I have a rather unique question on the reading of the Quickened Spell rule because it has been told to me by a much more experienced person that in order to use Quickened Spell you must not have taken your action (for example: Dash) in order to use Quickened Spell. The argument is that you cast the spell with your action and then use the sorcery points to make it a bonus action; freeing up your action only afterwards.
The reading hinges on the clause that "When you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 action" you are in fact casting it as an action then and there and retroactively change it after the fact to a bonus action. This means a strict order must be enforced per RAW and that Quickened is not allowed to be used because you have exhausted your action, so that you are violating a rule on taking two actions by Dashing and then Quickening a spell.
My interpretation is that Quickened Spell changes the casting time to a Bonus Action as it is cast, not after the fact, so that when the Sorcerer casts the spell (with the condition being that the casting time is 1 action) the spell points are used at that moment to 'speed it up' and the casting time is a Bonus Action speed. It seems clear that the fast casting effect occurs as the spell is cast, not that it is completed and you somehow alter the flow of time retroactively.
I argue that If it worked this way then Subtle Spell would be impossible as you've already 'casted' the spell. Cast is done in present tense - meaning that it is being done at the same time you expend the sorcery points. This type of reading has been a hotly contested issue and it seriously has impacted one of my players.
I can see where that person is coming from, but no, that's not how it works. I think we can all agree that when you use Quickened Spell, you do not actually expend your action to cast the spell. Even in this person's interpretation where you need to start doing something that would ostensibly cost an action, if the cost changes before you actually pay it, then it doesn't matter that you couldn't pay the original cost. "When you pay for an item that costs $4, you can use this coupon to receive the item for free" in no way means you must have $4 on hand before you use the coupon.
You're very unlikely to convince this particular player, but they're wrong
When you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 action, you can spend 2 sorcery points to change the casting time to 1 bonus action for this casting.
Your argument is sound. You are changing the action cost for _this casting_. There is no other casting of the spell.
What would be the point of quickened spell if it took your action and your bonus action? You could have just used the action for the spell to begin with and your BA for something else, if you had something to do with it.
Thank you all for the quick replies on this - I had spent no less then two hours pouring over other exchanges and I am inexperienced so I wanted to make sure that I can be confident in my ruling that they can indeed take an action and still use a BA. Thank you SagaTympana for explaining it so specifically.
I'd also like to add one note for others; though it was not an argument presented - that 'cast' is both present simple tense and the past tense are the same, but that may have been the core misunderstanding about needing to 'cast' the spell? I am not sure, but thank you for confirming that there is no restriction on dashing (or taking any action which doesn't interfere with spellcasting rules) and then Quickening to BA a spell.
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I have a rather unique question on the reading of the Quickened Spell rule because it has been told to me by a much more experienced person that in order to use Quickened Spell you must not have taken your action (for example: Dash) in order to use Quickened Spell. The argument is that you cast the spell with your action and then use the sorcery points to make it a bonus action; freeing up your action only afterwards.
The reading hinges on the clause that "When you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 action" you are in fact casting it as an action then and there and retroactively change it after the fact to a bonus action. This means a strict order must be enforced per RAW and that Quickened is not allowed to be used because you have exhausted your action, so that you are violating a rule on taking two actions by Dashing and then Quickening a spell.
My interpretation is that Quickened Spell changes the casting time to a Bonus Action as it is cast, not after the fact, so that when the Sorcerer casts the spell (with the condition being that the casting time is 1 action) the spell points are used at that moment to 'speed it up' and the casting time is a Bonus Action speed. It seems clear that the fast casting effect occurs as the spell is cast, not that it is completed and you somehow alter the flow of time retroactively.
I argue that If it worked this way then Subtle Spell would be impossible as you've already 'casted' the spell. Cast is done in present tense - meaning that it is being done at the same time you expend the sorcery points. This type of reading has been a hotly contested issue and it seriously has impacted one of my players.
Can someone please clarify? Thank you.
I can see where that person is coming from, but no, that's not how it works. I think we can all agree that when you use Quickened Spell, you do not actually expend your action to cast the spell. Even in this person's interpretation where you need to start doing something that would ostensibly cost an action, if the cost changes before you actually pay it, then it doesn't matter that you couldn't pay the original cost. "When you pay for an item that costs $4, you can use this coupon to receive the item for free" in no way means you must have $4 on hand before you use the coupon.
You're very unlikely to convince this particular player, but they're wrong
Your argument is sound. You are changing the action cost for _this casting_. There is no other casting of the spell.
What would be the point of quickened spell if it took your action and your bonus action? You could have just used the action for the spell to begin with and your BA for something else, if you had something to do with it.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Thank you all for the quick replies on this - I had spent no less then two hours pouring over other exchanges and I am inexperienced so I wanted to make sure that I can be confident in my ruling that they can indeed take an action and still use a BA. Thank you SagaTympana for explaining it so specifically.
I'd also like to add one note for others; though it was not an argument presented - that 'cast' is both present simple tense and the past tense are the same, but that may have been the core misunderstanding about needing to 'cast' the spell? I am not sure, but thank you for confirming that there is no restriction on dashing (or taking any action which doesn't interfere with spellcasting rules) and then Quickening to BA a spell.