[RPG] save immediately against Otto’s Irresistible Dance, and have a chance of never dancing at all

dnd-5e

Otto's Irresistible Dance has two components relevant to this question:

A dancing creature must use all its movement to dance

And

As an action, a dancing creature makes a Wisdom saving throw to regain control of itself.

But which happens first? Does the creature immediately use up all its movement on its turn, or can it choose to spend its action to make the save first and thereby avoid ever dancing?

Edit: More exactly, is the use of the wording "must use" sufficient to override the specific rules that allow creatures to take their movement whenever they choose?

Best Answer

You can make your save before losing your move...

From the text of the spell (PHB 264, emphasis mine):

A dancing creature must use all its movement to dance without leaving its space...

Note the term "use" rather than something like "lose" or "have its speed reduced to 0". The spell compels you to move your speed within a 5 foot square. Fortunately, from the description of a player's turn (PHB 189):

You decide whether to move first or take your action first.

Even better, if slightly contradictory (PHB 190):

You can break up your movement on your turn, using some of your speed before and after your action.

In this edition, players are given a great deal of latitude on when to use their movement. Since dancing is a use of that movement, you can choose to save before using it up.

It helps to think about what limits your movement speed under regular circumstances. Remember that a round, and thus a turn, lasts ~ 6 seconds. When your move speed is 30 feet, it doesn't mean you are out of breath after running 30 feet, it means that it takes you about 6 seconds to move that distance with enough time left over to do something else. Dancing keeps you from moving anywhere as the clock ticks down, but if you make your save quickly, nothing in the wording of the spell suggests you would be prevented from using the remaining time in your turn to move your speed.

...but you still dance

You start dancing as soon as the spell is cast, with all of the attendant detriments (disadvantage on attacks and Dexterity saves, granting advantage to attackers). There isn't much you can do about that until the start of your turn, but at least you don't have to stay immobilized.

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