🫴🏼 Each spell has a casting time, which specifies whether the caster must use an action, a reaction, minutes, or even hours to cast the spell.

🫴🏽 Casting a spell is, therefore, not necessarily an action.

🫴🏾 Most spells do have a casting time of 1 action, so a spellcaster often uses his or her action in combat to cast such a spell.

Spellcasting

This section expands on the spellcasting rules from the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, offering clarifications and new options.

Perceiving a Caster at Work

Many spells create obvious effects, like explosions or walls, but others, such as charm person, show no visible signs. Normally, you don't know a spell has been cast unless it produces a noticeable effect. However, perceiving the act of casting depends on the presence of verbal, somatic, or material components.

• Imperceptible Casting: If a spell’s components are removed by abilities like the sorcerer’s Subtle Spell, the casting is imperceptible. If the spell has a perceptible effect, identifying the caster is difficult without additional evidence.

Identifying a Spell

To identify a spell being cast or already cast:

• Reaction: Use a reaction to identify a spell as it's being cast.
• Action: Use an action on your turn to identify a spell by its effect after it is cast.
• Intelligence (Arcana) Check: The DC is 15 + the spell’s level. If the spell is cast as a class spell and the character is a member of that class, the check is made with advantage.

This check represents the need for a quick mind and familiarity with the theory and practice of spellcasting.

Invalid Spell Targets

A spell specifies its valid targets. If a spell is cast on something that isn’t a valid target:

• Result: Nothing happens to the target, but the spell slot is still expended. If the spell normally has no effect on a target that succeeds on a saving throw, the invalid target appears to have succeeded on its saving throw, even though it didn’t attempt one.

Areas of Effect on a Grid

When using areas of effect on a grid, you can use one of two methods: the template method or the token method.

Template Method

• Making a Template: Create a 2D shape representing the area of effect. Each 5 feet equals 1 inch on the template.
• Using a Template: Apply the template to the grid. A square is included in the area of effect if any part of it is under the template.

Token Method

• Using Tokens: Each 5-foot square of an area of effect is represented by a die or token on the grid. A square is included in the area if a token is placed in it.

• Circles: Circles become squares in this method, with the size of the square determined by the radius or diameter of the original area.

• Cones: Represented by rows of tokens extending from the cone's point of origin. The number of rows is equal to the length of the cone divided by 5.

• Lines: Lines can extend orthogonally or diagonally from their source.

These methods allow for a tactile and visual representation of areas of effect, making it easier to determine which creatures are affected during gameplay.