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My party went up against two wizards. Wizard NPC 1 cast a spell, and Wizard PC used their reaction to Counterspell to try to block it. Wizard NPC 2 counterspelled Wizard PC. I have two questions about this:
Is there any defense against this?
There are several, but none of them are great:
Bring more wizards.
Put yourself within range of the first wizard, but out of range of the second.
Make them want to use their reaction elsewhere. They can't counterspell if they used shield to stop the fighter from smashing their faces in (and vice versa).
Cast counterspell from a higher level slot, to force the NPCs to either roll for their counterspells or at the very least burn high level slots of their own.
Just assume they can cast the spells they want to, but outlast them with more/better spell slots.
If it was just One NPC Wizard, could they use their reaction, during their turn, to counterspell the PC Wizards counterspell?
Yes.
Page 190 of the Player's Handbook covers the rules for reactions (emphasis mine):
A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else's.
In general, counterspell is more of a tax than a hard protection against wizards casting spells. And if you're outnumbered, you will tend to lose out on counterspell wars. If counterspelling is what you want to do, I'd highly recommend being an Abjuration wizard so that you can get some free hitpoints while you drain their slots.
Yes, you can counterspell a counterspell cast against you. Wizards of the Coast has actually addressed this exact issue in their "Sage Advice Compendium". Page 12, right column, here is the exact quote:
Can you also cast a reaction spell on your turn?
You sure can! Here’s a common way for it to happen: Cornelius the wizard is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell on him. Cornelius has counterspell prepared, so he uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell before it can stop fireball.
I'm just going to refer you to @AceCalhoon's answer - I can't really add to it.
You can also take the Counterspell by the NPC as a win - they've used up their reaction and at least a 3rd level spell slot.
Assuming you still have your reaction available.
Reactions reset at the start of your turn so this will usually be the case. However, if you have Readied the spell then that uses your Reaction.
The reason is that spells cast with bonus actions have this limitation:
You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
Counterspell a) is not a cantrip and b) has a casting time of 1 Reaction. So, if you cast a bonus action spell; Counterspell is not available to you.
This is something to bear in mind before your Sorcerer Quickens that spell.
AceCalhoon's answer is only mostly correct. While counterspell can be blocked with another counterspell, a single wizard could not counterspell a counterspell that targets a spell he is casting. Although he can take reactions, he cannot actually cast counterspell in the middle of chanting fireball.
Example:
Wizard One attempts to cast fireball.
Player Wizard uses counterspell.
Wizard One cannot counterspell back because he is in the middle of casting fireball.
Both fireball and counterspell have verbal components. According to the rules of components on PHB 203, "If you can't provide one or more of a spell's components, you are unable to cast the spell."
You need multiple wizards for this, or a sorcerer with the subtle spell Metamagic.
No. You can't counter Counterspell on your own turn by using your Reaction to cast Counterspell.
You CAN use your reaction to cast Counterspell, but you will lose the original spell you were casting and the result would be the same. The only difference being that you wasted 2 spell slots instead of one.
If you are attempting to cast a spell, let's call it Fireball, then someone within 60' of you can use their reaction to cast Counterspell. The trigger is seeing you "in the process of casting a spell" as spelled out in the description of Counterspell on p.228. Fireball requires verbal, somatic and material components. If you are in the process of casting it, it is impossible for you to cast another spell at the same time. You would have to cease the somatic component of the casting and instead use your hands or focus to cast Counterspell. The only time that you could conceivably do this would be in cases where the original spell you were casting had ONLY a verbal component. You would be casting one spell (Counterspell) with your hand while you finished speaking the magic words with your mouth.
