1. "Any spell that has a casting time of an action or 1 minute or longer and is cast using a spell slot can be cast as a Circle spell. The primary caster chooses the targets, maintains Concentration if needed, provides components, expends the spell slot, and makes any other choices the spell requires.
The secondary casters must take the Magic action and be near the caster to contribute to the spell. And if the spell's casting time is longer than 1 action, they must take the Magic action each turn and maintain Concentration on the spell—alongside the primary caster—for the entire casting time.
Depending on the option chosen, there may be other requirements for the secondary casters, like expending a spell slot."
2. "On a turn, you can expend only one spell slot to cast a spell. This rule means you can’t, for example, cast a spell with a spell slot using the Magic action and another one using a Bonus Action on the same turn."
So:
Question 1: The contribution Magic action of a secondary caster can be made through a Ready action with a trigger like "When someone start casting a clicle spell" for a spell with the casting time of one action?
Question 2: Can i cast a Bonus action spell with a spell slot and contribute with a circle spell in the same turn?
Question 1: The contribution Magic action of a secondary caster can be made through a Ready action with a trigger like "When someone start casting a clicle spell" for a spell with the casting time of one action?
Since the Magic action and Ready action are different things, I'd say no. If you're casting a circle spell in a situation where initiative order matters, then you'll just have to get the sequencing right
Question 2: Can i cast a Bonus action spell with a spell slot and contribute with a circle spell in the same turn?
I would rule this is OK. The actual description of what secondary casters are doing is
each secondary caster takes the Magic action to contribute to the spell
They aren't explicitly described as casting the spell, so I'd say it doesn't count as your one slot per turn used to cast a spell. I could see someone ruling it the other way though, as you are using a spell slot to aid in a casting
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Question 1: The contribution Magic action of a secondary caster can be made through a Ready action with a trigger like "When someone start casting a clicle spell" for a spell with the casting time of one action?
Since the Magic action and Ready action are different things, I'd say no. If you're casting a circle spell in a situation where initiative order matters, then you'll just have to get the sequencing right
Question 2: Can i cast a Bonus action spell with a spell slot and contribute with a circle spell in the same turn?
I would rule this is OK. The actual description of what secondary casters are doing is
each secondary caster takes the Magic action to contribute to the spell
They aren't explicitly described as casting the spell, so I'd say it doesn't count as your one slot per turn used to cast a spell. I could see someone ruling it the other way though, as you are using a spell slot to aid in a casting
yeah, those are different things but a magic action of any other sort can be prepared. You can prepare a magic action to activate an item for example. Does what i said makes any sense?
I don't see anything that would stop you from readying a Magic Action to contribute to a spell. You can literally ready any other action the same way:
Ready [Action]
You take the Ready action to wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn, which lets you act by taking a Reaction before the start of your next turn.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your Speed in response to it. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
When the trigger occurs, you can either take your Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger.
When you Ready a spell, you cast it as normal (expending any resources used to cast it) 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 an action, and holding on to the spell’s magic requires Concentration, which you can maintain up to the start of your next turn. If your Concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.
As for whether you can then BA a spell-slot spell after readying the contribution, it seems that would depend on whether a spell slot would be used upon the contribution of the secondary caster and whether the contribution is considered "casting". If so, you are spending it on your turn and so would not be able to BA a spell-slot spell that same turn. If it doesn't, then you are fine and can do that, too.
Is there any language for Circle Spells that identifies a secondary caster as "casting"?
EDIT: I think I take that back. "Casting" is actually rather vague in the rules as a defined word. It is probably safe to assume that the secondary casters are, in fact, also casting the spell and so you could not BA a spell-slot spell on the same turn you readied a contribution to a circle spell if it also cost you a spell-slot.
The fact that the secondary casters are referred to as "casters" at all is enough for me, personally, to think that they are in fact "casting" the spell. Which would mean that if their contribution uses a spell slot — some of the options do, some of them don't — then you wouldn't be able to use a spell slot to cast a bonus action spell on the same turn.
I would agree that there's no reason you can't Ready the Magic action to contribute to the spell as a secondary caster, though keep in mind it uses your Reaction for the round.
