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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arceliar" data-source="post: 7164047" data-attributes="member: 6894334">I think maybe the confusion comes from a different RAW interpretation of the word "effect" when it pertains to the spell Booming Blade. To repeat the rule in question (with the example this time):That's the entirety of this section in the rules, and it doesn't attempt to define what the "effect" of a spell is, it just gives an example. If two copies of Booming Blade are on a target, then I completely agree that only one instance will have an effect "while their durations overlap", it's just a question of precisely what "effect" means for the spell Booming Blade.For Booming Blade, the spell description states:By my reading, the first sentence establishes when the spell is applied to the target and what its duration is. The second sentence, in its entirety, is what I'm interpreting as the spell's "effect". So, when a target with two copies of Booming Blade moves, then the most potent instance of the spell is the only one for which the effect will apply. That effect will be to deal damage and end the spell. But the second instance on the target won't deal damage, and it won't end, because "and the spell ends" is part of the spell's effect by my reading--it's something that a spell does between being placed on the target and the end of its duration, which as I've noted is 1 round (until the start of the caster's next turn).I don't for a moment claim that this is RAI, but if there's anything RAW to indicate that the "and the spell ends" part of the spell's description is not part of the spell's effect, or if I'm misunderstanding something else about the rules (e.g. the "and the spell ends" is part of the effect, but it doesn't matter because of reasons), then I'd genuinely appreciate it if someone could point me in that direction. There are other cases where it matters, e.g. Death Ward:Now suppose you cast it on a target twice, then try to reduce them to 0 HP. The first instance triggers and they drop to 1 HP instead, and that instance of the spell ends. If the second instance is still around, as it would be my my interpretation of a spell's "effect", then the 0 hit points condition can no longer be met. It can only happen "the first time" the target reduces to 0, which has already happened, but the spell was unable to end itself due to the rules for overlapping spell effects, if "and the spell ends" is considered part of the spell's effect. Then by my interpretation, we're left in the curious state where only the second option--canceling a non-damaging instant death effect--remains possible.The only thing I can think of to get out of this is if the "effect" makes a distinction between what the spell does to the target (damage for Booming Blade, or the stated effects for Death Ward), and modifications to properties of the spell itself ("and the spell ends", even though its duration has not ended yet). The rules for combining effects don't acknowledge any such distinction, so far as I can tell, so I don't acknowledge one either from a RAW perspective, but it's entirely possible that I've missed something.</blockquote>

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