Dealing with spellcasters as a martial

[Enkhidu]

I see the desire here - countering casters can and should be a “thing” for spell-less warriors - but disagree with the action economy trade-off. Using attacks rather than the Attack action is simply a non-starter.

I’d suggest the following:

* Warrior grapples caster using normal routine, to initiate contact for future rounds.

* Warrior, on the next round (assuming the grapple is still intact), readies an action to “stop them from casting.”

* Caster casts a spell, and warrior’s readied Action kicks in, causing an automatic concentration check or the spell is stopped before it begins. DC for the check is 8 + strength bonus + proficiency bonus of the warrior.

This is repeatable, uses a palatable action economy, and not a certainty. It’s much less effective than, say, counterspell, but I think hits the sweet spot for both the game side and the story side.

 

[Krachek]

Mandatory War caster feat trend.

 

[Satyrn]

I see the desire here - countering casters can and should be a “thing” for spell-less warriors - but disagree with the action economy trade-off. Using attacks rather than the Attack action is simply a non-starter.

I’d suggest the following:

* Warrior grapples caster using normal routine, to initiate contact for future rounds.

* Warrior, on the next round (assuming the grapple is still intact), readies an action to “stop them from casting.”

* Caster casts a spell, and warrior’s readied Action kicks in, causing an automatic concentration check or the spell is stopped before it begins. DC for the check is 8 + strength bonus + proficiency bonus of the warrior.

This is repeatable, uses a palatable action economy, and not a certainty. It’s much less effective than, say, counterspell, but I think hits the sweet spot for both the game side and the story side.

I find the OP's original idea palatable enough, but this is a cool idea too for the DM who thinks it ought to be a little trickier but not impossible.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I see the desire here - countering casters can and should be a “thing” for spell-less warriors - but disagree with the action economy trade-off. Using attacks rather than the Attack action is simply a non-starter.

I’d suggest the following:

* Warrior grapples caster using normal routine, to initiate contact for future rounds.

* Warrior, on the next round (assuming the grapple is still intact), readies an action to “stop them from casting.”

* Caster casts a spell, and warrior’s readied Action kicks in, causing an automatic concentration check or the spell is stopped before it begins. DC for the check is 8 + strength bonus + proficiency bonus of the warrior.

This is repeatable, uses a palatable action economy, and not a certainty. It’s much less effective than, say, counterspell, but I think hits the sweet spot for both the game side and the story side.

Anything that requires two or more dice rolls to go your way to get a favorable result in d20 is probably a sucker bet. Likewise, even trading an action for a /chance/ of foiling another action (let alone two actions), probably not going to come out ahead.
That said, in a situation where the fighter's DPR isn't going to help much (where they're fighting a caster he can't damage effectively for some reason?), his actions are going to have very little value, anyway, so he might as well try.

I'd prefer to go with:

* all casting provokes
* a ranged attacker can Ready to interrupt casting
* if you take damage while casting, make a concentration check or the spell fails & you lose the slot

Nothing radical or complicated or specialized, and it puts casters back in the paradigm of actually having to be a little careful where/when they cast.


If it's still too complicated, "spells cannot be cast while in melee" would be simple enough.