D&D 5E Ritual Spell Casting

[AaronOfBarbaria]

PS: Stupid unnecessary difference "rule". Gonna houserule that bad boy right out.

Curious about how you are going to house-rule that;

Druids & clerics able to ritual cast any spell on their entire list that is a ritual whether prepared or not, and wizards & bards only able to ritual cast spells in their spellbook (for wizards) or that they know (for bards) - or everyone able to ritual cast any spell that is a ritual and is on their spell list? Or something else?

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

It's effectively the same thing, isn't it?
Prepared spell = spell in your spell book.
The difference is that with the divine casters, their "spell book" can change from day to day.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Yeah, the difference between wizards and other casters, vis-a-vis ritual casting, isn't "unnecessary." It's vital.

Remove the "must have the spell prepared" rule from druid and cleric, and you've just given them permanent access to every ritual spell on their list, all the time. In addition to being broken in general terms, it also instantly dethrones wizards as the strongest ritual casters in the game, which was a deliberate and specific design point, and is part of the balance of the class.

Wizards are supposed to be more versatile ritualists than everyone else.

 

[EdL]

Ritual casting for Druids: a druid can cast a druid spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and the druid has the spell prepared.

Ritual casting for Wizards: a wizard can cast a wizard spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and the spell is in their spell book. The spells doesn't have to be prepared.

Isn't the spell still 'prepared' even if you run out of slots? Or do you have to re-prepare all your spells after a long rest?

 

[pdzoch]

Isn't the spell still 'prepared' even if you run out of slots? Or do you have to re-prepare all your spells after a long rest?

Yes. The running out of slots is essentially running out of the magical/divine energy to cast the spell. Fro druids and clerics, the preparation of spells is a "divine gift" bestowed by their god. They pray for the spells during a long rest, when they can pray/prepare the same spells or new ones. They are re-energized with the necessary divine magic to cast the spells prepared up to their slot capacity during a long rest.

 

[Ashrym]

Side note: sometimes it's a good idea to have the ritual spell prepared or known anyway. That allows spending a slot to cast the ritual normally and there not need concentration as a ritual. A wizard, tome pact warlock, or ritual caster feat user requires concentration to cast the ritual directly from the book when clerics, druids, and bards end up with the choice to cast as a ritual or slot because of the different mechanics used by those ritual casters.

On topic, spells prepared and spell slots are independent mechanics. A druid or cleric can be out of slots and still cast ritual spells prepared. A bard can be out of slots and cast ritual spells known. A wizard can be out of slots and cast ritual spells from his book. Etc.

 

[Yacobo]

My group and I are fairly new to D&D 5E. During our last adventure, my druid used up all his spell slots in a grueling fight. Another PC asked me to cast Detect Magic since I almost always have Detect Magic as a prepared spell. I told him I was out of spell slots and the DM was not sure if I needed an open slot to cast a ritual even if the ritual costs no slot. We decided for a quick ruling of "need an open slot to cast ritual even though it costs no slot" and my task was to find the answer on the Interwebs

Thanks to all for clarifying the issue. I'll present my findings to my GM at our next game!

 

[steeldragons]

Curious about how you are going to house-rule that;

Druids & clerics able to ritual cast any spell on their entire list that is a ritual whether prepared or not, and wizards & bards only able to ritual cast spells in their spellbook (for wizards) or that they know (for bards) - or everyone able to ritual cast any spell that is a ritual and is on their spell list? Or something else?

Clerics: (1) Detect Poison/Disease, Purify Food/Drink, (2) Augury, Gentle Repose, Silence, (3) Meld into Stone, Water Walk, (4) Divination, (5) Commune, (6) Forbiddance

Druids: (1) Detect Poison/Disease, Purify Food/Drink, Speak w/Animals, (2) Animal Messenger, Beast Sense, Locate Animals/Plants, (3) Meld into Stone, Water Breathing, Water Walk (5) Commune with Nature

Wizards: (1) Alarm, Comprehend Languages, Identify, Illusory Script, Tenser's Floating Disc, Unseen Servant, (2) Gentle Repose, Magic Mouth, (3) Leomund's Tiny Hut, Phantom Steed, Water Breathing, (5) Contact Other Plane, Rary's Telepathic Bond, (6) Drawmij's Instant Summons

All: (1) Detect Magic, (3) Feign Death

There's your full list of ritual magic, as far as the PHB is concerned. Practically nothing I would think of as a "ritual-able" spell has a ritual tag in 5e.

Yeah. Sooo, not really seeing too much unbalancing badness here.

I figure it'll be:

Clerics/Druids/Divine folks can cast any spell of a level they can cast with the ritual tag, whether or not the spell is prepared or if they have an available slot.

Wizards/Arcane folks can cast any spell they have in their spellbook/known or otherwise have a written form of with the ritual tag, whether or not it is prepared or they have a spell slot available. Also, to maintain the wizard's position as "ritual-caster extraordinaire," as long as they have the ritual-tagged spell in some written form/instruction, be it some scroll, someone else's spell book, etc..., it doesn't have to be a spell level they can normally cast/use.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Interesting. Thanks for taking the time to answer, [MENTION=92511]steeldragons[/MENTION].

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Edit: An thus even did the stoutest of Barbaria's warriors fall prey to the plague of double posts.