@JeremyECrawford #Dnd if my Green Flame Blade is Counterspelled, do I still get to make a normal melee attack or is it "counterspelled" too?
— Andrea Back (@VyrelionAB) April 17, 2016
No part of a countered spell occurs. That's the purpose of counterspell. #DnD https://t.co/XPgZvoAHaT
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2016
@kam2112 @VyrelionABthe weapon is listed as a material component The weapon is, indeed, a material component. The attack is not.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2016
@SennSationalistThat’s not intuitive to me. My reading of SCAG cantrips is that the user makes a weapon atk which applies the spell effect. If the attack could be disentangled from the spell's effect, the attack would be a component, not part of the effect.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2016
@SennSationalist Alright. The wording is pretty unclear on that front for the cantrips, and the concept of a spell causing a melee atk too. Those cantrips are purposefully unusual. Unlike smite spells, the cantrips incorporate a weapon attack in the spell effect.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2016
@SennSationalist I totally buy your ruling, but it seems to mean that Booming Blade is now controlling user’s arm and causing it to atk. The casting sets up the attack. With counterspell, you foil that setup and anything that would have followed it.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2016
@SennSationalistBut balance-wise it does makes sense for a 3rd level spell to 100% counter a cantrip. Exactly.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2016
I would like to offer the suggestion of flavoring this situation as the counterspell ruining/throws off the actual melee attack for an auto miss.
The way I interpreted the wording of the spell (and I tend to be a literal ‘by the wording’s person), that says the attack is part of the action used to cast the spell.
This
I would think, as the spell says the melee attack is part of the casting, (part of the action used to cast it, not a result *of* the action), the melee attack would go off, but the spell’s effects would be stopped, leaving the spellcaster in an awkward position afterwards.
This is a major, ridiculous flavor fail. Just because the magical part is prevented, doesn’t mean that the weapon used stop its motion and doesn’t cut/pierce/bludgeon who it’s swung at. This RPG system is so dumb at times.