Channel divinity and bonus action spells?

[djreynolds]

How do forum members judge this?

Can a player turn undead, and cast spiritual weapon on the same turn?

A ranger does this all the time with hunters mark and then attacks, or attacks and then possibly moves hunters mark if appropriate.

I have always said yes, but today a player spoke against it.

How do you feel?

[Aett_Thorn]

Absolutely. Chanel Divinity isn’t a spell, so doesn’t conflict with the rules about spell casting and bonus actions.

[Unoriginal]

Absolutely. Chanel Divinity isn’t a spell, so doesn’t conflict with the rules about spell casting and bonus actions.

This. Chanel Divinity is explicitly not a spell.

[Corran]

I second what have been said so far.

Rules aside, the reason I like this (ie being allowed to use a channel divinity and cat a spell in the same turn), is because it is ground for optimization (action economy). Also, CD's that use an action add some value to bonus action spells, so that can bring some otherwise lackluster spells into play every now and then.

[Lunali]

As a side note, moving hunter's mark is also not a spell so the character could still cast a spell normally, though given ranger's concentration heavy spell list, it isn't usually a good idea.

[djreynolds]

Thank you everyone, very fast