D&D 5E Losing Concentration

[MerricB]

One of the changes from the last public playtest packet is that you can lose concentration if you're damaged. There's a Constitution saving throw to be made with a DC or 10 or half the damage taken, whichever is higher.

I hadn't noticed that before. (Just when I was writing a guide about spell-casting worked)

It makes buff spells and hold spells quite a lot more fragile, IMO.

Cheers!

 

[Nikosandros]

Do you lose concentration if you cast a spell with a long casting time?

I would assume so, since you have to 'concentrate' on casting the second spell, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[MerricB]

Do you lose concentration if you cast a spell with a long casting time?

I would assume so, since you have to 'concentrate' on casting the second spell, but I'm not 100% sure.

Yes, you do! Or if you ready a spell...

Cheers!

 

[Mouseferatu]

Yes, you do! Or if you ready a spell...

Cheers!

Wait. I know you lose concentration on one spell if you cast another concentration spell, but I don't remember seeing anything about long casting times doing it. Did I miss something?

 

[Thaumaturge]

I hadn't noticed this, either, but:

When you cast a spell with a casting time longer than a single action or reaction, you must spend your action each turn casting the spell, and you must maintain your concentration while you do so.

Thaumaturge.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Wait. I know you lose concentration on one spell if you cast another concentration spell, but I don't remember seeing anything about long casting times doing it. Did I miss something?

Page 79, under "Longer Casting Times."

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well, huh. How about that?

 

[Falling Icicle]

I think it's a good thing that concentration can be broken with damage. The concern I have is that the DC goes up the more damage a caster takes. Damage scales considerably as you go up in level, while things like checks and saving throws are subject to bounded accuracy (hit points and damage are not bounded). At higher levels, the DC is going to often be much, much higher than 10, while the caster's con saves haven't really improved at all (since neither clerics nor wizards are proficient with con saves). If a caster is struck by a higher level effect that does 40 or more points of damage (which I imagine is fairly common at higher levels), he's pretty much guaranteed to fail the saving throw and lose his concentration.

 

[Remathilis]

I think it's a good thing that concentration can be broken with damage. The concern I have is that the DC goes up the more damage a caster takes. Damage scales considerably as you go up in level, while things like checks and saving throws are subject to bounded accuracy (hit points and damage are not bounded). At higher levels, the DC is going to often be much, much higher than 10, while the caster's con saves haven't really improved at all (since neither clerics nor wizards are proficient with con saves). If a caster is struck by a higher level effect that does 40 or more points of damage (which I imagine is fairly common at higher levels), he's pretty much guaranteed to fail the saving throw and lose his concentration.

Which I think is part of the plan. Save or Suck spells get harder to resist as you level (unless its your proficient saves) but you're less likely to be taken out of the fight long because someone is going to break your concentration. Likewise, blowing a dozen buff spells on a cleric and charging in is a lost tactic; even if he can get a good buff going, getting into melee is going to chance ruining concentration.

Magic just got a lot more tactical; no more blowing buff-after-buff or save-or-suck and forgetting direct damage.

 

[Nikosandros]

I think it's a good thing that concentration can be broken with damage. The concern I have is that the DC goes up the more damage a caster takes. Damage scales considerably as you go up in level, while things like checks and saving throws are subject to bounded accuracy (hit points and damage are not bounded). At higher levels, the DC is going to often be much, much higher than 10, while the caster's con saves haven't really improved at all (since neither clerics nor wizards are proficient with con saves). If a caster is struck by a higher level effect that does 40 or more points of damage (which I imagine is fairly common at higher levels), he's pretty much guaranteed to fail the saving throw and lose his concentration.

True. This might possibly be a feature, given the fact that it seems that it's rather easy to fail saves. Perhaps the idea is that many characters will fall prey to hostile spells and the their allies will try to damage the enemy caster to free the victims.