Question 1: The contribution Magic action of a secondary caster can be made through a Ready action with a trigger like "When someone start casting a clicle spell" for a spell with the casting time of one action?
Question 2: Can i cast a Bonus action spell with a spell slot and contribute with a circle spell in the same turn?
1) Yes Circle Spell don't require secondary caster to take the Magic action on their turn, so they should be able to Ready such action on their turn and take it on a subsequent turn after a Circle Spell is initiated by a primary caster.
2) When a Circle spell is initiated, i assume all contributing casters are considered as casting a spell. Circle magic is a method for amplifying a spell through coordinated teamwork, so unless a Sage Advice say otherwise, i wouldn't allow it to bypass One Spell with a Spell Slot per Turn limitation.
Circle Magic: Millennia ago, elf mages researching alternative magical traditions developed a technique by which many spellcasters working together could cast spells beyond the limit of any individual. This technique became known as circle magic...
Secondary Casters: After you initiate the spell, each secondary caster takes the Magic action to contribute to the spell. A secondary caster can take this action only while within 30 feet of you and before the start of your next turn.
Completing The Casting: If the spell has a casting time of an action, the Circle spell's effects occur immediately after the final secondary caster takes the required action to contribute to the spell.
The primary caster provides components that are necessary for the spellcasting process. Therefore, in my opinion, the primary caster is that one that is casting the spell, and the secondary caster (a contributor) is not actually casting the spell, even when they contribute a spell slot.
Components
A spell’s components are physical requirements the spellcaster must meet to cast the spell. Each spell’s description indicates whether it requires Verbal (V), Somatic (S), or Material (M) components. If the spellcaster can’t provide one or more of a spell’s components, the spellcaster can’t cast the spell.
So, I would allow OP's proposed question 2 regardless of whether or not a spell slot is being contributed.
I also don't see anything within the rules for the Ready action that would disallow OP's proposed question 1, so I would allow that idea as well. In fact, I think that this mechanic could be used in every consecutive Round to contribute to spells with a longer casting time as well.
The fact that the secondary casters are referred to as "casters" at all is enough for me, personally, to think that they are in fact "casting" the spell.
They are referred to as "casters" because they have to have a feature that allows them to cast spells
Casting a Circle spell requires that one or more other spellcasters, called secondary casters, lend their magic to the spell. A secondary caster must have either the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature to participate in a Circle spell.
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Question 1: Yes, 100%, this works. For a spell that costs an action cast as a Circle Spell, secondary casters can use the Ready action to contribute before their turn by setting the trigger to "when X casts a spell as a Circle Spell" and the response to "I use the Magic action to contribute to the spell as a secondary caster".
Question 2: For spells that require you to spend a spell slot, this still works 99.9% of the time (with an exception I'll bring up). And it doesn't matter whether you're considered to be "casting" the spell or not. You spend the spell slot when you contribute, not when you take the Ready action, because the slot consumption can only happen AFTER the primary caster decides what option will be used. So this is happening on the turn on which you use the reaction, not the Ready action. The exception I mentioned above is if someone tries to set the scenario up by using the Ready action to cast the spell on your turn after you use the Ready action. And even then, it's debatable whether you're considered to be casting a spell. The book uses the term "caster" to describe the secondary casters, but that could mean either they're "casters" of the spell or they're "casters" of spells in general, which is a requirement to contribute at all. If it's the second, this still works 100% of the time.
Yes Circle Spell don't require secondary caster to take the Magic action on their turn
On your turn is the only time you can take a Magic action
When you use the Ready action, you're readying a small-a action, not a capital-a named Action. If you Ready an attack, you're not Readying your Attack action (and don't get Extra Attack as a result) -- you're Readying a single swing of your weapon or shot from your bow. If you ready movement, you're not readying a Dash action
You also don't Ready a Magic action -- you Ready something which would typically require one if done on your turn, but you're doing it as a Reaction instead, so by definition it's not a Magic action. When you use the Ready action to prepare to open the trapdoor under the cultist as per the example in the rules, you're not 'Readying a Utilize action', you're using the Ready action to do something similar, but with different timing in the action economy
Casting a spell has a different rule -- you cast it normally on your turn using a Magic action, and then Ready the release of its effect -- and if you want to rule that assisting on a circle spell counts as casting, then you could rule that you use the Magic action on your turn to burn the slot and then Ready releasing the energy once the circle spell has been initiated. But then you're definitely also ruling that the slot counts as your one slot per turn for casting purposes. Can't have it both ways
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Circle Magic: Millennia ago, elf mages researching alternative magical traditions developed a technique by which many spellcasters working together could cast spells beyond the limit of any individual. This technique became known as circle magic...
Secondary Casters: After you initiate the spell, each secondary caster takes the Magic action to contribute to the spell. A secondary caster can take this action only while within 30 feet of you and before the start of your next turn.
Completing The Casting: If the spell has a casting time of an action, the Circle spell's effects occur immediately after the final secondary caster takes the required action to contribute to the spell.
Everything about circle casting says the secondary casters are using actions. Not reactions, or just a generic "after the final secondary caster makes their contribution" or the like
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
One more point on the Ready action thing -- from an RAI perspective, it seems to me that the "point" of circle spells is to get boosted effects at the cost of extra resources, including extra resources in the action economy. Circle spells are designed to take multiple turns. If you allow a circle spell to go off in one turn via a bunch of stacked Readied actions, you are defeating the purpose of the things
Because if that's allowed, and a bunch of evil wizards are casting a circle spell, why wouldn't they do exactly that -- and deprive your party of any chance to ruin their plan? Instead of the drama of multiple turns as they all work to complete the ritual and unleash a 100-foot radius cloudkill on an unsuspecting village a mile away or whatever, it's just boom done in one turn
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
On your turn is the only time you can take a Magic action
When you use the Ready action, you're readying a small-a action, not a capital-a named Action. If you Ready an attack, you're not Readying your Attack action (and don't get Extra Attack as a result) -- you're Readying a single swing of your weapon or shot from your bow. If you ready movement, you're not readying a Dash action
You also don't Ready a Magic action -- you Ready something which would typically require one if done on your turn, but you're doing it as a Reaction instead, so by definition it's not a Magic action. When you use the Ready action to prepare to open the trapdoor under the cultist as per the example in the rules, you're not 'Readying a Utilize action', you're using the Ready action to do something similar, but with different timing in the action economy
Ready doesn't exclude the Magic action as an eligible action. Magic action doesn't say anywhere that it can only be taken on your own turn. You're making rules up.
Attack as a Readied action doesn't include Extra Attack not because of the reaction speed, but because Extra Attack only works on your turn. (Sidebar: This means a creature that's readied to move on your turn as a reaction to taking an action WOULD proc from a Ready action, and if you use Ready to attack it when it comes into range, that would absolutely work with Extra Attack. Unlikely scenario, but works RAW.)
One more point on the Ready action thing -- from an RAI perspective, it seems to me that the "point" of circle spells is to get boosted effects at the cost of extra resources, including extra resources in the action economy. Circle spells are designed to take multiple turns. If you allow a circle spell to go off in one turn via a bunch of stacked Readied actions, you are defeating the purpose of the things
Because if that's allowed, and a bunch of evil wizards are casting a circle spell, why wouldn't they do exactly that -- and deprive your party of any chance to ruin their plan? Instead of the drama of multiple turns as they all work to complete the ritual and unleash a 100-foot radius cloudkill on an unsuspecting village a mile away or whatever, it's just boom done in one turn
Using Ready and reactions to pull off a Circle Spell is actually using MORE action economy, so that argument falls apart immediately. Yes, it happens sooner based on the narrow perspective of looking only from the time of the initial caster using their action to cast the spell, but that's a whole round where secondary casters didn't take any other action.
Also, the enemy can still see the casters grouping up. They can still be separated unless they go one after another in initiative.
Ready doesn't exclude the Magic action as an eligible action.
