D&D 5E Counterspell nerfed!

[Blue]

I think this is a bit of a strong reading, one spell has been made into an action, the remaining spells can all be counterspelled.

I think it‘s a good change that will make running spellcasting NPCs much easier. The new War Cleric example I saw looked great.

Please look at the monster section of Witchlight. All offensive casting - in other words anything you'd counterspell - has been switched to this format. Without any note of the level of the effects even if you did want to just allow it.

 

[Blue]

I imagine they will discuss whether to errata these abilities with the word "spell" or not.

I do not like the idea that some spells are now counterspell proof due to a cosmetic change.

And also with a effective spell level. Which means you now need the errata to run the monster, it's no longer all nice in one place.

 

[Blue]

I don't know why, but this really steams me all out of proportion. My new book, Witchlight, is done this way. And basically I find the monster section heavy with partially unusable creatures without adjustment. Does the Oath of the Ancients Paladin's Aura of Warding (resistance to damage from spells) work against this? Can I counterspell it? If so, what spell level is it?

It's like they have taken an entire section and seeded it with landmines - that if I now try to rely on it, sooner or later it will let me down.

And that just gets to me with a book I just purchased. It suggests an incredible lack of playtesting, and an even greater lack of forethought before making changes - and that they are idiots is the benefit of the doubt, because assuming they know what they are doing shows intention to do stealth changes to common parts of the game. Malice aforethought. But no, I'll go for the better thought that they just got carried away with "oh look, easy" that they blatantly failed in their jobs in considering the game effects of these changes.

Like I said, I'm mad about this all out of proportion. Mayhaps it's because Witchlight if the first Adventure book I've bought, to give to my daughter for her first time DMing a campaign because she loves the fey. Whatever the reason, this really isn't acceptable to either (a) leave out this information or (b) stealth change a chunk of established gameplay.

 

[Sacrosanct]

The monster book I’m writing now, I got rid of “innate casting” and similar because so many want them as actions instead. So like WotC is doing. However, those spell like actions in the statblock are now prefaced with “spellcasting “ so it alerts you it’s a spell.

for example, Spellcasting, Lightning Strike. Monster summons a bolt of lightning ….

I’ll post a screenshot tomorrow of a statblock for reference

 

[cbwjm]

I don't actually like counterspell, I'm not against the spell existing but I think that it should always be a contested roll.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

On a related note, does anybody run spellcasting such that opponents don't automatically know what spell is being cast when they have to use their reaction? Perhaps there could be an arcana check to know what spell it is? (Although I would like there to be some cost to the arcana check...perhaps that in doing so you consume your reaction even if you don't cast Counterspell?)

Yes, this would be a pretty serious nerf to Counterspell, but I'd be ok with that. Even when I'm on the player side of the screen, Counterspell just seems too....easy.

My theoretical method is to tell a player the spell being cast when it is a lower level spell (levels 1-3), or a spell they themselves use, and allowing a free arcana check if it is a spell on their class list, that they have seen at some point, that it suits their character to know about for some background reason, or that feels like it should be (in)famous in a world that it existed in. But I'm pretty inconsistent.

 

[pming]

Why?

Because the new monster format has monsters not actually casting spells

Dungeons & Dragons Just Nerfed One of Its Most Popular Spells

A recent design change in Dungeons & Dragons had some unexpected consequences on a popular spell. [...]

comicbook.com

LOL!

Yeah, ok. Not in my game. Anyone who can mutter words, point a finger at a location, and have the location erupt in a fiery explosion is USING MAGIC! How anyone could argue "No...it doesn't SAY it's magic...so it isn't!" with a straight face would get laughed out of the game. I used to put up with such silliness decades ago. But now I'm too old and crotchety.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Helldritch]

LOL!

Yeah, ok. Not in my game. Anyone who can mutter words, point a finger at a location, and have the location erupt in a fiery explosion is USING MAGIC! How anyone could argue "No...it doesn't SAY it's magic...so it isn't!" with a straight face would get laughed out of the game. I used to put up with such silliness decades ago. But now I'm too old and crotchety.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

And I the same. Fiery Explosion? Sounds like fireball. A streak of lightning? Sounds like lightning bolt. So you can counter.

But if you are seeing the effect, it is already too late to cast counter spell. Do it before or not at all. It might be a cantrip that you are countering for all you know...

 

[Blue]

The monster book I’m writing now, I got rid of “innate casting” and similar because so many want them as actions instead. So like WotC is doing. However, those spell like actions in the statblock are now prefaced with “spellcasting “ so it alerts you it’s a spell.

for example, Spellcasting, Lightning Strike. Monster summons a bolt of lightning ….

I’ll post a screenshot tomorrow of a statblock for reference

So your "Lightning Strike", can I counterspell it? What level counterspell automatically works? If it doesn't automatically work, what's the DC? If the creature is an ally and we're attacking a Rakshasa which is immune to spells of 6th level or lower, does it affect them?

Just "Spellcasting" is a good start, but it also needs a spell level.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And I the same. Fiery Explosion? Sounds like fireball. A streak of lightning? Sounds like lightning bolt. So you can counter.

But if you are seeing the effect, it is already too late to cast counter spell. Do it before or not at all. It might be a cantrip that you are countering for all you know...

But even if you do count it as a spell, what level is it? You need that to use counterspell. And if you as the DM have to eyeball it, that's now two extra steps you have to consider whenever a PC says, "I cast Counterspell". Not exactly fast and easy. This is either a massive fail in playtesting or a stealth nerf. Either way, not a great look. And this coming from someone who hates Counterspell with the burning fury of a thousand suns.