Ritual casting OP or just a nice touch?

[Arc_knight25]

I have noticed that ritual casting can make some aspects of the game trivial.

They are quite powerful when put to proper use.

I am currently playing a druid in ToA. I have Purify food and water ready, I will now have Locate animal or plant ready as well.

Do people find these ritual casting to be overpowered?

[KorvinStarmast]

Do people find these ritual casting to be overpowered? No. In a wilderness or outdoor adventure, a druid is expected to shine.

[Slipperychicken]

I find they're nothing special. If you have 10 minutes to spare for a ritual, then you probably had time to solve your problem without it.

Also druids are meant to make wilderness survival trivial. That's part of their job. If your druid starves to death in the woods, then he really had no business in the class at all.

[Arc_knight25]

Are the advantages to being able to spend an extra ten minutes to not expand any spell slots and possibly circumvent an entire encounter not overpowered?

Not just from a Druid standpoint. Wizards don't even need to prepare the spell. So long as it is in their spellbook they can cast it as a ritual.

[Vaz]

Are the advantages to being able to spend an extra ten minutes to not expand any spell slots and possibly circumvent an entire encounter not overpowered?

Not just from a Druid standpoint. Wizards don't even need to prepare the spell. So long as it is in their spellbook they can cast it as a ritual.

Only if it is a ritual spell.

[Nifft]

In 5e, spellcasters get fewer spell slots than they did in 3e, and they lost the ability to make utility magic items like scrolls -- but in exchange they can use Rituals to cast some specific spells without expending a slot.

Is this powerful? Yes.

Is it overpowered? Not in my experience.

[DeTess]

Are the advantages to being able to spend an extra ten minutes to not expand any spell slots and possibly circumvent an entire encounter not overpowered?

Not just from a Druid standpoint. Wizards don't even need to prepare the spell. So long as it is in their spellbook they can cast it as a ritual.

I'm not really seeing any encounters that would be trivialized by ritual casting that aren't already trivialized by magic in general. Most rituals are of the utility kind, so I don't mind giving the spell-casters a way to do what they want to do without spending a spell slot. I mean, a fighter doesn't need to use a resource to bust down a door, nor does a ranger need to spend resources to track, so why would I want a wizard to spend resources to cast detect magic or comprehend languages? If, for whatever reason, I want them to use a spell slot, all I have to do is add a time constraint.

[Slipperychicken]

Are the advantages to being able to spend an extra ten minutes to not expand any spell slots and possibly circumvent an entire encounter not overpowered?

Not really. The subset of ritual spells isn't that big of a deal. Once in a while you can do something neat, but they're usually downtime-utility type stuff which you could replicate by other means.

I was hyped about rituals when I first heard of them, but now my group keeps forgetting about rituals because they don't have much of an impact in our playstyle.

[GlenSmash!]

I'm not really seeing any encounters that would be trivialized by ritual casting that aren't already trivialized by magic in general. Most rituals are of the utility kind, so I don't mind giving the spell-casters a way to do what they want to do without spending a spell slot. I mean, a fighter doesn't need to use a resource to bust down a door, nor does a ranger need to spend resources to track, so why would I want a wizard to spend resources to cast detect magic or comprehend languages? If, for whatever reason, I want them to use a spell slot, all I have to do is add a time constraint.

This is my experience as well.

[Waterdeep Merch]

Rituals run the gamut from convenience to necessity. While they have the potential to circumvent rather large swathes of the exploration pillar, so could having the right skill spread. Most of the time it just saves you from rolling a few skill checks.

[Willie the Duck]

My experience is that a ritual casting lets spellcasters do much of their in-combat casting, while still being able to contribute in noncombat situations (non-wizards still need to memorize/choose the spell, but at least they can use their slots on combat). I do think that spellcasters are slightly better than non- (or 1/3-) spellcasters at the upper levels, but this is not the primary reason.

One of the best things about ritual casting is that a fighter or rogue with a spare ASI to spend on ritual casting (wizard), or better yet a tomelock with the Book of Ancient Secrets invocation, can fill the most basic wizardly roles (detect magics and identify and comprehend languages and odd ones like alarm and Leodmund's hut) in a party without a wizard. That, along with non-cleric reasonable-speed healing, we finally have an edition where no class is required in a party.

[Lonely Tylenol]

The only thing that rituals have trivialized in my games thus far has been some aspects of investigation in non-time-sensitive situations. For example, the Wizard with Detect Magic was able to ritual cast it to find a pair of magical boots the Rogue wasn’t looking for, and then identify them as Boots of Spider Climbing with Identify ritual cast. Neither of these ruined my game in any way; in fact, I put the boots there to be found, possibly using this means.

(EDIT: I guess diligent use of Alarm ruins surprise attacks on the character, but only the surprise, not the encounter itself, and that seems like a situation where due diligence is being rewarded.)

Rituals are super easy to plan around as a DM, because they’re so telegraphed, and limited in the scope of what they can do. I imagine Find the Path could probably make finding things with overland travel pretty trivial, but only if you actually know what or where the thing you’re looking for is, which probably involves some divinations or the like which are not rituals, or familiarity, or cooperation with a Cleric or something. Nothing a map and good Survival couldn’t do with fewer contrivances.

[mer.c]

If you can skip an encounter with a ritual, you could also skip it with the spell cast normally. It's not the ritual tag that's at issue there.

At any rate, I've had no issue with rituals as a player or a DM. It's a good way of giving casters a way of contributing that isn't tied to their spell slots. This is especially important at lower levels, where a full caster has only a couple of spell slots.

On top of that, it's a cool way to differentiate different caster classes.

