One of my players enjoys experimenting with a lot of characters. He was tinkering with a sorcerer/barbarian multiclass and asked me if it would be possible to expend sorcery points while raging, especially to summon the Hound of Ill Omen from the shadow sorcerer subclass from Xanathar's Guide. Does expending sorcery points count as casting a spell in this instance?
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6\$\begingroup\$ Hi, welcome to the site! Looks like a great question to me (but I’m not a 5e expert, so I can’t help). But one thing that’s pretty important here is tagging, particularly the system you are using when asking about the rules (after all, there are as many as 15 different editions of Dungeons & Dragons alone, and innumerable non-D&D games out there). Since you mentioned Xanathar’s Guide, I made an educated guess that you are talking about 5e, and added the [dnd-5e] tag to your question. But in other cases, your question might be put on hold while people wonder what rules you’re using. \$\endgroup\$– KRyanFeb 5, 2018 at 3:31
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2 Answers
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Yes you can use sorcery points while raging
Rage prevents casting spells while raging:
If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.
However, using sorcery points is not casting a spell and thus is not forbidden by rage. A spell would say that it is a spell and/or that you are casting it. Hound of Ill Omen says no such thing.
Very similar to smiting while raging
This is basically the same case as a paladin using divine smite while raging.
when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage
This is a case that Jeremy Crawford has ruled to be within the rules
Divine smite is not a spell, yet it is fueled by spell slots. Because it is not a spell, it is not affected by things like Rage that prevent spellcasting.
If spell slots can be used, there is no reason why sorcery points couldn't.
answered Feb 5, 2018 at 4:17
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Yes. It uses Sorcery points to call forth not cast.
If an ability doesn't say you are "casting" you are not casting a spell.
Rage says :
If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.
Hound of Ill Omen says :
At 6th level, you gain the ability to call forth a howling creature of darkness to harass your foes. As a bonus action, you can spend 3 sorcery points to magically summon a hound of ill omen to target one creature you can see within 120 feet of you.
(all emphasis mine)
This is an ability you can do them without any spell casting involved or even concentration required. So yes your friend can Rage and summon his hound of Ill Omen. "Magically summon" just means it is magical in nature and therefor can be detected magically.
You could even expend spell slots to smite people while raging if your friend wants to try adding on Paladin to his mix.
answered Feb 5, 2018 at 3:54
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1\$\begingroup\$ "'Magically summon'" just means it is magical in nature and therefor can be dispelled, or detected magically." Dispel Magic can only end spells, so Hound of Ill Omen can't be dispelled. \$\endgroup\$– DovalFeb 5, 2018 at 20:00
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Doval Wow that is wierd. It says magical effect then goes on to say spell... you are correct Ill adjust \$\endgroup\$ Feb 5, 2018 at 20:11