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In Dungeon Master's Guide, on page 141 it says thay when casting a spell from a magical item that allows one to do so, eg. a wand, the caster must concentrate on the spell if the spell requires concentration when cast normally.

However, there is no rule here saying thay the user needs to retain control of the item to maintain concentration on the spell. Does this mean a different character could plausibly take the item in question and cast a new instance of the spell from it without having to break the first instance? Is there another rule I've overlooked that would prevent this kind of use of wands and other magical objects?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Can you cite which wand you are talking about? Most wands requirement attunement, but before answering I want to make sure I'm not missing something. \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Apr 19, 2017 at 12:37
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    \$\begingroup\$ @NautArch I haven't really checked all of them carefully, but at least Wand of Magic Detection allows casting a concentration spell without attunement. There could be more outside DMG too, so I'd like a general rule. \$\endgroup\$
    – kviiri
    Apr 19, 2017 at 12:45

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If a wand doesn't requirement attunement, it can be passed around from player to player much in the same way you can hand out potions from one player to another.

However, there are ZERO wands in the DMG that have combat-focused concentration spells that do not requirement attunement.

As you said, Wand of Magic Detection is the outlier here, and Detect Magic is fairly innocuous (doesn't help with finding invisible creatures, for instance.)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ wouldn't detect magic show creatures made invisible by magic? It shows magical effects, which IMO would include illusion magic (invisibility). \$\endgroup\$
    – Shem
    Apr 19, 2017 at 14:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Shem you'd kind of think so, but the specifics in Detect Magic state "you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any". Therefore, not visible = not detected. \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Apr 19, 2017 at 14:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ hmph. I apparently didn't read that spell quite as well as I thought, \$\endgroup\$
    – Shem
    Apr 19, 2017 at 14:36
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Shem I find a say that with a lot of spells :) \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Apr 19, 2017 at 14:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Shem On that note, illusions aren't creatures or objects and neither are spell effects. Detect Magic will detect these things but not show you an aura or tell you its school of magic. This can pose some difficulties if you're already detecting magic in the area e.g. from a magic weapon, potion, or even the wand itself since you won't be aware new magic entered the area. \$\endgroup\$
    – Doval
    Apr 19, 2017 at 16:47

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