They're literally separate actions
When you take the Ready action, the thing you are doing is no longer one of the other listed Actions, it's now a Reaction. That's what it does. "I Ready a Magic action" is an incoherent statement mechanically, because you can only do one or the other with a single action
Look at the examples used in the PHB for the Ready action
Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
It's not "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll Utilize the lever that opens it" or "If the zombie steps next to me, I'll Dash away"
The rules unfortunately use action to mean both "specific mechanical thing you can do from the list provided" and "thing you describe your character doing" without distinguishing between the two, so confusion is understandable, but the examples sure make it seem like they're talking about the latter and not the former when it comes to Ready
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Ready doesn't exclude the Magic action as an eligible action.
They're literally separate actions
When you take the Ready action, the thing you are doing is no longer one of the other listed Actions, it's now a Reaction. That's what it does. "I Ready a Magic action" is an incoherent statement mechanically, because you can only do one or the other with a single action
Look at the examples used in the PHB for the Ready action
Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
It's not "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll Utilize the lever that opens it" or "If the zombie steps next to me, I'll Dash away"
The rules unfortunately use action to mean both "specific mechanical thing you can do from the list provided" and "thing you describe your character doing" without distinguishing between the two, so confusion is understandable, but the examples sure make it seem like they're talking about the latter and not the former when it comes to Ready
Clearly you're hallucinating a difference between the actions you can take via Ready and the actions you can take otherwise. That's where the issue is. Literally nothing written excludes the things listed under Actions in the PHB as viable Reactions with the Ready action.
If you aren't limited to the (capital A) Actions in the list when Readying an action, then what stopping someone from saying, "I swing my sword at them 10 times if they come within 5ft of me." or "I fire off 5 firebolts if something rounds that corner." How do you state that those are not "single actions" without invoking the actual Actions one can use on a turn?
And you can't say that the use of the lower-case 'a' in "...you choose the action you will take..." indicates something other than the actions in the list because the first paragraph literally uses a lower-case 'a' to describe the "...Ready action...", which I'm pretty sure we all agree is a capital-A Action.
Ready doesn't exclude the Magic action as an eligible action.
They're literally separate actions
When you take the Ready action, the thing you are doing is no longer one of the other listed Actions, it's now a Reaction. That's what it does. "I Ready a Magic action" is an incoherent statement mechanically, because you can only do one or the other with a single action
Look at the examples used in the PHB for the Ready action
Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
It's not "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll Utilize the lever that opens it" or "If the zombie steps next to me, I'll Dash away"
The rules unfortunately use action to mean both "specific mechanical thing you can do from the list provided" and "thing you describe your character doing" without distinguishing between the two, so confusion is understandable, but the examples sure make it seem like they're talking about the latter and not the former when it comes to Ready
Poor argument, action is hardcoded in the system, therefore whenever describing a rule or a mechanic "action" means a mechanic action. In PHB 2024 we have a list of possible uses of an action like: Attack, Dash, Dodge, Influence, Study, Utilize and Magic action, each of those can be readied. From sage advice:
Can you use the Ready action to take the Attack action on someone else’s turn and then combine the Charger feat with it?
No. When you take the Ready action, you can either move up to your Speed or take a defined action as your Reaction. The Charger feat’s Charge Attack benefit relies on both moving and taking the Attack action on the same turn.
And from PHB 2024:
You take the Ready action to wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn, which lets you act by taking a Reaction before the start of your next turn.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your Speed in response to it. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
When the trigger occurs, you can either take your Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger.
When you Ready a spell, you cast it as normal (expending any resources used to cast it) 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 an action, and holding on to the spell’s magic requires Concentration, which you can maintain up to the start of your next turn. If your Concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.
Now, the way it describes say: "When you take the Ready action, you can either move up to your Speed or take a defined action as your Reaction." Since Magic action is pointed as an action in the Actions session of the player's handbook, there's no point in saying you cant ready it.
'Action' (capital 'A') and 'action' (lower case 'a') are not the same thing.
You can take the Attack Action. This allows you to make one or more (depending on features like Extra Attack or Light) attacks. Each of those attacks is an action.
When you Ready, you can only ready 'actions' (lower case 'a'), not 'Actions' (capital 'A').
For example, let's say I'm a level 5 Fighter. On my turn, I can use my Action to attack with a weapon, then move my Speed, then attack with a weapon. On my turn, I could also use an Action to Ready. However, what I can Ready can only be to make a single attack or move my Speed, not both. I also couldn't attack twice and move my Speed because I'm not taking the Attack Action.
