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“Instant” Spell Duration
Many spells in Dungeons and Dragons and other Fantasy RPGs have a duration which is listed as “Instant” or “Instantaneous,” meaning that the moment casting is complete, the spell’s effects have taken place, and the magical energies of the spell have been consumed or disippated by the spell’s effects. The description of many spells, however, would seem to contradict this element of the descriptor. The two most well known examples are Lightning Bolt and Burning Hands, which describe the duration as “Instantaneous,” but also describe the spell’s as being released through the caster’s finger tips, and traveling towards their respective targets.
Though normally innocuous, this slight contradiction can bring up some problems when explored and/or exploited by a curious player. These spells cannot be truly Instananeous, if their effects and energies do not expire before traveling; an action which inherently takes time. While this problem will rarely crop it’s head directly when it comes to gameplay, some players may try to exploit the inconsistancy, and many players may suffer a small disruption of Suspension of Disbelief, and the Sense of Possibility. How can this be resolved, without shutting down players or altering game mechanics (or ignoring the issue of realism)?
One, rather simple solution, is that the spell’s effects begin before the spell’s casting is completed, but that the effects will ultimately be negated if the spell’s casting is not completed properly. This, however, can bring about several problems: What happens to an object or creature that was being summoned when a spell is interrupted? Was it in transit at the time of interruption, between locations, planes, or dimensions? Does it suffer any harm as a result of this? What happens to the energy the caster gathered in his hands to throw at his enemies?
Another solution which manages to avoid the complexities and problems brought on by the first, is largely theoretical. Instantaneous spells are not instantaneous in reality, only in effect. We may safely assume that magical energy has zero mass or is able to reduce an object/creature’s mass to zero, and so spell’s with a descriptor of “Instantaneous” travel at the speed of light, at which point time dilation forces the passage of time to halt in regards to the spell for the duration of it’s travel. Interestingly, as objects speed towards the speed of light, time not only slows down, but space contracts, at the speed of light, to the point of assuming zero length.
Thus, the spell has an instantaneous or null duration, allowing spells which require some form of travel, such as Lightning Bolt or Burning Hands to continue to meet the requirements needed to preserve game play and balance as well as a Suspension of Disbelief and Sense of Possibility for both the players and narrators.
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