Improved Counterspelling definition.

[Moltrazahn]

On the Class specific feats, it mentions the following.

High Arcana: Mastery Counterspelling
This is a High Arcana feat that grants the counterspeller the ability to turn the cast spell back upon the caster unless it requires a ranged touch attack or is already targeted at the caster. This ability costs a 7th level spell slot to use, sacrificed the first time after resting when the ability is used.
<<MASTERY OF COUNTERSPELLING WAS REMOVED DUE TO BALANCE ISSUE'S. IF YOU REALLY WANT THE FEAT, ASK THE DM'S>>

I have a couple of questions regarding this...
1: Is it then possible to get it? do I on my character ask a DM to get this feat then? what are the requirements for it.
2: Why was it disabled? Why is it considered a balance issue.
3: Specificly... what does it do better then regular counterspelling? ... Do i understand it correctly that...

Regular Counterspelling: Player uses Counterspelling on Frostgiant king. Player character stands passive, awaiting to counter any spell cast. Frost Giant King casts mords. System checks that Player Character has a Mords ready. Player has a ready mords, Counter spelling triggers, and uses 1 mords to counterspell the Frostkings Mords, the Mords never lands and the spell is annuled.

Improved: Same as above, but the mords is returned onto the FrostGiant King.

4: When does it -not- work? Im not sure i understand the requirements for it not working. EI if i go solo the Frost Giant King and he uses mords on me, will i not be able to counterspell him?

[DM Gogo]

1. Probably not. This is just a guess on my part, and not to be taken as an official ruling. I have never seen anyone with the feat and I think that blurb about asking the DMs for it is something left over from the old days.

2. It's a balance issue because it's incredibly powerful. It will allow you to reflect any targeted spells back to their user, and combined with Improved Counterspelling it will let you reflect spells back using lower tier spells. Plus a number of other reasons.

3. You are correct as to how it functions(ed), but it does not work against Mords. Which brings me to the last question..

4. It doesn't work under a few circumstances. Quoting from the BGTSCC wiki:

"It does not work with RTAs, AoEs, dispels, or "effect" spells. Still, there are a host of spells which can be very dangerous which can be turned including Bigby's, Flame Arrows, Magic Missiles and Magic Missile Storms. If you're facing a counterspeller don't use these spells. If you are the counterspeller you're hoping your enemy is dumb enough to use them."


Hope that helps.

[Moltrazahn]

Woah... one sec... you said you "cant" counterspell Mordenkains disjunction? O.o ... i was told that counterspelling could be used (and was best used) to do precisly that.

Also, the other counterspelling feats, are they enabled on the server?

Improved Counterspell
Type of Feat: Spellcasting
Prerequisites: Counterspelling
Specifics: When counterspelling, you may use a spell of the same school that is one or more spell levels higher than the target spell.
Use: Automatic


Reactive Counterspell
Type of Feat: Spellcasting
Prerequisites: Improved Counterspell, Improved Iniative
Specifics: Once per round, you can counterspell an opponent's spell even if you have not readied an action to do so. This counterspell action takes the place of your next turn.
Use: Automatic

And sorry, yes it is very helpful i do appreciate the Insight!

[Valefort]

You can counterspell a Mordenkainen cast on you for sure but, apparently, not if it's cast as an AoE.

[Moltrazahn]

Okay, some more questions then in a fictive scenario.

Player goes to fight Frost Giant King. Player has all of the Counterspelling feats enabled on the server. This being Improved Counterspelling, and Reactive Counterspelling.

Scenario 1:
Player has Improved Counterspelling, but no mords. Player does however have an extended Energy Immunity, which Counts as Level 8 and part of being a spontaneous caster (Sorc/FS/SS) is always prepared in their spellbook. Will improved counterspelling still counter the mords (which is cast on the player, not the ground) using the level 8 Abjuration? Or am I misreading how Improved works that a spell one level lower and of same school will counter target attacking spells of that school?

Scenario 2:
Player activates Counterspelling on Frost Giant King, yet uses his turn to cast a dmg spell. Frost Giant King casts mords in this turn, but, given that your character was not prepared, Reactive Counterspell kicks in, automatically spends your next turn, to counter the mords targeted on you?

[DM Gogo]

Okay I think there's a bit of confusion. You can counterspell a Mords just fine. You can't "Mastery Counterspell" it (i.e., reflect it back at your opponent), but you can nullify the spell.

