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sun posted: Sun 2022-09-18 12:09:17 tags: n/a
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A Dungeon and/or a Dragon:
After a random encounter with some hard-mode yetis, apparently we missed a cue by not heading toward an encampment of reportedly 5 githyanki dragon-riders plus some unknown number of additional (i.e. unridden) dragons. With a party of 6th-9th levels, just 1 dragon could be deadly in a bad tactical situation, so that seemed like the wrong direction.

Can you cast 2 spells in 1 turn? Yes, IF 1 spell has casting time of a Bonus Action AND the other spell is a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.

There are only 2 cantrips in the game with casting time of a Bonus Action, namely Magic Stone and Shillelagh. These are low-effect cantrips past level 4ish, so the more usual 2-spells-1-round configuration will be: cast a leveled spell with a casting time of a Bonus Action, and any cantrip other than Magic Stone or Shillelagh.

The rules tell us "A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift", so it's a common mistake to think you can cast Bonus Action spells on your Action... but no, there is no such provision. To confuse the "action economy" even more, designer Jeremy Crawford once tweeted it's perfectly legit to use Action Surge to cast Fireball twice on your turn. But as soon as you throw a Bonus Action spell into the mix, you're limited to a cantrip on your Action. (Or cantrips, plural, I guess, in the Action Surge scenario.)

Sorcerers with the Quickened Spell metamagic can spend 2 Sorcery points to change a spell's casting time from an Action to a Bonus Action. You could have used those 2 sorc points to fuel an additional spell slot, so it seems a bit of a waste unless you have an urgent 1-turn damage nova sequence lined up. Even so, you're still limited to a cantrip on your Action.

Casting Fireball is a fine use of an Action, but if you can get away with casting a leveled spell and hurling a Firebolt or Eldritch Blast as well, then why not? So I got curious what Bonus Action spells are available to various classes.