Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maxperson" data-source="post: 8414789" data-attributes="member: 23751">You've changed actions into spells when both are defined differently in the MM.  That's a rule change, not an interpretation.Here's an analogy for what you are doing.Fish(spell): has scales, eyes, a head and a tail.  You're looking at that and saying that Counterfish will counter snakes since snakes have scales, eyes, a head and a tail, even though snakes(action) are defined differently from fish(spells) in the Animal Guide(MM).Sure fish(spells) and snakes(magic actions) have similarities, but one does not equal the other and that's very obvious if you look at the rules.A magical effect that isn't explicitly a spell in the PHB and given in the MM as Innate Spellcasting or Spellcasting is not a spell by any rule of the game.Under that are actions, which are explicitly not spells since they are not in the spell section.  Those actions include Beholder eye rays and any other magical effect that is not a spell.And countering non-spell magical abilities like Beholder eye rays.The designers have said that there is background magic, such as Dragons use to fly, that is not overtly magical in the way that antimagic and the like will affect.Personally, I let it work on non-spell magic in my game.Nobody hits 5th level?  If they can't dispel, they can't counterspell either, and probably shouldn't be encountering Beholders, so this is all moot. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Counterspell can only dispel that which is seen being cast.  No components means no visual on casting, so it's impossible to counterspell.  The effect simply takes place with no casting involved, at which point it's too late.That is not correct by my logic.  Counterspell explicitly(specific beats general if you need it to) interrupts the casting of the spell and stops it.  It doesn't wait until the spell takes effect.  Basically, you see someone waving his hands, chanting, and/or holding up bat poo and that clues you in that a spell is in the process of being cast.  You declare then that you are counterspelling, which is why you don't get to know what the spell is before you counter it.  There's not time to watch and see before you act.</blockquote>

Verification