Can you Ready a Concentration spell?

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The rules on Readying a spell are as follows (PHB, p. 193, bold added)




When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends...




Up until now, I'd never really asked myself this, but can you Ready a spell which also requires concentration? Or put another way, does a spell's requirement of concentration activate when it is cast, or when it is "released"?



As an example, you ready the spell "Web" to cast it as soon as three or more enemies are within the same 20 foot cube. Does the fact that the spell requires concentration mean it automatically fails (you are both concentrating on the spell, and concentrating on readying it, which you can't do), or does the concentration on the spell only start after you spend your reaction to "release" the spell?



At first, I though this was a silly question, but Jeremy Crawford has stated elsewhere that:




A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell,




This implies that concentration begins when you "cast" the spell, not just when you release it. So now I'm not sure. Can you ready a concentration spell, or do the two "concentration" requirements make this impossible?










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    The rules on Readying a spell are as follows (PHB, p. 193, bold added)




    When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
    hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends...




    Up until now, I'd never really asked myself this, but can you Ready a spell which also requires concentration? Or put another way, does a spell's requirement of concentration activate when it is cast, or when it is "released"?



    As an example, you ready the spell "Web" to cast it as soon as three or more enemies are within the same 20 foot cube. Does the fact that the spell requires concentration mean it automatically fails (you are both concentrating on the spell, and concentrating on readying it, which you can't do), or does the concentration on the spell only start after you spend your reaction to "release" the spell?



    At first, I though this was a silly question, but Jeremy Crawford has stated elsewhere that:




    A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell,




    This implies that concentration begins when you "cast" the spell, not just when you release it. So now I'm not sure. Can you ready a concentration spell, or do the two "concentration" requirements make this impossible?










    share|improve this question























      up vote
      2
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      2
      down vote

      favorite











      The rules on Readying a spell are as follows (PHB, p. 193, bold added)




      When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
      hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends...




      Up until now, I'd never really asked myself this, but can you Ready a spell which also requires concentration? Or put another way, does a spell's requirement of concentration activate when it is cast, or when it is "released"?



      As an example, you ready the spell "Web" to cast it as soon as three or more enemies are within the same 20 foot cube. Does the fact that the spell requires concentration mean it automatically fails (you are both concentrating on the spell, and concentrating on readying it, which you can't do), or does the concentration on the spell only start after you spend your reaction to "release" the spell?



      At first, I though this was a silly question, but Jeremy Crawford has stated elsewhere that:




      A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell,




      This implies that concentration begins when you "cast" the spell, not just when you release it. So now I'm not sure. Can you ready a concentration spell, or do the two "concentration" requirements make this impossible?










      share|improve this question













      The rules on Readying a spell are as follows (PHB, p. 193, bold added)




      When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
      hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends...




      Up until now, I'd never really asked myself this, but can you Ready a spell which also requires concentration? Or put another way, does a spell's requirement of concentration activate when it is cast, or when it is "released"?



      As an example, you ready the spell "Web" to cast it as soon as three or more enemies are within the same 20 foot cube. Does the fact that the spell requires concentration mean it automatically fails (you are both concentrating on the spell, and concentrating on readying it, which you can't do), or does the concentration on the spell only start after you spend your reaction to "release" the spell?



      At first, I though this was a silly question, but Jeremy Crawford has stated elsewhere that:




      A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell,




      This implies that concentration begins when you "cast" the spell, not just when you release it. So now I'm not sure. Can you ready a concentration spell, or do the two "concentration" requirements make this impossible?







      dnd-5e readied-action concentration






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      asked 39 mins ago









      Gandalfmeansme

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          You can ready a concentration spell



          When you ready a spell you completely cast it and hold the energy but none of the effects of the spell happen until it is released.




          If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.




          The spell-specific concentration aspect doesn't take effect until its release just like the duration and other effects/attributes don't start taking effect or counting before it is released.



