D&D 5E Thirteen observations about Xanathar’s Guide

[bedir than]

I must interject.

Acolytes still can perform simple ceremonies, they just won't have mechanical advantage. Unless, of course, the Acolyte has Magic Initiate. Which I think makes for good flavor for some of the upper rank, but non-classed, in religious orders. Have them with Ceremony, Thaumaturgy, and one other cleric cantrip and they would perform 95% of what is expected of a religious leader in DnD.

 

[The Human Target]

That's why marital characters are superior to spellcasters.

I'm clapping and booing at the same time.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I'm not denying the interpretation you're putting forward; I'm just saying it's badly worded. The PHB doesn't say "sentence", it says "feature". What "feature" are we talking about? I would say "Fighting Spirit". "Fighting Spirit" has a duration. Ergo...

I agree with others that you're essentially borrowing trouble here. D&D is not a strictly templated game. If you try to disassemble the language and arrive at nonsense, then you're misinterpreting it. Read the ability like it's English, not like you're a computer parsing a Magic card.

 

[Kobold Stew]

I agree with others that you're essentially borrowing trouble here. D&D is not a strictly templated game. If you try to disassemble the language and arrive at nonsense, then you're misinterpreting it. Read the ability like it's English, not like you're a computer parsing a Magic card.

Read the OP: "This doesn’t seem right (and may need errata?)."
Read the post you cite: "I'm not denying the interpretation you're putting forward; I'm just saying it's badly worded."
We're not disagreeing.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Read the OP: "This doesn’t seem right (and may need errata?)."
Read the post you cite: "I'm not denying the interpretation you're putting forward; I'm just saying it's badly worded."
We're not disagreeing.

Alright, I'll be less subtle. I'm saying it's not badly worded. Like not even a little. However, even if it were badly worded, the interpretation is still clearly wrong because the result is nonsense (and you apparently admit it's nonsense). Your interpretation is akin to reading fireball and claiming that flammable objects are ignited and then immediately quenched because the duration is "instantaneous". Your reading is both so narrow and so obviously incorrect that it approaches willful misinterpretation.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Wow. I sense you're angry. Are you angry?

I have read your point and I understand your opinion. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Wow. I sense you're angry. Are you angry?

No, not at all. I'm seeing a trend that people keep telling you this interpretation is clearly not right, and your responses have been, "yeah, but maybe it's bad worded". I feel like you're not getting what people are telling you, so perhaps a less subtle approach will help.

If I came across as making a personal attack, I apologize. That was not my intent.

 

[Oofta]

That's not the way rituals work.

The rules clearly state that rituals do not need to be prepared, they merely need to be on the list of spells known

To cast a spell as a ritual, a spellcaster must have a feature that grants the ability to do so. The cleric and the druid, for example, have such a feature. The caster must also have the spell prepared or on his or her list of spells known, unless the character's ritual feature specifies otherwise, as the wizard's does.​

So exactly how do you think rituals work that is different from my understanding? That a cleric could always case the Ceremony spell as a ritual?

 

[Kobold Stew]

The rules clearly state that rituals do not need to be prepared, they merely need to be on the list of spells known

To cast a spell as a ritual, a spellcaster must have a feature that grants the ability to do so. The cleric and the druid, for example, have such a feature. The caster must also have the spell prepared or on his or her list of spells known, unless the character's ritual feature specifies otherwise, as the wizard's does.​

So exactly how do you think rituals work that is different from my understanding? That a cleric could always case the Ceremony spell as a ritual?

PHB p. 58: "You can cast a cleric spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared."

The same text for druid; you don't need to have it prepared if you're a bard or wizard, or using a book as a Warlock or with a Ritual Caster feat.

So (and I apologize for spelling it out), in the passage you cite (PHB 202), the "or" at the beginning of your bolded part sets out two possibilities, and the unless clause adds a third:

The caster must also have the spell prepared [in the case of the Cleric or Druid] or on his or her list of spells known [in the case of the Bard], unless the character's ritual feature specifies otherwise, as the wizard's does [and in a different way Book of Ancient Secrets and Ritual Caster does].

That's what I see at least.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The rules clearly state that rituals do not need to be prepared, they merely need to be on the list of spells known

To cast a spell as a ritual, a spellcaster must have a feature that grants the ability to do so. The cleric and the druid, for example, have such a feature. The caster must also have the spell prepared or on his or her list of spells known, unless the character's ritual feature specifies otherwise, as the wizard's does.​

So exactly how do you think rituals work that is different from my understanding? That a cleric could always case the Ceremony spell as a ritual?

The part that may get confusing is that clerics, paladins and druids do not have "Spells Known" they only have "Spells Prepared"

Then classes like Sorcerer, Bard, Warlock, and Ranger (per RAW I've homebrewed this) do not have "Spells Prepared" they only have "Spells Known"

I believe wizard is the only class that has both "Spells Known" and "Spells Prepared" so only Wizards and Tomelocks (or people who took the Ritual Caster Feat) can cast ritual spells without having to prepare them.


Is it a massive pain in the butt and frankly frustrating for Clerics? Yes, yes it is, but such is the RAW of the book.