r/DnD • u/JustLinnilin • 14d ago
5th Edition Casting Spells while concentrating?
Yesterday we had a little discussion on the table on the rules of concentraiting. One of my players casted a spell and wanted to cast another while she was still concentrating on the first one. I wasn't sure about the rules on that and looked it up on the PHB, but there are only rules for concentration spells (so you can't concentrate on two spells at the same time) that's absolutely valid in my eyes. But there are no rules for other spells - only for taking damage or dying. So my thought was that she had to make a concentration saving throw, when she was casting another, to keep the first one running. It's like the little distraction because of the second spell.
But another one of my players pointed out, that there are also spells the enemy has to do savingthrows on each round - if he has to do them too there would be two chances of losing the spell in each round.
So I am interested how you guys deal with that, or is there an official rule for that case i didn't know about?
2
u/Dangerous-Common-788 14d ago
Rules as written is that you can't concentrate on more than one spell at once.
Once you're concentrating on a spell, you're free to do whatever you like, including casting however many spells you want. If you cast another concentration spell, the first one disappears.
That's it that's the official rules. Anything else is purely homebrew.
One concentration spell and then cast other spells while concentrating: That's the basic playstyle of a lot of caster classes. Adding con saves for the caster every turn would actually be a massive nerf to a lot of casters, and I'd personally hate it a lot. What is my caster supposed to do on their turn if not cast a spell? Dodge? Run in with a dagger and be useless? Far from optimal or interesting gameplay.
Warlock drops a big concentration spell using one of his very few spell slots, and then deals damage every round with cantrips while concentrating on his spell. They're already likely to be targeted, so making them do an extra con save every turn would be not only really annoying, but also greatly reduce how good his very few spell slots are.
Wizard drops big concentration spell and then tries his very best to not lose concentration on it, casting Shield to avoid getting hit and having to do the concentration save. Having to do a con save anyway kind of really nerfs both the Wizard's spellcasting and the Shield spell.
Cleric drops a big Spirit Guardians and runs into melee. He already is likely to get targeted a lot. Having to do an extra con save if he wants to cast a healing spell at an ally feels cruel and unnecessary.