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General Tabletop Discussion
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Duration/Existence of Spell-like/Supernatural Abilities in 5e?
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<blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 7556868" data-attributes="member: 12377"><p>I'll answer your questions in reverse order.</p><p></p><p><strong>3.</strong> Yes, because monsters can have custom abilities that do whatever the DM wants. The monster could have a single ability that says, "As an action, the mega-demon casts <em>mirror image</em> on itself, and summons 4 mini-demons that appear within 30 feet of it." </p><p></p><p>5E follows a principle of "exception-based design" which means that specific rules provide "exceptions" which override general rules. Many monsters have very specific and weird abilities like this.</p><p></p><p><strong>2.</strong> 5E does not use the term "spell-like ability" the way 3E/3.5 did. But... "Innate Spellcasting" is kind of the same thing, conceptually.</p><p></p><p>A monster can have Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting or both. Spellcasting follows the same rules as PCs -- unless the monster's stat block says otherwise. Innate Spellcasting generally follows the same rules as PCs -- they are still "spells" that are "cast," but typically without components or spell slots (usually it will say "3/day" or something similar, instead of using a spell slot). The dark elf and tiefling PC races have a variation of Innate Spellcasting (it is not called that, but it works the same way) as do some classes, like warlock Invocations.</p><p></p><p>In both cases, a "spell" is being "cast" so it follows the general rules of spellcasting, which would preclude casting a spell as a bonus action and then another spell (of 1st level or higher) as a regular action. BUT, the monster's stat block could always contain an exception.</p><p></p><p>This is ONLY for a monster's Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting traits -- a monster can have many other magical or special abilities that aren't spells (see the next point).</p><p></p><p><strong>1.</strong> 5E does not use the terms "supernatural ability" and "extraordinary ability" the way 3E/3.5 did. But... many monster abilities are kind of the same thing, conceptually.</p><p></p><p>There are many, many monster special abilities that are magical or "not natural," but are not Spellcasting nor Innate Spellcasting. These don't follow the rules for spells at all, unless it says the magic words "cast" and "spell" or the name of a specific spell, like "casts <em>mirror image</em>."</p><p></p><p>Your example of the medusa's gaze is a good one: petrification is clearly not natural, but it's not a spell at all; the rules for it never say "casts" or mention any spell. (There IS a spell, <em>flesh to stone</em>, that petrifies people, but it works very differently than the medusa's gaze.) So you can't cancel the gaze with <em>counterspell</em>, for example.</p><p></p><p>Demons, in particular, can have a Summon Demon ability, which is most definitely not a spell. This means the demon could, without any special rules exceptions, cast a Quickened <em>mirror image</em> as a bonus action, and then use its Summon Demon ability on the same turn. Again, not a spell, so you can't <em>counterspell</em> it.</p><p></p><p>It is unclear in the rules whether a monster's special ability is even "magical" or not. Many monsters have abilities that are clearly not natural, but not magical either. For example, a dragon's breath weapon, or even a dragon's ability to fly, are unrealistic but not magical. A ghost or vampire are clearly not things that can happen in the real world (at least according to science) but most people would not consider them to be "magical," just part of the D&D world's fantasy physics. (I tend to think of these things as "supernatural" but that is just me; supernatural is not a game term in 5E. If you want, you could think of the dragon's breath weapon as "supernatural" and its flight as "extraordinary," but again, those are not how the 5E rules address them.)</p><p></p><p>It's up to the DM whether a monster ability is magical or not. I decide by looking for the word "magic" or any synonym. For example, the Summon Demon ability clearly says it's a "magical summoning," so yeah, that's magic. The medusa's gaze also mentions a "curse" which I take to be a type of magic.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="77IM, post: 7556868, member: 12377"] I'll answer your questions in reverse order. [B]3.[/B] Yes, because monsters can have custom abilities that do whatever the DM wants. The monster could have a single ability that says, "As an action, the mega-demon casts [i]mirror image[/i] on itself, and summons 4 mini-demons that appear within 30 feet of it." 5E follows a principle of "exception-based design" which means that specific rules provide "exceptions" which override general rules. Many monsters have very specific and weird abilities like this. [B]2.[/B] 5E does not use the term "spell-like ability" the way 3E/3.5 did. But... "Innate Spellcasting" is kind of the same thing, conceptually. A monster can have Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting or both. Spellcasting follows the same rules as PCs -- unless the monster's stat block says otherwise. Innate Spellcasting generally follows the same rules as PCs -- they are still "spells" that are "cast," but typically without components or spell slots (usually it will say "3/day" or something similar, instead of using a spell slot). The dark elf and tiefling PC races have a variation of Innate Spellcasting (it is not called that, but it works the same way) as do some classes, like warlock Invocations. In both cases, a "spell" is being "cast" so it follows the general rules of spellcasting, which would preclude casting a spell as a bonus action and then another spell (of 1st level or higher) as a regular action. BUT, the monster's stat block could always contain an exception. This is ONLY for a monster's Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting traits -- a monster can have many other magical or special abilities that aren't spells (see the next point). [B]1.[/B] 5E does not use the terms "supernatural ability" and "extraordinary ability" the way 3E/3.5 did. But... many monster abilities are kind of the same thing, conceptually. There are many, many monster special abilities that are magical or "not natural," but are not Spellcasting nor Innate Spellcasting. These don't follow the rules for spells at all, unless it says the magic words "cast" and "spell" or the name of a specific spell, like "casts [i]mirror image[/i]." Your example of the medusa's gaze is a good one: petrification is clearly not natural, but it's not a spell at all; the rules for it never say "casts" or mention any spell. (There IS a spell, [I]flesh to stone[/I], that petrifies people, but it works very differently than the medusa's gaze.) So you can't cancel the gaze with [I]counterspell[/I], for example. Demons, in particular, can have a Summon Demon ability, which is most definitely not a spell. This means the demon could, without any special rules exceptions, cast a Quickened [I]mirror image[/I] as a bonus action, and then use its Summon Demon ability on the same turn. Again, not a spell, so you can't [I]counterspell[/I] it. It is unclear in the rules whether a monster's special ability is even "magical" or not. Many monsters have abilities that are clearly not natural, but not magical either. For example, a dragon's breath weapon, or even a dragon's ability to fly, are unrealistic but not magical. A ghost or vampire are clearly not things that can happen in the real world (at least according to science) but most people would not consider them to be "magical," just part of the D&D world's fantasy physics. (I tend to think of these things as "supernatural" but that is just me; supernatural is not a game term in 5E. If you want, you could think of the dragon's breath weapon as "supernatural" and its flight as "extraordinary," but again, those are not how the 5E rules address them.) It's up to the DM whether a monster ability is magical or not. I decide by looking for the word "magic" or any synonym. For example, the Summon Demon ability clearly says it's a "magical summoning," so yeah, that's magic. The medusa's gaze also mentions a "curse" which I take to be a type of magic. [/QUOTE]
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