Fraying Word
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a knotted thread, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
Description
Fraying Word is an abjuration for spellcasters who need an answer to enemy magic long before Counterspell comes online. You speak a single syllable of unmaking at a spell while its caster is still tying it off, and one thread pulls loose.
The triggering spell takes effect as though it had been cast with a spell slot one level lower, to a minimum of the spell's own lowest level. A fireball hurled from a 5th-level slot lands as a 3rd-level fireball; a fireball cast at 3rd level is unmoved. A spell that does not use a spell slot, including a cantrip or an innate casting, is unaffected. The caster feels the loss and knows something took it, though not what or from where.
The thread between your fingers blackens and crumbles as the spell resolves.
At Higher Levels
When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the triggering spell's effective level is reduced by one additional level for each slot level above 1st. If this reduction would take the spell below its own lowest level, the spell fails entirely and its slot is expended.
Spell List
Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard