My understanding of ritual casting and longer cast times is that it prohibits other actions, other than casting a bonus action cantrip such as Magic Stone or Shillelagh. You can still walk around, use a reaction. You take the Cast a Spell action every turn while ritual casting. I am unclear as to whether you can still communicate with teammates as part of things you can do on your turn that aren't actions, bonus actions, or reactions (speaking or strategizing brief utterances, opening a door or opening a chest or handing something to a teammate).
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\$\begingroup\$ Great question! One small correction: you imply that while casting a ritual, you could also cast "a bonus action cantrip such as Magic Stone or Shillelagh." I think you may have confused the rules about bonus action spells: it's not the bonus action spell that must be a cantrip, but the other spell cast (I.E. If you cast a bonus action spell "you can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action." (PHB, p. 202). Since ritual all have casting times of 10 minutes or longer (and none are cantrips), bonus action spellcasting would stop the ritual. \$\endgroup\$– GandalfmeansmeCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:33
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\$\begingroup\$ See also this answer, which relates to my previous comment (but is not a duplicate of this question). \$\endgroup\$– GandalfmeansmeCommented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:37
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2 Answers
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Yes, if what you do does not break concentration
Ritual casting works like normal spellcasting, except that you do not expend the slot, and the casting time is extended by 10 minutes (p. 201 PHB).
The ritual version of a spell takes 10 minutes longer to cast than normal. It also doesn’t expend a spell slot, which means the ritual version of a spell can’t be cast at a higher level.
So to understand what you can do while casting, you follow the rules for Longer Casting Times (p. 202 PHB):
Certain spells (including spells cast as rituals) require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. When you cast a spell with a casting time longer than a single action or reaction, you must spend your action each turn casting the spell, and you must maintain your concentration while you do so (see “Concentration” below). If your concentration is broken, the spell fails, but you don’t expend a spell slot.
That means, you can do anything in each round that leaves you with your unused action, and that does not break concentration like casting another concentration spell.
Taking bonus actions, reactions, or other activities on your turn like communicating briefly or taking a free object interaction all do not require your action (p. 189f PHB), so they will not disrupt your ritual casting. You could even do things that require an action, if you had a way to get a second action in a round, like for example as the Fighter’s action surge feature could grant you, as long as they do not break your concentration.
For example, casting shield of faith is a bonus action spell with a duration of “concentration, up to 10 minutes”. Casting it would not end your ritual because it is a bonus action, it would end it because it requires concentration.
answered May 27, 2023 at 4:26
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\$\begingroup\$ Is there any concern that speaking might make you incapable of performing the verbal components of the spell? I suspect this doesn't happen (i.e. I suspect you can speak freely on your turn once you've spent your Action casting the spell), but I'm not 100% clear on what the rules prescribe. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 7, 2023 at 20:35
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Yes
You can communicate however you are able, through brief utterances and gestures, as you take your turn.
You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free, during either your move or your action.