[Arenabait]

On top of that, the fact that for example a Wizard can ritual cast but a Paladin or a Bard can't does a lot to differentiate the caster classes.

Just a side note, but Bards very much CAN ritual cast. Pull out your Phb and check under the spellcasting section of the bard class :)

[Tanarii]

Most rituals are of the utility kind, so I don't mind giving the spell-casters a way to do what they want to do without spending a spell slot. I mean, a fighter doesn't need to use a resource to bust down a door, nor does a ranger need to spend resources to track, so why would I want a wizard to spend resources to cast detect magic or comprehend languages? If, for whatever reason, I want them to use a spell slot, all I have to do is add a time constraint.
That's very well put, and good analogy with non-magical checks.

I generally try to add some kind of time constraint to adventuring locations, even if it's only the good 'ol "wandering monster checks" stand-by. That makes spending time a resource in itself.

OP, here's something you might want to read to get what I'm talking about in regards to the importance of time in D&D.
http://theangrygm.com/hacking-time-in-dnd/

[mer.c]

Just a side note, but Bards very much CAN ritual cast. Pull out your Phb and check under the spellcasting section of the bard class :)

I actually did that, I just skipped right over it. :P

[Socratov]

If you can skip an encounter with a ritual, you could also skip it with the spell cast normally. It's not the ritual tag that's at issue there.

At any rate, I've had no issue with rituals as a player or a DM. It's a good way of giving casters a way of contributing that isn't tied to their spell slots. This is especially important at lower levels, where a full caster has only a couple of spell slots.

On top of that, it's a cool way to differentiate different caster classes.

The ritual could be an issue there, but only when considering 2 very specific aspects: time (rituals do ad 10 minutes to the casting time) and resource control. The former is easy to speed up: make time matter. The latter is all about making an endurance slog. But if that's your goal, make sure the encounters target different spells or actions.

[Temperjoke]

I would vote that ritual casting is powerful when utilized correctly, just like most utility spells are. If you're having a problem with ritual spells trivializing things, then you should look at the challenges you are giving the players. Are you giving them too much leisure time or privacy to cast these rituals? That's an uninterrupted 10 minutes; how are they accomplishing this in a dungeon for example? Not accusing anyone of anything, just merely giving food for thought. Like most things in D&D, it only becomes OP when you let the players do whatever they want without adapting your approach or materials to balance it out.

[Pex]

Do keep in mind the solution of players using ritual magic too much they trivialize adventures IS NOT never, ever let them use rituals again by constantly interrupting them when they try it or never have the time to do it because they'll fail their mission otherwise.

[Jerrykhor]

Rituals in general are fine. The only ritual that comes close to what the OP describes is Comprehend Languages. It doesn't matter if you create a talky character who knows 10 languages, if a letter/scroll just happens to be in a language that you aren't proficient in, you can't read it... But the magic guy who only knows 2 languages can read it with Comprehend Languages!

[Honest Tiefling]

In 5e, spellcasters get fewer spell slots than they did in 3e, and they lost the ability to make utility magic items like scrolls -- but in exchange they can use Rituals to cast some specific spells without expending a slot.

Is this powerful? Yes.

Is it overpowered? Not in my experience.

Pretty much this. Ritual casting seemed to have been introduced in 4th edition to cover utility spells that a lot of people wanted to skip. Replacing scrolls with ritual casting reduces crafting downtime and exploitation from third edition. It gives some leeway for utility spells without being too much of a drain on the character's ability to function in encounters.

I think the problem is that it doesn't work with a low-magic or low-fantasy setting. Which 5th edition just isn't made for. If you want food rations to be an issue, then you need to talk to your players about tone and seeing about which rituals to ban.

As for comprehend languages...I could see an argument that if a player goes to the effort of learning the spell, they can damn well be in the spotlight for it if they choose to be. It would be a heck of a lot more useful to some classes (*COUGH COUGH COUGH* wizard *COUGH COUGH*) if it could be cast on another given how some magic users dump social ability for more arcane power. But I think I'm a little wary of people refusing to share the social spotlight now and again...

[Chugger]

Do keep in mind the solution of players using ritual magic too much they trivialize adventures IS NOT never, ever let them use rituals again by constantly interrupting them when they try it or never have the time to do it because they'll fail their mission otherwise.

Pex is as usual right. Don't punish them for using rituals. Adjust the material, the challenge, so that even though they use rituals, there is still something that rituals don't solve.

Being stuck in the wild with no x can also get very tedious - keep that in mind. Players often want to level up to get that ritual spell to solve this problem, so that travel is much easier for them - why not?!

As they grow, only a very small-minded DM would think "gosh I need to punish them for growing" - don't do that! Grow your offering as they grow - if the only challenge you can throw them is a wilderness grind that rituals beat or something like that...come on - up your game - it's easy! Sorry if I'm sounding obnoxious - I want to sound encouraging - so please don't read my words like my voice sounds angry or berating - I don't intend that.

[Tanarii]

It's importent to note that making time a resource, in a way the players know the consequences for spending or not spending the resource, just like any other resource, isn't punishing players. It adds to the game by adding more meaningful decision points.

Intentionally interrupting them specifically when they pause to use rituals (or take rests), because you don't want them to do that, is punishing the players.

Letting them know all use of time has a 1-in-8 chance of random encounter per X time period, or whatever the cost is for use of time, let's them decide if they want to spend the time.

[KorvinStarmast]

Are the advantages to being able to spend an extra ten minutes to not expand any spell slots and possibly circumvent an entire encounter not overpowered? No, it's not overpowered. It's the players intelligently using the resources at their disposal.