"Improved Counterspell" is a feat that is in-game still, and allows you to substitute any spell of the same school to counterspell something as long as said spell is one level or more higher. So, for instance, if your opponent used Bigby 6 and you didn't have the spell memorized, you could counterspell their Bigby 6 with a Delayed Blast Fireball (tier 7 evocation), instead of having to fall back on your mords or g. dispels to counter it.

Scenario 1: No. You would need a 10th tier or higher abjuration spell to counterspell a Mords, and not only would this irritate Mystra pretty badly, they're not even programmed in. The only spells that will counterspell Mords are Mords and other versions of Dispel (for instance, it would actually be pretty easy to counterspell a CL17 mords with a CL20 G Dispel. But a CL30+ Mords is likely not going to be counterspelled by anything but an opposing Mords).

Scenario 2: Reactive Counterspell will counterspell the Mords on the round it happens. Then, you'll lose your next round. So, in round 1 you'll cast your damage spell, and also counterspell the Mords. In round 2, you will do nothing.

Let me know if it's still not making sense.

[Moltrazahn]

Giv lv 10 spells plx?

Okay, that makes sense sadly. Alas, will have to pick mords as a sorc then ^^.

What about spellschools of the same level? Will a Bigby's Crushing Hand be countered by having either Burst of Glacial Wrath or Meteor storm? or would it only imaginary above level-spells that will work as replacements for level 9 spells?

[Tsidkenu]

Improved counterspelling, at least according to its description, allows one to counter a spell using another spell of the same school at least one spell level higher.

Therefore Bigby's Crushing Hand can only be countered with the same (as there are no 10th level evocation spells since Mystra's Ban!) but a Bigby's Forceful Hand could be countered with any 7th-9th level Evocation spell (Prismatic Spray, Delayed Blast Fireball, Sunbeam, Polar Ray, Bigby's Clenched Fist, Bigby's Grasping Hand, Firestorm, Sunburst, Meteor Swarm, etc)

[Karond]

1.) Probably not.

2.) It's super OP. Mastery of counterspelling reflects spells back upon the caster if you succeed in the counterspell. So, you cast a bigby7 on me, I counterspell, then you're hit with the bigby7. I still only lose one spell in all of that. Effectively it's like I was casting the spell at you and you were AFK.

3.)

With counterspelling, you target someone. When the target casts a spell, you attempt to counterspell it. If you've the same spell memorized, you automatically do so. Otherwise, you use a greater dispel or usually a mordekainen.

If you have improved counterspelling, you can also dispel with a spell that is one level higher and of the same school. Like, dispel bigby6 with a memorized bigby7. Improved counterspelling is only useful for level 1-8 spells, it does nothing vs level 9 spells.

If you get reactive counterspelling, you change how counterspell works (you can still use regular counterspelling though). First of all, you don't need to target someone. Turn on the mode, and you'll attempt to counterspell the first spell that anyone hostile to you will cast around you. This is both a plus and a negative.

The good thing is that it's automatic. You don't have to be ready and click an individual. The bad thing is that you can't dispel spells cast on the ground with reactive counterspelling, and you also can't dispel spells not cast towards you. Regular counterspelling can help you save your allies, while reactive counterspelling is purely selfish.

Note that for both reactive and counterspelling you're limited to 1 counterspell per round. So, if two enemies cast a spell on you, you'll just try to counterspell one of them. Similarly, if someone casts two quickened spells at you, you'll only counterspell the first.

Epic counterspelling helps with that. It allows you to counter an unlimited amount of spells per round, as long as you have spells to counterspell with.

[Karond]

You can counterspell a Mordenkainen cast on you for sure but, apparently, not if it's cast as an AoE.

You are correct if you're using reactive counterspelling, but if you use the normal counterspelling then you can counterspell a mordekainen cast on the ground or on someone else.

Player does however have an extended Energy Immunity, which Counts as Level 8 and part of being a spontaneous caster (Sorc/FS/SS) is always prepared in their spellbook.

Take note that metamagic is not factored in. An extended spell is as good as a normal spell in the system. For example, imagine that someone is casting a quickened bigby6 on you. That's a level 9 slot. You can still counterspell it with a regular bigby6, with any evocation spell of level 7-9 or with a mordekainen.

The only advantage a metamagic spell gets is an increased DC in the spellcraft check. This usually doesn't take any real effect though. An arcane caster's spellcraft check tends to be pretty high anyway.