When do the extra turns from Time Stop happen?

Question

Time Stop says "you take 1d4 + 1 turns in a row". My question is, when do the additional turns happen? Here are two scenarios I can think of.

Scenario 1

The caster casts Time Stop. This immediately ends the caster's current turn and begins the first of the additional 1d4+1 turns. If this was the first action at the beginning of the caster's turn, he effectively loses any potential movement, bonus actions, or even additional actions (if he were hasted) on the turn he cast time stop.

Scenario 2

The caster casts Time Stop, which immediately freezes all other creatures, but the caster can still complete his current turn and all associated actions. The first of the additional 1d4+1 turns begin after the current turn is complete.

Answer 1

During your action

The simplest reading of the spell text, is that you take the extra turns as part of the action which is casting the spell, similar to what you would do if you cast any other instantaneous spell. This means that once you are done taking those turns, you are simply done taking that action and you may continue with the rest of your normal turn.

Answer 2

Scenario 3

Time stop interrupts the Wizards turn, then his original turn continues after the spell ends.

Time stops duration is instantaneous, so it will occur during the wizards action. The spell effect is to allow the Wizard to take addition turns, but when the spell ends he should be able to continue his original turn normally as he would with any other spell.

An important point is that anything the wizard does after the spell ends is in normal time so other creatures could react.

Answer 3

Scenario 4

The current turn is the first of the 1d4+1 turns. You therefore finish the current turn normally and then take 1d4 extra turns.

The spell description says you take 1d4+1 turns in a row, not 1d4+1 extra turns. Taking 1d4+1 turns after the current turn would actually be 1d4+2 turns in a row.

Answer 4

I would say scenario 2 is correct.

There is nothing in the spell’s description that would suggest it ends your turn as soon as you cast it, simply that it uses up your action. I would say you still have the rest of your turn to use up your bonus action, movement, reaction, etc before the turns from Time Stop are used up. So a process would look like this:

You cast Time Stop using your action, you can finish your current turn (using up any remaining actions, bonus actions, reactions, movement etc) and when the player says they are finished with their turn, you move onto using up the turns granted by Time Stop.

Additionally, as the spell is instantaneous, it would make sense that its effects come into force instantaneously.

Answer 5

Time Stop only starts after your current turn has ended

Whilst my other answer is how I would rule it, and how I believe many other people would rule it, here is what the spell description of Time Stop says:

You briefly stop the flow of time for everyone but yourself. No time passes for other creatures, while you take 1d4 + 1 turns in a row, during which you can use actions and move as normal.

The description would suggest that only turns granted by Time Stop have time stopped for them. A strict Rules as Written approach might say that, because you are not using up the turns granted by Time Stop, you are using your regular turn, time does not stop when the spell is cast. Time only stops when you end your current turn and start using up the turns granted by the spell.

Alternatively, if you were to include your current turn as one of your time stopped turns, it would be like Scenario 2 but you have used up one of your 1d4+1 turns. (Its possible that this is why it is 1d4 +1 and not just 1d4 - if you rolled a 1 on the d4, you would only stop time for your current turn, where you have already used up your action to cast Time Stop, making it a waste of a spell slot and a turn).

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I’m not sure how far I agree that this is the correct interpretation but, as it is possible that this is the correct way to rule it (as per the Rules as Written), I feel obligated to present this side of the argument.