D&D 5E Has the old "ready to cast silence upon spellcasting" trick finally been stopped?

[steeldragons]

To be honest...I have often thought that being/becoming deaf in a single moment [SPELL's CAST] *POOM!* or even just *wink*, no sound...would be incredibly disturbing/disorienting. Obviously Silence takes out spellcasters automatically. But I've often thought the Silence spell should impose a penalty on attacks, maybe on Dex. saves too for everyone in the area...sneak attack damage for everyone?...at least for the first round or 2 as they adjust to the new [lack of] sound to tell things by.

 

[TwoSix]

Unless I am misreading it, it does not say the trigger has to be an action?

I am used to people declaring the Trigger as 'soandso starts to cast a spell', rather than 'soandso casts a spell'.

That said, I think you would well be in your rights as a GM to rule you can't do that, as it takes to long to cast your spell it cant go off before the other caster has finished his.

Seems like house rule territory, based on whether you want Silence to be a spell interrupter or not. I'd personally rule it should be, considering the relative paucity of spell slots in 5e and the restrictions on readying a spell already built into the system.

 

[Particle_Man]

Then someone flinches, and combat resolves in a single simultaneous orgy of swords and spells.

Or the DM introduces a snake (wasn't that how the battle between Arthur's and Lancelot's forces happened in the King Arthur stories?)