These items state that "as an action" you may cast one of the items spells by expending the requisite number of charges. The part that concerns me is the "as an action" bit. Does this override the casting time of a spell that would normally require say a bonus action or 1 hour to cast? Or would the user still need the spells own required casting time to be able to cast those spells?
That is part of the double edge sword of items. They take an action to use but require no components or somatic gestures and possibly can cut your cast time down to 1 action OR bump it up to 1 action.
You cast a spell using an action this replaces the casting time when the spell is cast normally
There are cases where this interpretation is a problem.
Example: The Staff of Defense from Lost Mines of Phandelver
"The staff has 10 charges, which are used to fuel the spells within it. With the staff in hand, you can use your action to cast one of the following spells from the staff if the spell is on your class’s spell list: mage armor (1 charge) or shield (2 charges). No components are required."
The shield spell is a reaction. It is triggered when "you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell". It can NOT be cast as an action since it requires being hit by an attack or magic missile in order to be cast and that doesn't typically happen when a character is taking their action.
So, RAW, yes it should be cast as an action .. but also RAW, the spell itself, can't be cast as an action.
This leads to the question of which definition of "action" is being used in the magic item description.
From the PHB:
"On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action."
"Various class features, spells, and other abilities let you take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action."
"Certain special abilities, spells, and situations allow you to take a special action called a reaction."
Actions, bonus actions and reactions are ALL actions.
So the way I interpret magic items stating that spells are cast as an action is that the spell is cast using its normal casting time if it is an action, bonus action or reaction (which are all types of actions) but if the casting time is longer than an action it is reduced to an action. This avoids the issue with magic items that happen to allow the casting of reaction or bonus action type spells.
Since the user is still casting the spell themselves this interpretation does not get around limitations on spell casting in a turn and it remains consistent with the rest of the rules for spells and spellcasting - but I can see folks running it otherwise - it just causes problems with items like the Staff of Defense.
The shield spell is a reaction. It is triggered when "you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell". It can NOT be cast as an action since it requires being hit by an attack or magic missile in order to be cast and that doesn't typically happen when a character is taking their action.
I don't see a RAW conflict here. Shield's trigger is part of its casting time, which is wholly replaced by the staff's "as an action." When using the staff, you use an action to cast shield, which then provides +5 AC and immunity to magic missile until the start of your next turn.
If an item wants to cast a spell that makes no sense as an action (e.g. counterspell) then there's an issue, but shield can be reasonably applied without an antecedent attack. Admittedly, it's pretty weak (and I suspect not how the designers wanted the staff to work) but it's not a paradox.
Yeah that what I was afraid of. I was considering giving my group the chance to come across the Shard Solitaire item. It has wording similar to that of Staff of the Magi but it could allow the party to cast Simulacrum at action speed rather than the 12hr casting time normally needed. That is ungodly powerful. Thanks for the response!
I hadn't thought about that in the case of Shield. Counterspell would definitely be made useless but you could still get some use out of Shield. Thanks for the responses
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These items state that "as an action" you may cast one of the items spells by expending the requisite number of charges. The part that concerns me is the "as an action" bit. Does this override the casting time of a spell that would normally require say a bonus action or 1 hour to cast? Or would the user still need the spells own required casting time to be able to cast those spells?
You cast a spell using an action this replaces the casting time when the spell is cast normally
That is part of the double edge sword of items. They take an action to use but require no components or somatic gestures and possibly can cut your cast time down to 1 action OR bump it up to 1 action.
There are cases where this interpretation is a problem.
Example: The Staff of Defense from Lost Mines of Phandelver
"The staff has 10 charges, which are used to fuel the spells within it. With the staff in hand, you can use your action to cast one of the following spells from the staff if the spell is on your class’s spell list: mage armor (1 charge) or shield (2 charges). No components are required."
The shield spell is a reaction. It is triggered when "you take when you are hit by an attack or targeted by the magic missile spell". It can NOT be cast as an action since it requires being hit by an attack or magic missile in order to be cast and that doesn't typically happen when a character is taking their action.
So, RAW, yes it should be cast as an action .. but also RAW, the spell itself, can't be cast as an action.
This leads to the question of which definition of "action" is being used in the magic item description.
From the PHB:
"On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action."
"Various class features, spells, and other abilities let you take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action."
"Certain special abilities, spells, and situations allow you to take a special action called a reaction."
Actions, bonus actions and reactions are ALL actions.
So the way I interpret magic items stating that spells are cast as an action is that the spell is cast using its normal casting time if it is an action, bonus action or reaction (which are all types of actions) but if the casting time is longer than an action it is reduced to an action. This avoids the issue with magic items that happen to allow the casting of reaction or bonus action type spells.
Since the user is still casting the spell themselves this interpretation does not get around limitations on spell casting in a turn and it remains consistent with the rest of the rules for spells and spellcasting - but I can see folks running it otherwise - it just causes problems with items like the Staff of Defense.
I don't see a RAW conflict here. Shield's trigger is part of its casting time, which is wholly replaced by the staff's "as an action." When using the staff, you use an action to cast shield, which then provides +5 AC and immunity to magic missile until the start of your next turn.
If an item wants to cast a spell that makes no sense as an action (e.g. counterspell) then there's an issue, but shield can be reasonably applied without an antecedent attack. Admittedly, it's pretty weak (and I suspect not how the designers wanted the staff to work) but it's not a paradox.
Yeah that what I was afraid of. I was considering giving my group the chance to come across the Shard Solitaire item. It has wording similar to that of Staff of the Magi but it could allow the party to cast Simulacrum at action speed rather than the 12hr casting time normally needed. That is ungodly powerful. Thanks for the response!
I hadn't thought about that in the case of Shield. Counterspell would definitely be made useless but you could still get some use out of Shield. Thanks for the responses