D&D 5E Counterspell - Do I know my foes' spell before I counter?

[bbrown12]

Hi,

let's say, I don't want to waste my Counterspell to interrupt an enemy casting a Cantrip, but I do want to prevent him from casting e.g. a Fireball. Is it possible to find out what spell is being cast by my foe, so I can decide whether or not I cast Counterspell?

For example, I am having in mind to use the Arcana ability check for that. On the other hand, if I start to allow that, I am sure my Players will ask for that check for ANY spell. Therefore, to speed up the game, I would also be an option to automatically tell them and give them the opportunity to counter or not.

How would you rule that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[KahlessNestor]

There is no RAW, but I would say Arcana with a DC of 10+spell level.

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[KahlessNestor]

I have also occasionally just allowed a caster to know, if the spell was on their spell list.

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[schnee]

I run it as:

1) If they have the spell on their spells known list, they automatically know what's being cast.

2) If they don't, they can roll an Arcana check to see if they understand it. DC 15 + spell level.

3) Sometimes the check is made at Disadvantage. For example - really noisy situations, the other caster is over ~60' away, stuff like that. It's a judgment call, but those are rare.

 

[Volund]

For spells that only have a V component, I think you should be in a position to hear them in order to know what they are casting.

 

[CapnZapp]

For spells that only have a V component, I think you should be in a position to hear them in order to know what they are casting.

That would go for all spells with a V component, I would think?

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[CapnZapp]

For spells that only have a V component, I think you should be in a position to hear them in order to know what they are casting.

Conversely, if you hear their Verbal component, you hear their spell (barring unusual circumstances)

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[bbrown12]

Thanks for all your responses!

I run it as:

1) If they have the spell on their spells known list, they automatically know what's being cast.

2) If they don't, they can roll an Arcana check to see if they understand it. DC 15 + spell level.

3) Sometimes the check is made at Disadvantage. For example - really noisy situations, the other caster is over ~60' away, stuff like that. It's a judgment call, but those are rare.

I like that ruling. Only question to discuss seems the difficulty of the DC. 15 + spell level seems a bit high, doesn't it?

 

[tardigrade]

Related question: if a companion recognises the spell, can they alert the counterspeller? Or assist?
(I'd say this is reasonable by fluff but potentially unfair by crunch).

My players are bound to ask this eventually, but it occurred to me since my first character (a bard) had CS but rarely used it for this reason, and my current character is a non-caster with expertise in arcana).

 

[KahlessNestor]

I think spellcasting might go by a little too quick to allow for Help.

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