Do targets of a ritual have to participate?

[Avigor]

Title.
For an example, let's say you do a water breathing ritual at the start of the day (give me one good reason a wizard shouldn't start the day with this if he can spare the time), do the up to 10 creatures have to drop everything for 10 minutes, can they hang out doing their own stuff (maybe even casting their own rituals, take a divination as an example) during that 10 minutes so long as they're at hand during it, do they just have to be within range at the end of the ritual, or can they basically be within range at any random point within the ritual and then wander off?

I'm guessing they have to at least be present at the end, as being able to wander off midway through and still benefit would be a bit OP; I'm just not sure if there's a rule somewhere I missed specifying if they have to be there the entire time or just for the end and if the entire time if they can do other stuff while the ritual is being performed.

Oh, and I am fully aware that a GM can rule whatever they like; I'm mostly wondering what the most RAW, AL-legal interpretation of the rules is likely to be.

[Mellack]

There is no official rules as far as I know. I see no reason the targets would have to do anything to participate. They do not have to take part if you cast it as an action, so they shouldn't need to if cast as a ritual. The only question I see is when they need to be in the range. That is a DM call if they need to be there just at completion or for the whole casting.

[Blood of Gaea]

Ritual casting makes you cast the spell as normal, it adds no extra targeting rules to the spell.

[PhoenixPhyre]

What I'm about to say is not RAW, but is an extrapolation from existing rules.

Since you can Ready a targeted spell without a precise target (the first enemy I see), the targeting restrictions are enforced only when the spell is released. As rituals are otherwise normal, you only need the targets at the end, unless the spell says otherwise (like identify).

[WickerNipple]

Title.
For an example, let's say you do a water breathing ritual at the start of the day (give me one good reason a wizard shouldn't start the day with this if he can spare the time), do the up to 10 creatures have to drop everything for 10 minutes, can they hang out doing their own stuff (maybe even casting their own rituals, take a divination as an example) during that 10 minutes so long as they're at hand during it, do they just have to be within range at the end of the ritual, or can they basically be within range at any random point within the ritual and then wander off?

My storm sorcerer/thunder cleric of an angry water deity certainly requires the others participate in my morning ritual drowning before they get water breathing from me. You either get dunked for 10 minutes or you get nothing.

//What is dead may never die.

[JellyPooga]

My storm sorcerer/thunder cleric of an angry water deity certainly requires the others participate in my morning ritual drowning before they get water breathing from me. You either get dunked for 10 minutes or you get nothing.

//What is dead may never die.

Lizardfolk must laugh at the Drowned God...

[hymer]

I think Mellack pretty much nailed it. So let me try to address this:

(give me one good reason a wizard shouldn't start the day with this if he can spare the time)
You now all ping on a Detect Magic effect.
The accumulated waste of time and patience would be staggering.
Too regular habits make you easier to take advantage of by enemies.
It would lead to complacency around water.

I don't know if you think any of those are good reasons, of course. :smallsmile:

[romanwas]

:smallwink:

[Avigor]

What I'm about to say is not RAW, but is an extrapolation from existing rules.

Since you can Ready a targeted spell without a precise target (the first enemy I see), the targeting restrictions are enforced only when the spell is released. As rituals are otherwise normal, you only need the targets at the end, unless the spell says otherwise (like identify).

Definitely looks logical to me; just checked the the Sage Advice Compendium (http://dnd.wizards.com/sage-advice-compendium) and saw nadda on the subject there, so this seems the closest to RAW available.


I think Mellack pretty much nailed it. So let me try to address this:

You now all ping on a Detect Magic effect.
The accumulated waste of time and patience would be staggering.
Too regular habits make you easier to take advantage of by enemies.
It would lead to complacency around water.

I don't know if you think any of those are good reasons, of course. :smallsmile:

Good points.
Granted, detect magic won't, as far as I can tell, break stealth (it does specify the user must spend an action to see any aura on a specific visible creature or object suggesting no detection of something you are unaware of and so can't target), so that first point only impacts things if you interact with someone who dislikes those with active auras or maybe a trap somehow triggers off of magical auras instead of more conventional triggers, but still, good point.