so I'm playing a campaign and I have a question. If I ready a spell, can hold onto it without losing action or if I can't, do I at least keep my spell slot?
The spell is cast and the slot expended by using the Ready action for your action on your turn. You then hold the spell until the trigger occurs. The only thing that can cause the spell to be lost is to lose concentration. If the trigger for the Ready action never occurs before your next turn and you have maintained concentration, you should be able to use your action on that turn to release the spell.
I believe that you could continue to maintain concentration on holding the spell as if it were a spell with a concentration duration. Anything you could do while concentrating on such a spell, you could also do while concentrating on holding the spell. As long as you have maintained concentration, you could use your action on a later turn to release it.
I’m sure I made that sound much more complicated than it really is.
According to Jeremy Crawford, the spell dissipates if you don't release it with your reaction before you next turn. You can therefore not extent the duration of your concentration to hold the spell, and you cannot choose to release the spell on your next turn if a trigger hasn't occurred as the spell will have dissipated at this point.
The going thought for many people is that the spell is lost. You have to gather the energies for the spell, make the incantation, use the focus or components necessary and then hold on to that for a trigger. Due to everything but the spell being launched having occurred, it's a lost spell slot.
According to Jeremy Crawford, the spell dissipates if you don't release it with your reaction before you next turn. You can therefore not extent the duration of your concentration to hold the spell, and you cannot choose to release the spell on your next turn if a trigger hasn't occurred as the spell will have dissipated at this point.
But he also says his house rule is that you can continue to hold it. It seems like his house rule is RAW and the official rule is RAI that uses a different meaning for concentration than concentrating on spells with duration - concentration. That’s a head scratcher.
I suppose he doesn’t want spells with long casting times or ritual castings being held with concentration.
Edit - I found the errata entry for Ready. JC’s ruling makes a lot more sense now.
But he also says his house rule is that you can continue to hold it. It seems like his house rule is RAW and the official rule is RAI that uses a different meaning for concentration than concentrating on spells with duration - concentration. That’s a head scratcher.
A house rule isn't RAW, by definition.
The RAW answer is that the spell is wasted. The slot is used as soon as you take the Ready action and the rules for the Ready action give you until the start of your next turn to use your reaction.
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so I'm playing a campaign and I have a question. If I ready a spell, can hold onto it without losing action or if I can't, do I at least keep my spell slot?
Extended Signature! Yay! https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/3153-extended-signature-thread?page=2#c21
Haven’t used this account in forever. Still a big fan of crawling claws.
The spell is cast and the slot expended by using the Ready action for your action on your turn. You then hold the spell until the trigger occurs. The only thing that can cause the spell to be lost is to lose concentration. If the trigger for the Ready action never occurs before your next turn and you have maintained concentration, you should be able to use your action on that turn to release the spell.
I believe that you could continue to maintain concentration on holding the spell as if it were a spell with a concentration duration. Anything you could do while concentrating on such a spell, you could also do while concentrating on holding the spell. As long as you have maintained concentration, you could use your action on a later turn to release it.
I’m sure I made that sound much more complicated than it really is.
According to Jeremy Crawford, the spell dissipates if you don't release it with your reaction before you next turn. You can therefore not extent the duration of your concentration to hold the spell, and you cannot choose to release the spell on your next turn if a trigger hasn't occurred as the spell will have dissipated at this point.
The going thought for many people is that the spell is lost. You have to gather the energies for the spell, make the incantation, use the focus or components necessary and then hold on to that for a trigger. Due to everything but the spell being launched having occurred, it's a lost spell slot.
But he also says his house rule is that you can continue to hold it. It seems like his house rule is RAW and the official rule is RAI that uses a different meaning for concentration than concentrating on spells with duration - concentration. That’s a head scratcher.
I suppose he doesn’t want spells with long casting times or ritual castings being held with concentration.
Edit - I found the errata entry for Ready. JC’s ruling makes a lot more sense now.
A house rule isn't RAW, by definition.
The RAW answer is that the spell is wasted. The slot is used as soon as you take the Ready action and the rules for the Ready action give you until the start of your next turn to use your reaction.
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