edit. Better example: Lets say a Wild Magic Sorc casts a spell and has to roll in the Wild Magic table. They get the result where they cast Fireball centered on themselves. Could the Sorc also cast Absorb Elements on their turn, despite casting a spell using their action?
Only bonus action spells have such a restriction, which is quite odd. If a trigger occurs that would let you take a reaction on your turn, you can use that reaction, even if it is casting a spell and you’ve already cast an action spell on your turn.
There is no restriction on other spells being cast except when a spell is cast as a bonus action - only cantrips requiring an action to cast are permitted.
However, that also applies to using reaction spells.
If the sorcerer in your example used quicken to cast their spell as a bonus action - then had a wild surge resulting in a fireball - then they would NOT be able to use Absorb Elements as a reaction since they had cast a bonus action spell on their turn.
Note that the wild magic surge casting would not be limited by the bonus action rule since specific beats general. There is a general rule preventing the casting of spells on the turn a spell is cast as a bonus action but the wild magic surge table forces the casting anyway.
On the other hand, if the sorcerer cast a spell as an action that triggered a wild magic surge spell casting then the sorcerer COULD use Absorb Elements as a reaction since they did not cast a bonus action spell that turn.
Only bonus action spells have such a restriction, which is quite odd. If a trigger occurs that would let you take a reaction on your turn, you can use that reaction, even if it is casting a spell and you’ve already cast an action spell on your turn.
Thats kinda what I figured, but it did seem odd.
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So, I know that if you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Bonus Action, you cannot cast another spell on your turn unless its a cantrip that uses your action to cast.
Do spells with reaction casting time have the same (or a similar) restriction?
Edit. Better example: Lets say a Wild Magic Sorc casts a spell and has to roll in the Wild Magic table. They get the result where they cast Fireball centered on themselves. Could the Sorc also cast Absorb Elements on their turn, despite casting a spell using their action?
On your turn, you are limited to what you can cast in tandem with bonus action spells. If you want to cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 bonus action, you can't cast any other spells before or after it on the same turn, except for cantrips with a casting time of 1 action. That excludes spells cast as reaction.
For Wild Magic Surge though it's exceptional as your Wild Magic randomly creates a magical effect, hence why you don't need to spend the action normally required to cast it or to concentrate on effect that requires it. So if the spell that triggered a Wild Magic Surge was cast as a bonus action, then you won't be able to cast Absorb Element in reaction to the Fire Ball.
The intention of that limitation seems to be preventing a Readied-Action Spell work-around to the limitation on casting a non-cantrip Action spell on the same turn as a Bonus Action spell. I'd like to think they weren't intending to disallow a spell that always has a casting time of 1 reaction, especially in that particular situation... *sweats in Wild Magic Sorcerer*
The limit on spell casting is only on Bonus Action spells, which means you aren't limited when using your reaction to cast spells.
Unless I'm mistaken, (and this is just a random example) you could cast a BA spell of [spell[Misty Step[/spell] to be next to an enemy, who uses their Readied action to attack, you can use your reaction to cast Shield, and then use your Action to cast a Cantrip spell.
Bonus Action
A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
Reactions
Some spells can be cast as reactions. These spells take a fraction of a second to bring about and are cast in response to some event. If a spell can be cast as a reaction, the spell description tells you exactly when you can do so.
If you cast a BA spell then you cannot cast a Reaction spell on the same turn, because it doesn't fit the criteria of being a 1 action cantrip. This is not directly clarified in the Sage Advice Compendium but it has been commented on by JC.
It's actually a rule from the Player's Handbook and Xanathat's Guide to Everything;
Bonus Action: A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. You can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
Bonus Action: If you want to cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 bonus action, you can't cast any other spells before or after it on the same turn, except for cantrips with a casting time of 1 action.
Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
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Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
You may rule it that way at your tables, but the full rules intention is that you cannot use a Reaction and Bonus Action spell on your turn. Of course, you can do whatever you want on someone else’s turn and the Bonus Action rule doesn’t apply at all.
However, the argument that Reactions during your turn not being part of “the turn”… is silly.
Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
You may rule it that way at your tables, but the full rules intention is that you cannot use a Reaction and Bonus Action spell on your turn. Of course, you can do whatever you want on someone else’s turn and the Bonus Action rule doesn’t apply at all.
However, the argument that Reactions during your turn not being part of “the turn”… is silly.
Thanks for the clarification. I apologize for not adding much to the discussion due to my confusion on this matter.
Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
You may rule it that way at your tables, but the full rules intention is that you cannot use a Reaction and Bonus Action spell on your turn. Of course, you can do whatever you want on someone else’s turn and the Bonus Action rule doesn’t apply at all.
