D&D 5E Bonus action spell and reaction on your same turn

[CleverNickName]

By the rules? No, they can't cast three spells on their turn. But I've been known to sneer at the rules from time to time, so I'd leave it up to the player to decide if burning that many spell slots in a single turn is worth it. Warlocks don't get very many spell slots, and in a long and protracted battle scene, "going nova" isn't always wise.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

By the rules? No, they can't cast three spells on their turn. But I've been known to sneer at the rules from time to time, so I'd leave it up to the player to decide if burning that many spell slots in a single turn is worth it. Warlocks don't get very many spell slots, and in a long and protracted battle scene, "going nova" isn't always wise.

Yeah I managed to survive the BBEG going nova once, with a Shadar-Kai monk. I was down, got a nat20 on my first death save, got up and practically flew at him, took him down with one hit, just in time to avoid the fighter having to make another death save (healing potion to cleric, cleric did group heal). The player rolled to see what it would have been, and rolled a 2.

Id love to turn that around on some PCs some time. I’d never TPK without thier buy in, but they could get taken out and captured.

 

[ECMO3]

You can do it with an action surge (because that's an exception), and this is not trivial - you have to spend a resource that you can't get again until you short rest, and you have had to take the fighter class to boot to get the ability.

I don't think this is an exception. You can use two actions on your turn with action surge can cast an action spell on either or both actions, but if cast a bonus action spell you still can't cast another leveled spell that turn even if you use action surge.

 

[Oofta]

I don't think this is an exception. You can use two actions on your turn with action surge can cast an action spell on either or both actions, but if cast a bonus action spell you still can't cast another leveled spell that turn even if you use action surge.

According to Sage Advice

Is there a limit on the number of spells you can cast on your turn?​

There’s no rule that says you can cast only X number of spells on your turn, but there are some practical limits. The main limiting factor is your action. Most spells require an action to cast, and unless you use a feature like the fighter’s Action Surge, you have only one action on your turn.​

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If you cast a spell, such as healing word, with a bonus action, you can cast another spell with your action, but that other spell must be a cantrip. Keep in mind that this particular limit is specific to spells that use a bonus action. For instance, if you cast a second spell using Action Surge, you aren’t limited to casting a cantrip with it.​

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In addition, we've always ruled that you can cast a reaction spell on your turn. It's explicitly spelled out that you can take a reaction on your turn. It's not really a big issue from a balance perspective because you don't get another reaction until your next turn anyway. Also Sage Advice

Can you cast a reaction spell on your turn?​

You sure can! Here’s a common way for it to happen: Cornelius the wizard is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell on him. Cornelius also has counterspell prepared, so he uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell before it can stop fireball.​

 

[Lyxen]

According to Sage Advice

Is there a limit on the number of spells you can cast on your turn?​

There’s no rule that says you can cast only X number of spells on your turn, but there are some practical limits. The main limiting factor is your action. Most spells require an action to cast, and unless you use a feature like the fighter’s Action Surge, you have only one action on your turn.​

​

If you cast a spell, such as healing word, with a bonus action, you can cast another spell with your action, but that other spell must be a cantrip. Keep in mind that this particular limit is specific to spells that use a bonus action. For instance, if you cast a second spell using Action Surge, you aren’t limited to casting a cantrip with it.​

​

In addition, we've always ruled that you can cast a reaction spell on your turn. It's explicitly spelled out that you can take a reaction on your turn. It's not really a big issue from a balance perspective because you don't get another reaction until your next turn anyway. Also Sage Advice

Can you cast a reaction spell on your turn?​

You sure can! Here’s a common way for it to happen: Cornelius the wizard is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell on him. Cornelius also has counterspell prepared, so he uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell before it can stop fireball.​

All of that is consistent, I think that what people have trouble with is the fact that the very specific rule about a spell cast as a bonus action wrecks all these other possibilities of casting levelled spells, even if you use Action Surge or a reaction. The writing is clear, but it's a bit counterintuitive.

 

[Oofta]

All of that is consistent, I think that what people have trouble with is the fact that the very specific rule about a spell cast as a bonus action wrecks all these other possibilities of casting levelled spells, even if you use Action Surge or a reaction. The writing is clear, but it's a bit counterintuitive.

Yeah, I wish they would have said explicitly one way or another. It's such a rare thing in my experience that we just erred on the side of simplicity.

There may be some edge case it happens all the time but given the artificial nature of turns and rounds along with how reactions reset I don't see that it hurts much.

 

[Lyxen]

Yeah, I wish they would have said explicitly one way or another. It's such a rare thing in my experience that we just erred on the side of simplicity.

Honestly, it's my experience that it's really hard to make something complex simple and approachable. 5e is not perfect, but seeing what they started from, with the mess of AD&D, the huge sprawling complexity of 3e, and the very different take of 4e, I think the designers of 5e did a great job of simplifying, but sometimes, they went just a bit too far.

There may be some edge case it happens all the time but given the artificial nature of turns and rounds along with how reactions reset I don't see that it hurts much.

I agree, I don't think it hurts that much and that particular edge cas has never happened to me in 7 years of gaming twice or thrice per week, so ruling one way or another would not cause much harm anyway.

 

[Oofta]

Honestly, it's my experience that it's really hard to make something complex simple and approachable. 5e is not perfect, but seeing what they started from, with the mess of AD&D, the huge sprawling complexity of 3e, and the very different take of 4e, I think the designers of 5e did a great job of simplifying, but sometimes, they went just a bit too far.



I agree, I don't think it hurts that much and that particular edge cas has never happened to me in 7 years of gaming twice or thrice per week, so ruling one way or another would not cause much harm anyway.

I agree on both counts. I think it happened once with someone that had cast a bonus action spell and cantrip then triggered an op attack so did a shield. Maybe. My memory's a bit fuzzy.

But I'm trying to think of a scenario where it could be abused and can't really think of any.