Spell vs Counterspell

The wild west of magic is full of dueling  casters slinging their spells all over the place. These duels can quickly become rough going as magic is flung around all willy nilly. How do you survive in a world like this? Well today we will be talking about not just fighting with spells but dueling while we dive into Counterspells.

Now I know there is a very long history of love and hate for the counter spell. Alot feel it can be overused and used to break the game for a DM. A wizard flinging counterspell around can easily feel frustrating for a both sides of the DM screen. It can cut an encounter off at the knees and take the teeth out of magic heavy Big Baddies. But it doesn't have to ruin your games, in fact embracing it into your world building can help divert things away from the less unpleasant side effects of a counterspell happy caster.

Lets first talk Counterspell as written, pulled straight from the book:

"You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. If the creature is casting a spell of 3rd level or lower, its spell fails and has no effect. If it is casting a spell of 4th level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell's level. On a success, the creature's spell fails and has no effect.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the interrupted spell has no effect if its level is less than or equal to the level of the spell slot you used."

Okay not too bad. Most bad guys are going to throw spells at higher levels anyways as your PCs progress to keep up on the damage curve. Counterspell itself is a 3rd level spell so your Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard and Bard (through College of Lore additional magical secrets at 6th level) won't have it until your PCs enter into Tier 2 play. Even then the spell slots that they have to cast a level 3 spell are few, in almost all cases merely 2. If your group is really in a dire situation your Sorcerer could change 5 sorcerer points into a temporary 3rd level spell slot. So spell wise it isn't so bad, it actually looks pretty normal. Where is the fuss coming from then?

Mainly from the action economy side of things. The caster is spending a reaction to shut someones full action down. With almost no battle helpful spells that have a casting time of a bonus action  for most classes you have essentially just skipped an enemies turn. Taken away whatever damage or effects were going to effect your adventuring party and giving a full round of damage output to your bad guys before another attempt can be made. You are going to be taking down that enemy caster very quickly now.

Some really complicated fun comes in the form of multiple casters with counterspell knowledge. According to a ruling from Jeremy Crawford on Sage Advice - you can counterspell a counterspell. So an enemy Wizard goes to throw a fireball, your Warlock throws out a Counterspell, and a lesser Wizard throws out a countering counterspell. BOOM! The fireball still goes off taking out the fighter, the paladin, and severely harming your barbarian. All that has been lost in this exchange are 2 reactions, so little action economy for a very tense exchange of spells. Which we can see can become multiple levels of insane very quickly.

Personally in my game I do things a little differently then as strictly written in the books. I think it adds some real teeth to the situation, and helps make the use of Counterspell feel vindicated when actually used. The first being that a PC wanting to use Counterspell has to first be able to even perceive that an enemy is casting something. Certain feats can get rid of the obvious signs of casting, there would then no longer be something for them to see. But maybe the effects of the spell are more obvious like the gathering of dark clouds in the sky above before a Call Lightning. Then we move into two more things I use with Counterspell the first of which is that if its a reaction casting time the decision to Counterspell has to happen quickly then before the magic fires off. There is no halting combat for 5 minutes while you decide if its worth it you need to decide before that magic goes off or there is no stopping it. You can block it or redirect it if you have the spells to do so but once its released its happening. Lastly, magic is a complex thing and casting consistently the same effects when wanted requires a certain practice. Even for those just naturally gifted casters they have to find what that magic moving them to create the effect is. You have to know your magic to stop someone elses, know the spell to counterspell it.

Some people might find these additions a little harsh but I think it makes Counterspell a little more realistic in its uses, especially considering how powerful it can be in a combat situation for you PCs. It also makes your casters invested in a possible downtime activity of picking apart spells from NPCs they meet or from each other for some cross examination and learning. Because I do have the Rule of Knowledge for my counterspells I do also allow my players to at least learn HOW spells work outside of the list available to them (NOT the use of them just how they function). I hope this helps DMs new and old to try and embrace Counterspell in their games a little more. It can give casters and magic in your world so much more depth.

Giving more prestige to Counterspell can make the fact that your player can do it effectively very rare and maybe even sought after. Battles and competitions between casters could be a thing that exists where you can prove your knowledge and mastery. Dueling could be a completely normal thing either along side of or replacing what we think of as a duel of swords or pistols from our IRL history. Nemesis of players can haunt them, counterspelling what they do to insight a showdown. All of these things help you as a DM to build your world, to engage your players, and to enrich your story. Have fun with it.

With that little rambling over with, I’m JustKay your regular DM Dalliance on the web and I’ll see you next post.

For some more fun reviews of Counterspell included some rulings on use check out Hipsters and Dragons, Sly Flourish, Jeremy Crawford, Forge Your Journey, Complex Action.