          The spell-specific concentration starts when the duration of a spell starts. And the duration of a spell starts when the spell takes effect (so upon release in this case). If duration was counting during the held part of readying then it would be impossible to Ready instantaneous spells because their duration would have expired the instant after you started holding their energy. And the book explicitly gives the example of readying magic missile as a valid ready action.1



          Thus, since there is only one source of concentration active when holding a spell, there is no conflict and the Ready action proceeds as normal.



          Also, regardless of the above logic, if Ready was meant to exclude concentration spells it would have come out and said so instead of relying of really minute logical inconsistencies to do so.



          The Crawford ruling doesn't change anything here



          Regarding the Crawford Tweet looking at the full sentence reveals its context and why it does not affect this case:




          A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell, and a spell takes effect when its casting ends. If you cast invisibility in succession, you're visible during the 1-action casting time—effectively for a split second or so.




          The ruling doesn't matter here because there is only one spell and one source of concentration happening at a time when you ready a concentration spell.




          1 - Thanks @Gandalfmeansme for this suggestion.






          share|improve this answer


















          • 2




            I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            19 mins ago











          • @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
            – Rubiksmoose
            1 min ago










          • Looks great to me!
            – Gandalfmeansme
            57 secs ago










          Your Answer




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          1 Answer
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          active

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          active

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          up vote
          6
          down vote













          You can ready a concentration spell



          When you ready a spell you completely cast it and hold the energy but none of the effects of the spell happen until it is released.




          If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.




          The spell-specific concentration aspect doesn't take effect until its release just like the duration and other effects/attributes don't start taking effect or counting before it is released.



          The spell-specific concentration starts when the duration of a spell starts. And the duration of a spell starts when the spell takes effect (so upon release in this case). If duration was counting during the held part of readying then it would be impossible to Ready instantaneous spells because their duration would have expired the instant after you started holding their energy. And the book explicitly gives the example of readying magic missile as a valid ready action.1



          Thus, since there is only one source of concentration active when holding a spell, there is no conflict and the Ready action proceeds as normal.



          Also, regardless of the above logic, if Ready was meant to exclude concentration spells it would have come out and said so instead of relying of really minute logical inconsistencies to do so.



          The Crawford ruling doesn't change anything here



          Regarding the Crawford Tweet looking at the full sentence reveals its context and why it does not affect this case:




          A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell, and a spell takes effect when its casting ends. If you cast invisibility in succession, you're visible during the 1-action casting time—effectively for a split second or so.




          The ruling doesn't matter here because there is only one spell and one source of concentration happening at a time when you ready a concentration spell.




          1 - Thanks @Gandalfmeansme for this suggestion.






          share|improve this answer


















          • 2




            I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            19 mins ago











          • @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
            – Rubiksmoose
            1 min ago










          • Looks great to me!
            – Gandalfmeansme
            57 secs ago














          up vote
          6
          down vote













          You can ready a concentration spell



          When you ready a spell you completely cast it and hold the energy but none of the effects of the spell happen until it is released.




          If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.




          The spell-specific concentration aspect doesn't take effect until its release just like the duration and other effects/attributes don't start taking effect or counting before it is released.



          The spell-specific concentration starts when the duration of a spell starts. And the duration of a spell starts when the spell takes effect (so upon release in this case). If duration was counting during the held part of readying then it would be impossible to Ready instantaneous spells because their duration would have expired the instant after you started holding their energy. And the book explicitly gives the example of readying magic missile as a valid ready action.1



          Thus, since there is only one source of concentration active when holding a spell, there is no conflict and the Ready action proceeds as normal.



          Also, regardless of the above logic, if Ready was meant to exclude concentration spells it would have come out and said so instead of relying of really minute logical inconsistencies to do so.



          The Crawford ruling doesn't change anything here



          Regarding the Crawford Tweet looking at the full sentence reveals its context and why it does not affect this case:




          A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell, and a spell takes effect when its casting ends. If you cast invisibility in succession, you're visible during the 1-action casting time—effectively for a split second or so.




          The ruling doesn't matter here because there is only one spell and one source of concentration happening at a time when you ready a concentration spell.




