Blocking spells cast without an attack

ArchonShiva · 12-12-2017, 10:23 PM

Either way clearly works fine, but I’m trying to determine what RAW is actually saying about casting Blocking spells when no attack exists to trigger them.

Spells p.9 says “Blocking spells (p. 14) may be cast without concentrating, during a foe’s turn, to defend against an attack.”, which reads more like an option than a restriction.

Page 14 says “A Blocking spell is cast instantly as a defense against a physical attack or another spell. It’s the magical equivalent of a block, parry, or dodge (and often counts as one of these defenses; see the spell description).”

This sounds more like “this is what blocking spells do”, but can legitimately be read as “Instantly is how a Blocking spell is cast when used as as a defense”. On the other hand, nowhere does it say than you cast them without responding to an attack - it has to be implied from how other spells can be.

Some spells actually say “Regular or Blocking”, but that means they get cost reduction when cast as Regular spells.

Can you punch yourself to trigger casting Command?

12-12-2017, 10:23 PM	#1
ArchonShiva Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Montréal, Québec	Blocking spells cast without an attack Either way clearly works fine, but I’m trying to determine what RAW is actually saying about casting Blocking spells when no attack exists to trigger them. Spells p.9 says “Blocking spells (p. 14) may be cast without concentrating, during a foe’s turn, to defend against an attack.”, which reads more like an option than a restriction. Page 14 says “A Blocking spell is cast instantly as a defense against a physical attack or another spell. It’s the magical equivalent of a block, parry, or dodge (and often counts as one of these defenses; see the spell description).” This sounds more like “this is what blocking spells do”, but can legitimately be read as “Instantly is how a Blocking spell is cast when used as as a defense”. On the other hand, nowhere does it say than you cast them without responding to an attack - it has to be implied from how other spells can be. Some spells actually say “Regular or Blocking”, but that means they get cost reduction when cast as Regular spells. Can you punch yourself to trigger casting Command?