The same is true with the Magic Action. Casting a spell is an action that (ordinarily) requires you take the Magic Action. However, the Magic Action itself can only be taken on your turn as part of your Action. When you ready the action of casting spell, you're not taking the Magic Action. You're taking the Ready Action to perform the action of casting a spell.
If you aren't limited to the (capital A) Actions in the list when Readying an action, then what stopping someone from saying, "I swing my sword at them 10 times if they come within 5ft of me." or "I fire off 5 firebolts if something rounds that corner." How do you state that those are not "single actions" without invoking the actual Actions one can use on a turn?
And you can't say that the use of the lower-case 'a' in "...you choose the action you will take..." indicates something other than the actions in the list because the first paragraph literally uses a lower-case 'a' to describe the "...Ready action...", which I'm pretty sure we all agree is a capital-A Action.
'Action' (capital 'A') and 'action' (lower case 'a') are not the same thing.
You can take the Attack Action. This allows you to make one or more (depending on features like Extra Attack or Light) attacks. Each of those attacks is an action.
When you Ready, you can only ready 'actions' (lower case 'a'), not 'Actions' (capital 'A').
For example, let's say I'm a level 5 Fighter. On my turn, I can use my Action to attack with a weapon, then move my Speed, then attack with a weapon. On my turn, I could also use an Action to Ready. However, what I can Ready can only be to make a single attack or move my Speed, not both. I also couldn't attack twice and move my Speed because I'm not taking the Attack Action.
The same is true with the Magic Action. Casting a spell is an action that (ordinarily) requires you take the Magic Action. However, the Magic Action itself can only be taken on your turn as part of your Action. When you ready the action of casting spell, you're not taking the Magic Action. You're taking the Ready Action to perform the action of casting a spell.
Technically, there's no such thing as a "capital A Action" in D&D 5e. Capitalizing the word action in discussions such as this is inconsistent with the books. It's all actions, with a lowercase a, from Attack to Utilize. The only times it's capitalized are when it's being used in titles or referencing titles. (For instance, in the section talking about actions, we have: "When you do something other than moving or communicating, you typically take an action. The Action table lists the game’s main actions, which are defined in more detail in the rules glossary." The capitalized version is referencing the title of the table just below it, not what you can do in the game.)
To address a few other nitpicks (some of which are already addressed above):
If you aren't limited to the (capital A) Actions in the list when Readying an action, then what stopping someone from saying, "I swing my sword at them 10 times if they come within 5ft of me." or "I fire off 5 firebolts if something rounds that corner." How do you state that those are not "single actions" without invoking the actual Actions one can use on a turn?
This one's easy! Specific beats general. Swinging the sword like that is restricted by the Extra Attack feature being limited to only functioning on your turn or else it WOULD work that way if you had ten attacks. And using extreme examples like "fire off 5 firebolts" is only hurting your own argument because obviously you couldn't do that no matter what unless you had a feature saying you could. (Though an upcast Scorching Ray comes close to doing that and you get all the attacks of that one.)
For example, let's say I'm a level 5 Fighter. On my turn, I can use my Action to attack with a weapon, then move my Speed, then attack with a weapon. On my turn, I could also use an Action to Ready. However, what I can Ready can only be to make a single attack or move my Speed, not both. I also couldn't attack twice and move my Speed because I'm not taking the Attack Action.
The same is true with the Magic Action. Casting a spell is an action that (ordinarily) requires you take the Magic Action. However, the Magic Action itself can only be taken on your turn as part of your Action. When you ready the action of casting spell, you're not taking the Magic Action. You're taking the Ready Action to perform the action of casting a spell.
For the first half, it's the same as I just mentioned above: Specific beats general. Obviously you can't do all the same with the Ready action because the game restricts what you can do with the Ready action (move OR use an action) and Extra Attack is its own restriction.
For the second half, Ready also specifies how casting a spell with it works, which overrides the normal rules of spellcasting and any other rules about Ready. When the rules carve out an exception, you follow that exception, period.
