[RPG] Can you use emergency force sphere to stop someone charging you when casting already

pathfinder-1e

Emergency force sphere is a useful spell to stop someone being crushed by rocks.

It is cast as an immediate action – so if a creature charges a character they should be able to cast EFS to stop whatever horrid beast is baring down on them, or at least make them run into a forcewall.

But… what if they were casting already?

The Situation:

New round
Wizard Bob's turn: He starts casting Summon Monster V
Hack'em the hill giant's turn: He charges Wizard Bob with an intent to demonstrate how he got his name.
Wizard Bob declares he wants to use an immediate action to cast Emergency Force Sphere.

Can Wizard Bob save himself?
Does casting Emergency Force Sphere affect his casting of Summon Monster V?

Best Answer

Yes he can save himself. Yes, he will lose his casting of Summon Monster V.

Summon Monster has a casting time of 1 round, and the spellcaster is required to concentrate on the spell for that duration (emphasis mine):

When you begin a spell that takes 1 round or longer to cast, you must continue the concentration from the current round to just before your turn in the next round (at least). If you lose concentration before the casting is complete, you lose the spell.

Duration states:

You can't cast a spell while concentrating on another one. Some spells last for a short time after you cease concentrating.

There is no exception for immediate action spells in there, nor anywhere else, meaning that you will have to drop concentration to cast another spell. The rules don't state any sort of action for dropping concentration voluntarily, but dropping it involuntarily (by failing a concentration check) is not-an-action, so I suggest doing with that.