          1 - Thanks @Gandalfmeansme for this suggestion.






          share|improve this answer


















          • 2




            I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            19 mins ago











          • @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
            – Rubiksmoose
            1 min ago










          • Looks great to me!
            – Gandalfmeansme
            57 secs ago












          up vote
          6
          down vote










          up vote
          6
          down vote









          You can ready a concentration spell



          When you ready a spell you completely cast it and hold the energy but none of the effects of the spell happen until it is released.




          If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.




          The spell-specific concentration aspect doesn't take effect until its release just like the duration and other effects/attributes don't start taking effect or counting before it is released.



          The spell-specific concentration starts when the duration of a spell starts. And the duration of a spell starts when the spell takes effect (so upon release in this case). If duration was counting during the held part of readying then it would be impossible to Ready instantaneous spells because their duration would have expired the instant after you started holding their energy. And the book explicitly gives the example of readying magic missile as a valid ready action.1



          Thus, since there is only one source of concentration active when holding a spell, there is no conflict and the Ready action proceeds as normal.



          Also, regardless of the above logic, if Ready was meant to exclude concentration spells it would have come out and said so instead of relying of really minute logical inconsistencies to do so.



          The Crawford ruling doesn't change anything here



          Regarding the Crawford Tweet looking at the full sentence reveals its context and why it does not affect this case:




          A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell, and a spell takes effect when its casting ends. If you cast invisibility in succession, you're visible during the 1-action casting time—effectively for a split second or so.




          The ruling doesn't matter here because there is only one spell and one source of concentration happening at a time when you ready a concentration spell.




          1 - Thanks @Gandalfmeansme for this suggestion.






          share|improve this answer














          You can ready a concentration spell



          When you ready a spell you completely cast it and hold the energy but none of the effects of the spell happen until it is released.




          If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect.




          The spell-specific concentration aspect doesn't take effect until its release just like the duration and other effects/attributes don't start taking effect or counting before it is released.



          The spell-specific concentration starts when the duration of a spell starts. And the duration of a spell starts when the spell takes effect (so upon release in this case). If duration was counting during the held part of readying then it would be impossible to Ready instantaneous spells because their duration would have expired the instant after you started holding their energy. And the book explicitly gives the example of readying magic missile as a valid ready action.1



          Thus, since there is only one source of concentration active when holding a spell, there is no conflict and the Ready action proceeds as normal.



          Also, regardless of the above logic, if Ready was meant to exclude concentration spells it would have come out and said so instead of relying of really minute logical inconsistencies to do so.



          The Crawford ruling doesn't change anything here



          Regarding the Crawford Tweet looking at the full sentence reveals its context and why it does not affect this case:




          A concentration spell ends the instant you start casting another concentration spell, and a spell takes effect when its casting ends. If you cast invisibility in succession, you're visible during the 1-action casting time—effectively for a split second or so.




          The ruling doesn't matter here because there is only one spell and one source of concentration happening at a time when you ready a concentration spell.




          1 - Thanks @Gandalfmeansme for this suggestion.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 3 mins ago

























          answered 24 mins ago









          Rubiksmoose

          38.7k5191295




          38.7k5191295







          • 2




            I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            19 mins ago











          • @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
            – Rubiksmoose
            1 min ago










          • Looks great to me!
            – Gandalfmeansme
            57 secs ago












          • 2




            I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            19 mins ago











          • @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
            – Rubiksmoose
            1 min ago










          • Looks great to me!
            – Gandalfmeansme
            57 secs ago







          2




          2




          I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
          – Gandalfmeansme
          19 mins ago





          I especially like the point that the duration doesn't start while Readying a spell, since concentration is a aspect of duration. It might be worth pointing out that this must be the case, or else a spell like magic missile (which is explicitly mentioned being readied in the PHB text above) couldn't ever be readied, since it has an instantaneous duration.
          – Gandalfmeansme
          19 mins ago













          @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
          – Rubiksmoose
          1 min ago




          @Gandalfmeansme how does that look?
          – Rubiksmoose
          1 min ago












          Looks great to me!
          – Gandalfmeansme
          57 secs ago




          Looks great to me!
          – Gandalfmeansme
          57 secs ago

















           

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