For further clarification on how Ready works, I'd like to reference this post in the updated Sage Advice Compendium. It specifically references the Attack action being called on by the Ready action. The reason Charger doesn't interact isn't anything to do with the Attack action not being able to be properly taken, it's that you can't fulfill the full Charger requirements due to the either/or on movement and actions with Ready. But it absolutely talks about using the Attack action with your reaction.
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i have two questions based on those lines:
1. "Any spell that has a casting time of an action or 1 minute or longer and is cast using a spell slot can be cast as a Circle spell. The primary caster chooses the targets, maintains Concentration if needed, provides components, expends the spell slot, and makes any other choices the spell requires.
The secondary casters must take the Magic action and be near the caster to contribute to the spell. And if the spell's casting time is longer than 1 action, they must take the Magic action each turn and maintain Concentration on the spell—alongside the primary caster—for the entire casting time.
Depending on the option chosen, there may be other requirements for the secondary casters, like expending a spell slot."
2. "On a turn, you can expend only one spell slot to cast a spell. This rule means you can’t, for example, cast a spell with a spell slot using the Magic action and another one using a Bonus Action on the same turn."
So:
Question 1: The contribution Magic action of a secondary caster can be made through a Ready action with a trigger like "When someone start casting a clicle spell" for a spell with the casting time of one action?
Question 2: Can i cast a Bonus action spell with a spell slot and contribute with a circle spell in the same turn?
Since the Magic action and Ready action are different things, I'd say no. If you're casting a circle spell in a situation where initiative order matters, then you'll just have to get the sequencing right
I would rule this is OK. The actual description of what secondary casters are doing is
They aren't explicitly described as casting the spell, so I'd say it doesn't count as your one slot per turn used to cast a spell. I could see someone ruling it the other way though, as you are using a spell slot to aid in a casting
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
yeah, those are different things but a magic action of any other sort can be prepared. You can prepare a magic action to activate an item for example. Does what i said makes any sense?
I don't see anything that would stop you from readying a Magic Action to contribute to a spell. You can literally ready any other action the same way:
As for whether you can then BA a spell-slot spell after readying the contribution, it seems that would depend on whether a spell slot would be used upon the contribution of the secondary caster and whether the contribution is considered "casting". If so, you are spending it on your turn and so would not be able to BA a spell-slot spell that same turn. If it doesn't, then you are fine and can do that, too.
Is there any language for Circle Spells that identifies a secondary caster as "casting"?
EDIT: I think I take that back. "Casting" is actually rather vague in the rules as a defined word. It is probably safe to assume that the secondary casters are, in fact, also casting the spell and so you could not BA a spell-slot spell on the same turn you readied a contribution to a circle spell if it also cost you a spell-slot.
The fact that the secondary casters are referred to as "casters" at all is enough for me, personally, to think that they are in fact "casting" the spell. Which would mean that if their contribution uses a spell slot — some of the options do, some of them don't — then you wouldn't be able to use a spell slot to cast a bonus action spell on the same turn.
I would agree that there's no reason you can't Ready the Magic action to contribute to the spell as a secondary caster, though keep in mind it uses your Reaction for the round.
pronouns: he/she/they
1) Yes Circle Spell don't require secondary caster to take the Magic action on their turn, so they should be able to Ready such action on their turn and take it on a subsequent turn after a Circle Spell is initiated by a primary caster.
2) When a Circle spell is initiated, i assume all contributing casters are considered as casting a spell. Circle magic is a method for amplifying a spell through coordinated teamwork, so unless a Sage Advice say otherwise, i wouldn't allow it to bypass One Spell with a Spell Slot per Turn limitation.
Some clarification of the rules on Circle Magic;
The primary caster provides components that are necessary for the spellcasting process. Therefore, in my opinion, the primary caster is that one that is casting the spell, and the secondary caster (a contributor) is not actually casting the spell, even when they contribute a spell slot.
So, I would allow OP's proposed question 2 regardless of whether or not a spell slot is being contributed.
I also don't see anything within the rules for the Ready action that would disallow OP's proposed question 1, so I would allow that idea as well. In fact, I think that this mechanic could be used in every consecutive Round to contribute to spells with a longer casting time as well.
