D&D 5E Command Spell and "Turn Ends"

[jayoungr]

I just want to check to be sure other people are interpreting this spell the same way I am.

The subject of a Command spell carries out the caster's command, and then his/her "turn ends." I have been interpreting this to mean that the subject of the spell cannot take any action of any kind (reaction, bonus action, etc.) until the start of his/her next turn. Do others agree?

 

[Staffan]

You would not get a bonus action, because you do those on your turn. You would not be able to use other forms of additional actions (e.g. Action Surge or haste) either. You would, however, be able to take a reaction later because that's not something you do on your own turn.

 

[guachi]

There are some reactions you could take on your own turn. You cast spell (action). Opposing wizard casts counterspell (reaction). You cast counterspell (reaction).

 

[the Jester]

I just want to check to be sure other people are interpreting this spell the same way I am.

The subject of a Command spell carries out the caster's command, and then his/her "turn ends." I have been interpreting this to mean that the subject of the spell cannot take any action of any kind (reaction, bonus action, etc.) until the start of his/her next turn. Do others agree?

Close, but not exactly. I interpret it to mean that the subject can't take any more actions on his turn, but if someone triggered an opportunity attack or it had a chance to cast a reaction spell, it could- as long the trigger was after the end of its turn.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I wouldn't say Command denies reactions, either before or after the victim's next turn on which it carries out the commanded action. The way I read it, Command compels the victim to take a particular action on its next turn but has no effect outside of the victim's next turn. So it would shut down bonus actions because the victim performs the action and then ends its turn, but allowing Command to shut down reactions may have unintended consequences due to the variety of activities that use reactions, making the spell more powerful than it ought to be.

I'm not sure if you're proposing the victim can't take reactions until the turn after its commanded action, so let's consider the following sequence to illustrate the alternatives.

1. NPC Caster acts after PC Rogue, casts Command on PC Rogue, commanding it to drop prone on its next turn. PC Rogue fails save.
2. One or more enemies attack PC Rogue in melee. PC Rogue should be able to use Uncanny Dodge to reduce damage on one of these, but can't if you allow Command to prevent reactions here.
3. PC Rogue acts and is compelled to drop prone and then ends its turn. (No Cunning Action bonus action.)
4. One or more enemies attack the prone PC Rogue in melee, all with advantage because PC Rogue is now prone. PC Rogue should be able to use Uncanny Dodge to reduce damage on one of these, but can't if Command also disallows reactions until the start of the victim's turn after its commanded action.

If that's what you're describing, then in addition to Command denying PC Rogue a turn and forcing it to drop prone, granting a round of melee attacks against it with advantage, and costing PC Rogue half a move action to stand up on its next turn, it also denies PC Rogue one or two Uncanny Dodges. I think it's good enough without denying reactions.

 

[jayoungr]

I guess that's another question: does the Command spell take effect immediately (as a reaction, effectively) or on the PC's turn? I was running it as taking place immediately, so in the sequence above, the PC would drop prone on 1, not on 3.

 

[the Jester]

I guess that's another question: does the Command spell take effect immediately (as a reaction, effectively) or on the PC's turn? I was running it as taking place immediately, so in the sequence above, the PC would drop prone on 1, not on 3.

The spell explicitly says that it affects you on your next turn.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I guess that's another question: does the Command spell take effect immediately (as a reaction, effectively) or on the PC's turn? I was running it as taking place immediately, so in the sequence above, the PC would drop prone on 1, not on 3.

It does seem a more natural flow that the victim would do what you just commanded it to do right away, but I suppose that's down to the imposition of abstract turns in combat.

Looking at the spell itself, in 1E and 2E it was not specific about when the victim took the commanded action. In those editions we played it as acting when commanded. We ran it the same way in 3E. Rereading the 3E spell now, however, it mentions the victim "obeys to the best of its ability at its earliest opportunity" which is the equivalent of "on its next turn", but could be subject to interpretation. We never bothered to read it too closely at the time and just went with what we were used to from prior editions, I guess. In 4E it took effect as it was cast. And 5E now harks back to the 3E version of the spell.