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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7514088" data-attributes="member: 42582">But it's simply not true that, the instant the GM says that, the result in the ficiton is magic missile streaking from the NPC to the PC. That's a "rule" that you're making up - and clearly it's not a rule that is consistent with the 5e rules, precisely because it can't accommodate pretty mundane features of those rules (like the Shield spell).Here's another, equally banal, example: a player delcares "I draw my sword!"The GM happens to know that their are hidden archers who are ready to shoot as soon as someone's hand touches the hilt of their blade.How to resolve that situation may be up for grabs and also may depend heavily on the context - the archery might be resolved as a readied action, or perhaps there is a check for surprise, or perhaps the GM calls for initiative rolls - but what is clear is that the player declaration, in those circumstances, doesn't ipso facto bring it about that the PC's sword is drawn.The whole point of RPG mechanics is to mediate between statements of intention about the content of the shared fiction, and actual consensus on what content is. And  a game with player-side interrupts - such as 5e - makes it especially obvious that that applies to the GM as much as to other participants.</blockquote>