4 counterspelling questions

[Dross Swordra]

1. Can you counterspell a spell-like ability?

2. Can you ready an action to Dispel a use from a magic item (ie: using a readied dispel magic to counter a use from a staff of power)

3. Can you counterspell a quickened spell?

4. Can you counterspell an opponent's spell released from a contigency?

I appreciate your help.
-Dross

 

[Infiniti2000]

1. No. "Spell-like abilities cannot be used to counterspell, nor can they be counterspelled."

2. No. You cannot counterspell items. You can ready to dispel the item (suppressing it for 1d4 rounds) or ready to dispel the spell once it takes effect (but obviously you can't do this for instantaneous spells).

3. Yes. There's no restriction.

4. No. You must see it being cast and counterspell it at that time. A contingent spell has already been cast and it merely "comes into effect" after a certain condition.

 

[AuraSeer]

1. No, spell-like abilities are not subject to counterspell. See this SRD page.

2. No. But on your action, you could cast a targeted dispel on the item itself, which would suppress its abilites for 1d4 rounds. During that time, have a fighter run over and chop the staff into pieces.

3. Yes. Quickened spells are fast, but they still provoke AoO and are subject to counterspell.

4. No. You can only counter while the spell is being cast, and that already happened during the original casting of the contingency. However, once cast the contingency is an ongoing effect on its caster, so a targeted dispel aimed at him may wipe the whole thing out.

[Edit: Oops. Quickened spells don't provoke AoO in 3.5.]

 

[Infiniti2000]

Quickened spells are fast, but they still provoke AoO ...

No, they don't: "Casting a quickened spell doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity."

 

[Legildur]

...2. No. But on your action, you could cast a targeted dispel on the item itself, which would suppress its abilites for 1d4 rounds. During that time, have a fighter run over and chop the staff into pieces. ...

Is a magical staff always useable as a quarterstaff?

The reason I ask is that it may be desirable for the fighter to try and Disarm the staff user in order to preserve valuable treasure. Using a weapon to do this achieves little as the staff user would likely simply suck up the AOO and pick the staff up and then use it regardless (there are, I admit, times where this wouldn't be feasible).

But if it weren't considered a 'melee weapon' then likely the user doesn't threaten, and the fighter type could, without special training (ie the Improved Disarm feat), attempt a barehanded disarm without drawing an AOO. If this were successful, then the fighter would have the staff in his hands and thereby deny its use to the opponent. If it were deemed a non-weapon, there would also be bonuses on the attempt.

The description of magical staves is not conclusive (at least in my mind). From the 3.5E SRD (my emphasis bolded):

Physical Description
A typical staff is 4 feet to 7 feet long and 2 inches to 3 inches thick, weighing about 5 pounds. Most staffs are wood, but a rare few are bone, metal, or even glass. (These are extremely exotic.) Staffs often have a gem or some device at their tip or are shod in metal at one or both ends. Staffs are often decorated with carvings or runes. A typical staff is like a walking stick, quarterstaff, or cudgel. It has AC 7, 10 hit points, hardness 5, and a break DC of 24.

There is nothing in the SRD about the physical description of a quarterstaff to compare with...

 

[Infiniti2000]

Is a magical staff always useable as a quarterstaff?

From the description you quoted, a magical staff does not need to be a weapon (i.e. a quarterstaff). Many of the staves in the SRD don't even specify that they are quarterstaves. However, if you look on the table "Summary of Magic Item Creation Costs", you'll see that the Item Cost for Staff is "masterwork quarterstaff." That means that you must add in +300gp to the market price of any magical staff (but it doesn't influence the base price). So, yeah, I think any magical staff is at least a masterwork quarterstaff.

 

[AuraSeer]

No, they don't: "Casting a quickened spell doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity."

You're quite right of course. Quickened spells used to provoke in 3.0, but don't anymore. I've edited my post above to fix the error.

 

[Cabral]

I've got a counterspelling question too ... can "Shadow Conjuration", "Shadow Evocation" and the rest of the line counterspell a spell they can duplicate?

 

[Infiniti2000]

I've got a counterspelling question too ... can "Shadow Conjuration", "Shadow Evocation" and the rest of the line counterspell a spell they can duplicate?

No. They mimic other spells, but they are not other spells. A shadow conjuration is not the same spell as a fireball. It's a littly iffier when you talk about limited wish, wish, and miracle, but I still say they are not "the same" spell because the DC's (if any) are higher and the components might be different.

 

[dcollins]

I've asked a lot of the similar questions in the past.

1. Can you counterspell a spell-like ability?
2. Can you ready an action to Dispel a use from a magic item (ie: using a readied dispel magic to counter a use from a staff of power)
3. Can you counterspell a quickened spell?
4. Can you counterspell an opponent's spell released from a contigency?

1. No. See the Official FAQ.
2. WOTC CustServ said "No" when I asked. They give routinely messed-up answers, so it's not a great source. I think the answer should be "Yes" when using dispel magic.
3. Yes.
4. I think "No".