They are referred to as "casters" because they have to have a feature that allows them to cast spells
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Question 1: Yes, 100%, this works. For a spell that costs an action cast as a Circle Spell, secondary casters can use the Ready action to contribute before their turn by setting the trigger to "when X casts a spell as a Circle Spell" and the response to "I use the Magic action to contribute to the spell as a secondary caster".
Question 2: For spells that require you to spend a spell slot, this still works 99.9% of the time (with an exception I'll bring up). And it doesn't matter whether you're considered to be "casting" the spell or not. You spend the spell slot when you contribute, not when you take the Ready action, because the slot consumption can only happen AFTER the primary caster decides what option will be used. So this is happening on the turn on which you use the reaction, not the Ready action. The exception I mentioned above is if someone tries to set the scenario up by using the Ready action to cast the spell on your turn after you use the Ready action. And even then, it's debatable whether you're considered to be casting a spell. The book uses the term "caster" to describe the secondary casters, but that could mean either they're "casters" of the spell or they're "casters" of spells in general, which is a requirement to contribute at all. If it's the second, this still works 100% of the time.
On your turn is the only time you can take a Magic action
When you use the Ready action, you're readying a small-a action, not a capital-a named Action. If you Ready an attack, you're not Readying your Attack action (and don't get Extra Attack as a result) -- you're Readying a single swing of your weapon or shot from your bow. If you ready movement, you're not readying a Dash action
You also don't Ready a Magic action -- you Ready something which would typically require one if done on your turn, but you're doing it as a Reaction instead, so by definition it's not a Magic action. When you use the Ready action to prepare to open the trapdoor under the cultist as per the example in the rules, you're not 'Readying a Utilize action', you're using the Ready action to do something similar, but with different timing in the action economy
Casting a spell has a different rule -- you cast it normally on your turn using a Magic action, and then Ready the release of its effect -- and if you want to rule that assisting on a circle spell counts as casting, then you could rule that you use the Magic action on your turn to burn the slot and then Ready releasing the energy once the circle spell has been initiated. But then you're definitely also ruling that the slot counts as your one slot per turn for casting purposes. Can't have it both ways
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Everything about circle casting says the secondary casters are using actions. Not reactions, or just a generic "after the final secondary caster makes their contribution" or the like
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
One more point on the Ready action thing -- from an RAI perspective, it seems to me that the "point" of circle spells is to get boosted effects at the cost of extra resources, including extra resources in the action economy. Circle spells are designed to take multiple turns. If you allow a circle spell to go off in one turn via a bunch of stacked Readied actions, you are defeating the purpose of the things
Because if that's allowed, and a bunch of evil wizards are casting a circle spell, why wouldn't they do exactly that -- and deprive your party of any chance to ruin their plan? Instead of the drama of multiple turns as they all work to complete the ritual and unleash a 100-foot radius cloudkill on an unsuspecting village a mile away or whatever, it's just boom done in one turn
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Ready doesn't exclude the Magic action as an eligible action. Magic action doesn't say anywhere that it can only be taken on your own turn. You're making rules up.
Attack as a Readied action doesn't include Extra Attack not because of the reaction speed, but because Extra Attack only works on your turn. (Sidebar: This means a creature that's readied to move on your turn as a reaction to taking an action WOULD proc from a Ready action, and if you use Ready to attack it when it comes into range, that would absolutely work with Extra Attack. Unlikely scenario, but works RAW.)
Using Ready and reactions to pull off a Circle Spell is actually using MORE action economy, so that argument falls apart immediately. Yes, it happens sooner based on the narrow perspective of looking only from the time of the initial caster using their action to cast the spell, but that's a whole round where secondary casters didn't take any other action.
Also, the enemy can still see the casters grouping up. They can still be separated unless they go one after another in initiative.
