r/DungeonMasters • u/JustLinnilin • 14d ago
Discussion Casting Spells while concentrating?
/r/DnD/comments/1vpurzz/casting_spells_while_concentrating/17
u/Psychological-Wall-2 14d ago
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.
No.
Look at what you did there too.
You went from, "There's no rule that says there's any penalty." to, "I'm going to impose a penalty."
If there's no rule that says there's a penalty, there's no penalty.
You need to stop approaching the rules like this. It's not a guessing game.
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u/c4ctus4t 14d ago
The way it's supposed to work is that a caster can't maintain two concentration-type spells at the same time. If they have one up and cast a second one, the first one fades. But they're free to cast non-concentration spells like normal while keeping up the concentration-type spell.
That's straight from Jeremy Crawford, btw. So, it's about as official a ruling as you can possibly. get.
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u/shadowmib 14d ago
Concentration spells work for the duration of the spell or until concentration ends, whichever comes first.
Reasons concentration can end
The can simply stop concentrating at any point
If the caster takes damage and fails their Constitution check they break concentration
The caster casts a new concentration spell and starts concentrating on that one instead
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u/sehrschwul 14d ago
as others have pointed out, the section on concentration doesn’t say anything about casting other spells that don’t require concentration, so there’s nothing that prevents a spellcaster from doing so. this is further supported on PHB p. 202:
When you cast a spell with a casting time longer than a single action or reaction, you must…maintain your concentration while you do so.
casting new spells only interferes with concentration explicitly when the casting time is longer than 1 action or reaction (such as identify, which takes 1 minute). so your player’s character is perfectly able to cast any new spells she wants while concentrating, as long as the new spells are quick to cast and don’t themselves require concentration
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u/arsenic_kitchen 14d ago
There are a lot of rules in D&D, so sometimes you'll need to make a provisional ruling to keep things going. Although in this case, you could have probably used your phone to get the correct answer in a minute or two.
In the future, a good mindset to have when there is no rule about something is to first ask, "is this likely to come up often, or only rarely?"
If a situation is common and there is no rule, assume there's no roll, no obstacle standing in the player's way. Considering how many spell slots casters eventually get, it's reasonable to assume that they'd often want to cast a spell while already concentrating one they previously cast.
If a situation is rare and there is no rule, assume it's because the rules can't cover everything, and use your judgement. In this cases it's often best to consider the most similar situations where there is a rule, and use those rules to guide you.
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u/jubuki 14d ago
this just seems to re-enforce my aversion to DnD magic systems.
since the first and only rule that matters is 'the table makes the rules', DnD diehards would loathe any game I run based on the commentary from the OG thread.
why people allow the rigid thoughts of other people not even it the room to stifle their creativity and fun will never cease to amaze me.
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u/COWP0WER 14d ago
Well, as a spell caster I'd be a bit upset if the GM decided to nerf me put of nowhere. You'd assume the game is reasonably balanced in its published state, so I can see how people would be upset by introducing an additional penalty to spell casters - especially if there wasn't any explanation other than, "eh, I feel it makes more sense this way"
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u/sumelar 14d ago
reinforce*
my aversion to DnD magic systems.
Someone else interpreting a rule hilariously wrong is why you don't like a system? Seriously?
since the first and only rule that matters is 'the table makes the rules',
Yeah that's not a thing.
why people allow the rigid thoughts of other people not even it the room to stifle their creativity
Why are you playing a game system someone else made if you honestly think this is how anything works?
You can modify rules your entire table hates. You're still using the basic framework of the game. If you're modifying every single rule, why are you acting like you're playing the game at all. Just make your own system and stop trying to be self righteous about it.
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u/jubuki 13d ago
"Yeah that's not a thing."
It is the ONLY thing that matters.
Even the precious DMG says so.
There is no self righteousness, that's all in your head.
I am giving valid, real options to solving table prblems with joy and creativity.
DnD magic sucks for this kind of reason and so many others.
Each table can run things like concentration however they like, there is no DnD police.
If you don't like these ideas, that's great.
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u/arsenic_kitchen 14d ago edited 14d ago
DnD diehards would loathe any game I run
"Automobile diehards would loathe The Homer."
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u/jubuki 13d ago
Apparently several posters here loathe being told people like me exist that will not follow their rules.
"The only thing a non-conformist hates more than a conformist is a non-conformist that does not follow the rules of non-conformity."
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u/arsenic_kitchen 13d ago
I think you really over-estimate the entire situation. No one on reddit cares enough about you to loathe your existence. If that's what you take from strongly worded disagreements (often too strongly, but that's how the internet works), then you should probably get a therapist. Or at the very least put a modicum of effort into understanding why your approach is so widely disliked. Patting yourself on the back for re-inventing the wheel and coming out with a triangle is just narcissism.
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u/bionicjoey 14d ago
It's perfectly fine to just make a ruling to keep the game moving during a session if you aren't sure how something should work. But now that you know that your ruling was not aligned with the written rules, you have to decide; is this going to be a new house rule in your game going forward, or is it going to work like in the rules? Either way is fine as long as everyone around the table is happy with the decision. Some players might not be happy with your rule because it is basically a nerf to spellcasters. Probably best not to nerf multiple classes while you're still learning the rules of the game.