However, the argument that Reactions during your turn not being part of “the turn”… is silly.
Might not be "silly" since I can't think of any reaction that has ever occurred on my turn. In order for me to react, something needs to occur and the only things occurring on my turn, per say, are the things I am doing. I can't react to what I am doing, can I? Thus my turn ends (or has not yet occurred) when an opportunity to USE a reaction comes up. Which in timeline, means a reaction will never be "on your turn" Nothing silly.. Reading my post again to ensure it was clear, I notice I used "BA" instead of OA when referring to the Warcaster. My sloppy typing might have confused the issue somewhat. Those spells have to have a casting time of 1 Action.
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Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
You may rule it that way at your tables, but the full rules intention is that you cannot use a Reaction and Bonus Action spell on your turn. Of course, you can do whatever you want on someone else’s turn and the Bonus Action rule doesn’t apply at all.
However, the argument that Reactions during your turn not being part of “the turn”… is silly.
Thanks for the clarification. I apologize for not adding much to the discussion due to my confusion on this matter.
No need to apologize! None of us is right all the time, and these places are made for discussion and reading. 🙂
Might not be "silly" since I can't think of any reaction that has ever occurred on my turn. In order for me to react, something needs to occur and the only things occurring on my turn, per say, are the things I am doing. I can't react to what I am doing, can I? Thus my turn ends (or has not yet occurred) when an opportunity to USE a reaction comes up. Which in timeline, means a reaction will never be "on your turn" Nothing silly.. Reading my post again to ensure it was clear, I notice I used "BA" instead of OA when referring to the Warcaster. My sloppy typing might have confused the issue somewhat. Those spells have to have a casting time of 1 Action.
Usually reactions will happen outside of your turn but they can take place during ones own turn too. The classic example is doing a Counterspell on an opposing spellcasters Counterspell to a spell you have casted.
Yeah, to be safe on RAW, maybe I could say my Wild-Magic Sorcerer's turn has ended after casting Misty Step and a cantrip, then do the Wild-Magic Surge roll and she'd be able to cast Absorb Elements as a reaction juuust outside her turn if it comes up Fireball. Ah, but the Surge roll would have to be right after Misty Step and before the cantrip... I suppose I could ask my DM to consider her turn over at that point, and give up the cantrip casting and remaining movement, in exchange for being able to save her own life.
Other edge cases where it'd be hard or impossible to argue the reaction isn't on her turn:
1) if she uses Misty Step to get next to an enemy and hit them with a melee attack (unlikely for her but possible), and they use a Readied Action to attack her right away, so she'd want to use Shield while it's still her turn - I suppose could make it be a choice between Shield or the melee attack?
2) she casts Misty Step, but before using the rest of her turn ground falls people maybe die, so she would want to cast Feather Fall to save lives - similar deal I guess, sacrifice the rest of her turn to make that casting? (assuming she has Feather Fall, which she won't)
**3) she starts to cast Misty Step to get away before making her movement or casting a cantrip, but then an enemy spellcaster uses Counterspell against it, so she'd potentially want to use her reaction to cast Counterspell - the counter-Counterspell would have to occur while her Misty Step casting is still happening, so there's no way to say it's not during her turn! (fortunately[?] she's not going to have Counterspell, but another spellcaster could easily be in that situation)
At any rate, I will be asking my DM if she will allow spells that are by-definition reaction spells to be cast during a turn where I cast a Bonus Action spell, to make it clear I'm not trying to use some Readied-Action Spell Triggered to Go Off After the Bonus Action Spell Finishes work-around. And be willing to sacrifice the rest of my turn in exchange for casting Absorb Elements or Shield, if she says No.
Good thing there are very few reaction spells, so they can be ruled on a spell-by-spell basis if necessary!
1) if she uses Misty Step to get next to an enemy and hit them with a melee attack (unlikely for her but possible), and they use a Readied Action to attack her right away, so she'd want to use Shield while it's still her turn - I suppose could make it be a choice between Shield or the melee attack?
2) she casts Misty Step, but before using the rest of her turn ground falls people maybe die, so she would want to cast Feather Fall to save lives - similar deal I guess, sacrifice the rest of her turn to make that casting? (assuming she has Feather Fall, which she won't)
**3) she starts to cast Misty Step to get away before making her movement or casting a cantrip, but then an enemy spellcaster uses Counterspell against it, so she'd potentially want to use her reaction to cast Counterspell - the counter-Counterspell would have to occur while her Misty Step casting is still happening, so there's no way to say it's not during her turn! (fortunately[?] she's not going to have Counterspell, but another spellcaster could easily be in that situation)
#3 is clearly not allowed. #1 and #2 would require a really lenient DM (I would not allow it).
Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
You may rule it that way at your tables, but the full rules intention is that you cannot use a Reaction and Bonus Action spell on your turn. Of course, you can do whatever you want on someone else’s turn and the Bonus Action rule doesn’t apply at all.
However, the argument that Reactions during your turn not being part of “the turn”… is silly.
Might not be "silly" since I can't think of any reaction that has ever occurred on my turn. In order for me to react, something needs to occur and the only things occurring on my turn, per say, are the things I am doing. I can't react to what I am doing, can I? Thus my turn ends (or has not yet occurred) when an opportunity to USE a reaction comes up. Which in timeline, means a reaction will never be "on your turn" Nothing silly.. Reading my post again to ensure it was clear, I notice I used "BA" instead of OA when referring to the Warcaster. My sloppy typing might have confused the issue somewhat. Those spells have to have a casting time of 1 Action.
Reactions happen during “a turn”. That’s what I meant. You don’t have Reactions that happen on someone else’s turn or your own turn, but it never happens “outside of a turn”. That’s why Reaction spells are not possible on your own turn if you use a BA spell on the same.
Not the Absorb Elements scenario I mentioned before those three, either?
Also, LOL, just realized that I'm planning for her to get Misty Step and Hex from the Fey-Touched feat, and they're both Bonus Action spells and the only BA spells she'll have. So it's entirely the feat's fault that I have to be examining this rule situation! But it's totally in character for those Fey to be complicating her life even further, since they're responsible for her Wild Magic in the first place :D
Edit: and I know that spells granted by the Fey-Touched feat technically don't count as sorcerer spells, and those are the only ones that trigger a Surge. For the reasons I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I was thinking I'd have it that they would still be able to cause a Surge. But now I am definitely revisiting that plan, depending on what my DM decides...
So, I know that if you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Bonus Action, you cannot cast another spell on your turn unless its a cantrip that uses your action to cast.
Do spells with reaction casting time have the same (or a similar) restriction?
Edit. Better example: Lets say a Wild Magic Sorc casts a spell and has to roll in the Wild Magic table. They get the result where they cast Fireball centered on themselves. Could the Sorc also cast Absorb Elements on their turn, despite casting a spell using their action?
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Only bonus action spells have such a restriction, which is quite odd. If a trigger occurs that would let you take a reaction on your turn, you can use that reaction, even if it is casting a spell and you’ve already cast an action spell on your turn.
There is no restriction on other spells being cast except when a spell is cast as a bonus action - only cantrips requiring an action to cast are permitted.
However, that also applies to using reaction spells.
If the sorcerer in your example used quicken to cast their spell as a bonus action - then had a wild surge resulting in a fireball - then they would NOT be able to use Absorb Elements as a reaction since they had cast a bonus action spell on their turn.
Note that the wild magic surge casting would not be limited by the bonus action rule since specific beats general. There is a general rule preventing the casting of spells on the turn a spell is cast as a bonus action but the wild magic surge table forces the casting anyway.
On the other hand, if the sorcerer cast a spell as an action that triggered a wild magic surge spell casting then the sorcerer COULD use Absorb Elements as a reaction since they did not cast a bonus action spell that turn.
Thats kinda what I figured, but it did seem odd.
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On your turn, you are limited to what you can cast in tandem with bonus action spells. If you want to cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 bonus action, you can't cast any other spells before or after it on the same turn, except for cantrips with a casting time of 1 action. That excludes spells cast as reaction.
For Wild Magic Surge though it's exceptional as your Wild Magic randomly creates a magical effect, hence why you don't need to spend the action normally required to cast it or to concentrate on effect that requires it. So if the spell that triggered a Wild Magic Surge was cast as a bonus action, then you won't be able to cast Absorb Element in reaction to the Fire Ball.
The intention of that limitation seems to be preventing a Readied-Action Spell work-around to the limitation on casting a non-cantrip Action spell on the same turn as a Bonus Action spell. I'd like to think they weren't intending to disallow a spell that always has a casting time of 1 reaction, especially in that particular situation... *sweats in Wild Magic Sorcerer*
The limit on spell casting is only on Bonus Action spells, which means you aren't limited when using your reaction to cast spells.
Unless I'm mistaken, (and this is just a random example) you could cast a BA spell of [spell[Misty Step[/spell] to be next to an enemy, who uses their Readied action to attack, you can use your reaction to cast Shield, and then use your Action to cast a Cantrip spell.
If you cast a BA spell then you cannot cast a Reaction spell on the same turn, because it doesn't fit the criteria of being a 1 action cantrip. This is not directly clarified in the Sage Advice Compendium but it has been commented on by JC.
https://www.sageadvice.eu/is-preventing-bonus-action-spell-reaction-spell-on-your-turn-an-unintended-consequence-of-the-rule/
It's actually a rule from the Player's Handbook and Xanathat's Guide to Everything;
Most reaction spells are cast outside of your turn though. In a round that my sorcerer casts shield to prevent an attack from hitting her on someone else’s turn, it does not limit what she can cast during her turn because turns and rounds are not the same thing.
