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When does a spellcaster pick their target for a spell? If a spell takes a while to cast, do they pick a target at the beginning, and then the target has to stay in range, or are they free to pick any target in range when the spell finishes casting?

As a concrete example, if I am ritual casting Identify, that takes 11 minutes. If a party member is coming with a magic item, can I begin ritual casting before they arrive, and then finish the ritual and target their item once they arrive, or do I need to wait until my party member brings me the item and then ritual cast Identify with it next to me the whole time.

Jack
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Jarred Allen
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    Related: Touch and long duration – MivaScott Apr 25 '22 at 04:29
  • Another possible example is the readied spell.: "I ready Magic Missle to cast at the biggest of the first five creatures that come into sight." - A perfectly reasonable readied action that would target the creature when the condition is met.

    HOWEVER. For Identify, specifically, the spell clearly states "Target: One object that you must touch throughout the casting of the spell" as the previous commenter noted.

    Either way, these have been answered elsewhere.

     – Σ of eDπ Apr 25 '22 at 07:23

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