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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9759807" data-attributes="member: 42582">To me, this seems to be an over-reification of the action economy and turn-by-turn framework.To me, it makes more sense to assume that casting a spell always involves conjuring up and then releasing its energy. But in the typical case, where the caster has already identified their target and is ready to affect them, this all happens more-or-less immediately; whereas if the caster is waiting for their target to (say) come into view, or (say) to pick something up, or etc, then they have to hold the energy for longer before releasing it - and, in the game's action economy and turn-by-turn framework, this is reflected by (i) use of the Ready action to then deploy the spell effect as a Reaction, and (ii) applying the Concentration rules in the meantime, until the spell effect is deployed. The rules for Casting Times don't mention the Ready Action as a possible casting time. Rather, <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/br-2024/spells#CastingTime" target="_blank">they say that</a>Most spells require the Magic action to cast, but some spells require a Bonus Action, a Reaction, or 1 minute or more. A spell’s Casting Time entry specifies which of those is required.The rules do state how to use the Ready action to cast a spell, but they don't expressly state that this does not involve the Magic action. (Perhaps it involves both; just as using a Timeless Locket in 4e involves a Minor Action and a Standard Action; and, if done as a readied action, would also involve an Immediate Reaction.)So what is the better ruling? To interpolate in the Ready action even though it's not mentioned? Or to recognise that the Ready action is, in 5e (as in the earlier editions the included it) a device for managing the timing of actions within the game's framework for an action economy and turn-by-turn resolution, which is not spelled out with perfect technical precision and requires recognising that some actions will fall under multiple labels, as per the fact that the action performed when the trigger occurs is described both as an action and as a reaction.I don't think the rules here are precise enough to yield an answer by way of detailed parsing. It is necessary to stand back and try to work out which ruling best fits with the logic of the rules, including - in my view - the way they relate to the fiction. I think this speaks in favour of the conclusion that Action Surge cannot be used to ready a spell; others might disagree, but I think that disagreement will be persuasive only if articulated by reference to overall rules and fictional logic. Not on a strained reading of rules that requires treating some parts with extreme technical fidelity while simply ignoring the way this requires departing from technical fidelity to other parts.</blockquote>

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