This is the ruling I have seen in pretty much all games and I am sure, on a SA piece once before that I don't have bookmarked. It was also referenced at one point about Warcaster, who could, as a reaction, cast a spell as a BA, I believe. It was stated, as above, that a reaction is NOT part of your turn, therefore did no fall under that rule.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
You may rule it that way at your tables, but the full rules intention is that you cannot use a Reaction and Bonus Action spell on your turn. Of course, you can do whatever you want on someone else’s turn and the Bonus Action rule doesn’t apply at all.
However, the argument that Reactions during your turn not being part of “the turn”… is silly.
Thanks for the clarification. I apologize for not adding much to the discussion due to my confusion on this matter.
Might not be "silly" since I can't think of any reaction that has ever occurred on my turn. In order for me to react, something needs to occur and the only things occurring on my turn, per say, are the things I am doing. I can't react to what I am doing, can I? Thus my turn ends (or has not yet occurred) when an opportunity to USE a reaction comes up. Which in timeline, means a reaction will never be "on your turn" Nothing silly.. Reading my post again to ensure it was clear, I notice I used "BA" instead of OA when referring to the Warcaster. My sloppy typing might have confused the issue somewhat. Those spells have to have a casting time of 1 Action.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
No need to apologize! None of us is right all the time, and these places are made for discussion and reading. 🙂
Usually reactions will happen outside of your turn but they can take place during ones own turn too. The classic example is doing a Counterspell on an opposing spellcasters Counterspell to a spell you have casted.
Yeah, to be safe on RAW, maybe I could say my Wild-Magic Sorcerer's turn has ended after casting Misty Step and a cantrip, then do the Wild-Magic Surge roll and she'd be able to cast Absorb Elements as a reaction juuust outside her turn if it comes up Fireball. Ah, but the Surge roll would have to be right after Misty Step and before the cantrip... I suppose I could ask my DM to consider her turn over at that point, and give up the cantrip casting and remaining movement, in exchange for being able to save her own life.
Other edge cases where it'd be hard or impossible to argue the reaction isn't on her turn:
1) if she uses Misty Step to get next to an enemy and hit them with a melee attack (unlikely for her but possible), and they use a Readied Action to attack her right away, so she'd want to use Shield while it's still her turn - I suppose could make it be a choice between Shield or the melee attack?
2) she casts Misty Step, but before using the rest of her turn ground falls people maybe die, so she would want to cast Feather Fall to save lives - similar deal I guess, sacrifice the rest of her turn to make that casting? (assuming she has Feather Fall, which she won't)
**3) she starts to cast Misty Step to get away before making her movement or casting a cantrip, but then an enemy spellcaster uses Counterspell against it, so she'd potentially want to use her reaction to cast Counterspell - the counter-Counterspell would have to occur while her Misty Step casting is still happening, so there's no way to say it's not during her turn! (fortunately[?] she's not going to have Counterspell, but another spellcaster could easily be in that situation)
At any rate, I will be asking my DM if she will allow spells that are by-definition reaction spells to be cast during a turn where I cast a Bonus Action spell, to make it clear I'm not trying to use some Readied-Action Spell Triggered to Go Off After the Bonus Action Spell Finishes work-around. And be willing to sacrifice the rest of my turn in exchange for casting Absorb Elements or Shield, if she says No.
Good thing there are very few reaction spells, so they can be ruled on a spell-by-spell basis if necessary!
#3 is clearly not allowed. #1 and #2 would require a really lenient DM (I would not allow it).
Reactions happen during “a turn”. That’s what I meant. You don’t have Reactions that happen on someone else’s turn or your own turn, but it never happens “outside of a turn”. That’s why Reaction spells are not possible on your own turn if you use a BA spell on the same.
Not the Absorb Elements scenario I mentioned before those three, either?
Also, LOL, just realized that I'm planning for her to get Misty Step and Hex from the Fey-Touched feat, and they're both Bonus Action spells and the only BA spells she'll have. So it's entirely the feat's fault that I have to be examining this rule situation! But it's totally in character for those Fey to be complicating her life even further, since they're responsible for her Wild Magic in the first place :D
Edit: and I know that spells granted by the Fey-Touched feat technically don't count as sorcerer spells, and those are the only ones that trigger a Surge. For the reasons I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I was thinking I'd have it that they would still be able to cause a Surge. But now I am definitely revisiting that plan, depending on what my DM decides...