Counterspell states that it is a reaction when you "see" a spell being cast. Is this intended to be taken literally? Can you only Counterspell spells that you see being cast, and that there for have a Somatic component? Are you unable to Counterspell any spells being cast by a caster that you cannot see for any reason, even if you can hear them casting a spell by the Vcal component?
Or can you Counterspell any spell within range that you are aware of being cast?
RAW is "see" only, but what is RAI or rules as played?
You can see someone casting a material or vocal component spell-- You see them using materials, or you see their mouth moving.
What that means is that you cannot cast Counterspell if you don't have line of sight to the caster. If they are hidden, you can't cast it. If they have total cover from you, you can't cast it.
So awareness of the spell being cast is not enough? You must have a visual line of sight? So a caster subject to the Blinded condition could not Counterspell?
It seems very explicit in that the caster must be visible. While visible, with the exception of Subtle Spell, you can see the V, S, M parts of the spell clear enough. It can be argued that the simple act of holding an arcane focus is not enough to indicate a spell is being cast, but I would be very wary of making that a common allowance.
While there are story elements and fluff that talks about the weave and connection to the arcane, etc., that doesn't have any tie to this spell.
OK. With 360 degree range of vision being assumed, rather than strict war-game facing, needing to "see" and not just aware of the spell seems reasonable.
A follow up question. Does the Counterspeller get to know what spell they are Counterspelling or do they have to declare a Counterspell knowing only that the other guy is casting "something"? If you get to know which spell do you also get to know what level spell slot is being used to cast the spell? These have major implications for wizard duels and the like.
So awareness of the spell being cast is not enough? You must have a visual line of sight? So a caster subject to the Blinded condition could not Counterspell?
You nailed it. Counterspell specifically says, "...when you see a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell" so we have to take it at its word.
OK. With 360 degree range of vision being assumed, rather than strict war-game facing, needing to "see" and not just aware of the spell seems reasonable.
A follow up question. Does the Counterspeller get to know what spell they are Counterspelling or do they have to declare a Counterspell knowing only that the other guy is casting "something"? If you get to know which spell do you also get to know what level spell slot is being used to cast the spell? These have major implications for wizard duels and the like.
I would lean toward no. The spell's description doesn't give any indication that the caster is aware of what they're counter spelling, simply that they know a spell is being cast.
OK. With 360 degree range of vision being assumed, rather than strict war-game facing, needing to "see" and not just aware of the spell seems reasonable.
A follow up question. Does the Counterspeller get to know what spell they are Counterspelling or do they have to declare a Counterspell knowing only that the other guy is casting "something"? If you get to know which spell do you also get to know what level spell slot is being used to cast the spell? These have major implications for wizard duels and the like.
That depends pretty much entirely on the DM. There's a rule in Xanathar's Guide to Everything that says you have to use your reaction and succeed on an Arcana check to identify a spell being cast, but to the best of my knowledge, very few DMs actually use it.
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Ouch! If you have to use your reaction to make an arcana check to identify the spell being cast, there goes having your reaction available to cast Counterspell. That means you would be Couterspelling blind, not knowing what spell was being cast at you, and not knowing what level spell slot it was using either. Makes Counterspell a lot less tempting to use. You run the risk of being. sucker played, you could Counterspell with a high level spell slot because you are facing a high level caster, only to find out that their first spell was a non-threatening spell using a first level spell slot just to draw your Counterspell.
The other thing to take into account is that if you Counterspell a Wizard casting a high level spell - they can Counterspell your Counterspell. And you can do the same. So if they take Counterspell and you don't - you probably won't get many spells off successfully.
So not knowing their spell level or spell becomes a bit moot.
Counterspell states that it is a reaction when you "see" a spell being cast. Is this intended to be taken literally? Can you only Counterspell spells that you see being cast, and that there for have a Somatic component? Are you unable to Counterspell any spells being cast by a caster that you cannot see for any reason, even if you can hear them casting a spell by the Vcal component?
Or can you Counterspell any spell within range that you are aware of being cast?
RAW is "see" only, but what is RAI or rules as played?
You can see someone casting a material or vocal component spell-- You see them using materials, or you see their mouth moving.
What that means is that you cannot cast Counterspell if you don't have line of sight to the caster. If they are hidden, you can't cast it. If they have total cover from you, you can't cast it.
So awareness of the spell being cast is not enough? You must have a visual line of sight? So a caster subject to the Blinded condition could not Counterspell?
It seems very explicit in that the caster must be visible. While visible, with the exception of Subtle Spell, you can see the V, S, M parts of the spell clear enough. It can be argued that the simple act of holding an arcane focus is not enough to indicate a spell is being cast, but I would be very wary of making that a common allowance.
While there are story elements and fluff that talks about the weave and connection to the arcane, etc., that doesn't have any tie to this spell.
OK. With 360 degree range of vision being assumed, rather than strict war-game facing, needing to "see" and not just aware of the spell seems reasonable.
A follow up question. Does the Counterspeller get to know what spell they are Counterspelling or do they have to declare a Counterspell knowing only that the other guy is casting "something"? If you get to know which spell do you also get to know what level spell slot is being used to cast the spell? These have major implications for wizard duels and the like.
You nailed it. Counterspell specifically says, "...when you see a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell" so we have to take it at its word.
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I would lean toward no. The spell's description doesn't give any indication that the caster is aware of what they're counter spelling, simply that they know a spell is being cast.
If they both have the spell, I’d allow a DC — arcana check. Otherwise, no. Of course, at disadvantage, since you interrupted it.
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That depends pretty much entirely on the DM. There's a rule in Xanathar's Guide to Everything that says you have to use your reaction and succeed on an Arcana check to identify a spell being cast, but to the best of my knowledge, very few DMs actually use it.
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Ouch! If you have to use your reaction to make an arcana check to identify the spell being cast, there goes having your reaction available to cast Counterspell. That means you would be Couterspelling blind, not knowing what spell was being cast at you, and not knowing what level spell slot it was using either. Makes Counterspell a lot less tempting to use. You run the risk of being. sucker played, you could Counterspell with a high level spell slot because you are facing a high level caster, only to find out that their first spell was a non-threatening spell using a first level spell slot just to draw your Counterspell.
The other thing to take into account is that if you Counterspell a Wizard casting a high level spell - they can Counterspell your Counterspell.
And you can do the same. So if they take Counterspell and you don't - you probably won't get many spells off successfully.
So not knowing their spell level or spell becomes a bit moot.
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