@V2Blast @MikeQ what was your gut feel on my ruling 'sure, counterspell that' for the control water ability Monday? On the one hand it acts like a spell, but I can also see it as "well, that's an innate ability/action/attack, not really a spell" ... I went with it and Laz could have failed the roll. Feedback?

@KorvinStarmast I think that RAW, it wouldn't have worked since it's just a monster ability that's similar/identical to the Whirlpool effect of control water - as with other things that duplicate/mimic the effect of a spell without actually involving casting a spell, you can't counter something when no spell is being cast. (Notably, a character has to perceive a spell being cast - i.e. the components of spellcasting - in order to counter it.)

But I was also fine with the ruling in the moment, especially since I doubt it's something that will come up often

@V2Blast I think that strictly speaking, it isn't a spell, but I don't think Laz has used counterspell ever, or maybe once, since 5th level. Seemed a good time to exercise that muscle. 😁 And it had a chance to fail.

@KorvinStarmast Yep, I've rarely seen counterspelling happen in this campaign (...unlike another campaign I was in where, like, half the party had counterspell :P). Definitely a decent time to allow it :)

@V2Blast In our tier 3 campaign, my bard counterspells a lot. Warlock, Paladin, and Lock/Sorc do most of the damage, I keep them up and fighting. But I did get to unload prismatic spray last time, and it landed hard. One enemy rolled an 8 and another 8, ended up with three colors effecting it and it went down. Rare that I get that kind of luck, though.