They're literally separate actions
When you take the Ready action, the thing you are doing is no longer one of the other listed Actions, it's now a Reaction. That's what it does. "I Ready a Magic action" is an incoherent statement mechanically, because you can only do one or the other with a single action
Look at the examples used in the PHB for the Ready action
It's not "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll Utilize the lever that opens it" or "If the zombie steps next to me, I'll Dash away"
The rules unfortunately use action to mean both "specific mechanical thing you can do from the list provided" and "thing you describe your character doing" without distinguishing between the two, so confusion is understandable, but the examples sure make it seem like they're talking about the latter and not the former when it comes to Ready
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Clearly you're hallucinating a difference between the actions you can take via Ready and the actions you can take otherwise. That's where the issue is. Literally nothing written excludes the things listed under Actions in the PHB as viable Reactions with the Ready action.
If you aren't limited to the (capital A) Actions in the list when Readying an action, then what stopping someone from saying, "I swing my sword at them 10 times if they come within 5ft of me." or "I fire off 5 firebolts if something rounds that corner." How do you state that those are not "single actions" without invoking the actual Actions one can use on a turn?
And you can't say that the use of the lower-case 'a' in "...you choose the action you will take..." indicates something other than the actions in the list because the first paragraph literally uses a lower-case 'a' to describe the "...Ready action...", which I'm pretty sure we all agree is a capital-A Action.
Poor argument, action is hardcoded in the system, therefore whenever describing a rule or a mechanic "action" means a mechanic action. In PHB 2024 we have a list of possible uses of an action like: Attack, Dash, Dodge, Influence, Study, Utilize and Magic action, each of those can be readied. From sage advice:
And from PHB 2024:
Now, the way it describes say: "When you take the Ready action, you can either move up to your Speed or take a defined action as your Reaction." Since Magic action is pointed as an action in the Actions session of the player's handbook, there's no point in saying you cant ready it.
'Action' (capital 'A') and 'action' (lower case 'a') are not the same thing.
You can take the Attack Action. This allows you to make one or more (depending on features like Extra Attack or Light) attacks. Each of those attacks is an action.
When you Ready, you can only ready 'actions' (lower case 'a'), not 'Actions' (capital 'A').
For example, let's say I'm a level 5 Fighter. On my turn, I can use my Action to attack with a weapon, then move my Speed, then attack with a weapon. On my turn, I could also use an Action to Ready. However, what I can Ready can only be to make a single attack or move my Speed, not both. I also couldn't attack twice and move my Speed because I'm not taking the Attack Action.
The same is true with the Magic Action. Casting a spell is an action that (ordinarily) requires you take the Magic Action. However, the Magic Action itself can only be taken on your turn as part of your Action. When you ready the action of casting spell, you're not taking the Magic Action. You're taking the Ready Action to perform the action of casting a spell.
Technically, there's no such thing as a "capital A Action" in D&D 5e. Capitalizing the word action in discussions such as this is inconsistent with the books. It's all actions, with a lowercase a, from Attack to Utilize. The only times it's capitalized are when it's being used in titles or referencing titles. (For instance, in the section talking about actions, we have: "When you do something other than moving or communicating, you typically take an action. The Action table lists the game’s main actions, which are defined in more detail in the rules glossary." The capitalized version is referencing the title of the table just below it, not what you can do in the game.)
To address a few other nitpicks (some of which are already addressed above):
This one's easy! Specific beats general. Swinging the sword like that is restricted by the Extra Attack feature being limited to only functioning on your turn or else it WOULD work that way if you had ten attacks. And using extreme examples like "fire off 5 firebolts" is only hurting your own argument because obviously you couldn't do that no matter what unless you had a feature saying you could. (Though an upcast Scorching Ray comes close to doing that and you get all the attacks of that one.)
For the first half, it's the same as I just mentioned above: Specific beats general. Obviously you can't do all the same with the Ready action because the game restricts what you can do with the Ready action (move OR use an action) and Extra Attack is its own restriction.
For the second half, Ready also specifies how casting a spell with it works, which overrides the normal rules of spellcasting and any other rules about Ready. When the rules carve out an exception, you follow that exception, period.
For further clarification on how Ready works, I'd like to reference this post in the updated Sage Advice Compendium. It specifically references the Attack action being called on by the Ready action. The reason Charger doesn't interact isn't anything to do with the Attack action not being able to be properly taken, it's that you can't fulfill the full Charger requirements due to the either/or on movement and actions with Ready. But it absolutely talks about using the Attack action with your reaction.