D&D 5E Please understand your spells

[Morinth]

Honestly, to some extent my advice would be "let it go". At least, to the extent that you can. I think having them read the spell aloud is a good idea, at least at first, and after a while they will learn how to use the spells just from that exercise. You should try to approach it from a "how can I help my player feel more invested and present in my game" point of view rather than "this loser needs to step up". The goal is to have fun, right? Some people don't find diving into the minutiae of spells and such fun, but like the "flavor" of spellcasters. Try to urge that player type to play something with the flavor that they're going for, but that doesn't require a huge mental effort on their part.

I am probably a DM's dream when it comes to spellcasters, I always know my spells, and I always know when they are situationally or tactically relevant. My turns in combat are resolved as quickly as possible. But some people just want to be the cool dude/chick with Magyck or somesuch, and that's okay too.

P.S.: When I play a spellcaster, I literally transcribe each and every spell out of the book word-for-word into a text document that I refer to, so I don't have to go flipping pages. The act of transcribing the spells also gives me a better recollection of the broad strokes, at least, when I'm evaluating my magical arsenal in combat. That might be a suggestion for your players as well. And any player daunted by that prospect might decide to play that fighter after all...

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Anyone have any good advice for how to deal with this?

I have a two step process that worked for me, and might work for you too:

Step 1) Acknowledge that people learn at different paces and in different ways, and be patient with your players because this is a game and a slight delay of play to look up a spell is no big deal.

Step 2) When a player says their character casts a spell, ask "What does that do?" - leave it to the player to look it up and tell you what their spell is capable of, because after all as you say you are the DM and already have enough on your plate.

This will result in your players realizing they are responsible for knowing what their spells do, and will eventually - so the patience of step 1 is massively important - remedy the situation without leaving you to deal with the bugbear of memorizing every effect a player might possibly create by casting a spell.

 

[Nellisir]

Sure, but if they can read the spell to me, then they can read the spell to themselves, and therefore know what it does right? Even with that, it still means I need to stop what I'm doing and listen to them. The latter is really what I'm trying to avoid, it just bogs down combat. One guy at the table has all his spells memorized and his turns go by in a flash, which I honestly feel bad about when I have to spend 5 minutes straightening out someone else.

It doesn't bog down my combat noticeably, and I don't spend 5 minutes on it. I ask questions and get things resolved quickly. If they aren't prepared, the next person can go while person A gets their together. Or someone gets volunteered to helps Person A get their together. At least half the time I have them read spells because I don't know the spell as well as I'd like to, and overlapping that are the occasions when the player is trying to pull something (if it's clever and reasonable, and doesn't obnoxiously break the rules, I'm probably OK with it, at least this time). It's rarely the full spell, anyways - more like "what's the range? Damage? What kind of save? Are you sure? Double check and get back to me."

Everyone gets the treatment. If you're clever, you're going to end up explaining spells to me, and if you're learning, you're going to explain spells to yourself under the guise of explaining them to me.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Prepare for a slap of tough-love...

Anyone have any good advice for how to deal with this? I'm tired of having to read every spell for every class and attempt to memorize what they do, then educate my players on how that works and shut down the game in the process while I look the spell up, tell them how it works and make sure they use it properly. I've got enough on my plate as DM that I shouldn't have to run my player's characters as well.

Dude, you're the DM. You should know all of the spells. And classes. And races. And rules. And equipment. And Backgrounds. And Archtypes. And...and...and... You are the one in control of the game. You are the final authority on if and how something can get done in game. Now, learning and remembering all the things in a new'ish RPG takes time, and 5e has only really been out for just over a year now...but being a DM isn't just about rolling dice for monsters.

I don't know every single rule, spell, or class feature in the game either...but I'm learning every session. I read spells, classes, etc as players choose them so that I do know the gist of what they do. A few more months of this and I think I'll be where I should be as a 5e DM. The bottom line is as I said: You are the DM, it is your job to know this stuff. I know I'm still learning new things every now and then, but I still DM because I've been doing it for well over 30 years and love it to death!

On a more positive slant... Don't think of it as an "annoyance to deal with", think of it as an "opportunity to learn the game with your friends". If someone takes some obscure spell nobody has ever taken before (likely, giving 5e's young age), read it after the player does. Next time it comes up, you probably won't have to read it again. Same with races, classes, feats (if you use them), etc. Read it when it comes up...that is part of being a DM. Oh, and all that stuff in the DMG and MM? Yeah...you have to read all that too...such is the burden of being a DM.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Storyteller Hero]

I made a set of cheat sheets that I'm going to keep updating for myself and others.

This might help some of you by reducing the amount of time it takes for players to choose spells; it frees up time for reading up on what the chosen spells do in more detail.

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/175969/DD-5e-Magic-Spell-Cheat-Sheets

 

[Celtavian]

Kill the player?

 

[Li Shenron]

I have three people playing casters at my table atm, well, one died, so now it's two casters and a half-caster. One of them knows their spells, what they do, exactly what their limitations are, how to use them, their costs, etc... One of them knows their spells, but doesn't understand what their limitations are. One of them seems to know the names of their spells and nothing else.

These are all adults at my table, the latter doesn't even seem to be making an effort to understand how their spells work and I'm a hairs breadth from telling him he isn't allowed to play a caster until he reads his spells. I don't care if he needs the PHB at the table and has to read each one before using it, because it would certainly go a lot further than what he's doing now. However, I'm certain that saying "you can't play a caster until you actually know how to play a caster" is going to cause trouble.

Anyone have any good advice for how to deal with this? I'm tired of having to read every spell for every class and attempt to memorize what they do, then educate my players on how that works and shut down the game in the process while I look the spell up, tell them how it works and make sure they use it properly. I've got enough on my plate as DM that I shouldn't have to run my player's characters as well.

Just print out his spells descriptions from the SRD, so that he can keep them at the table all the time.

That's what I always do. No way I am going to "memorize" spells in order to play the game.

 

[Tallifer]

Beyond that, I do kinda like the idea of "if the player doesn't know, the DM makes it up as he pleases" as an answer.

I really like that one.

 

[TwoSix]

Tier 1 players? You gotta be kidding me. D&D isn't a competitive sport...

No, but that doesn't change the fact that some players are simply "better", at least in terms of being able to grok the complexity of the game quickly and easily. I've been playing for years with people who still need to check their sheets, look over their options carefully, and have to be reminded (still) to add their proficiency to hit rolls. They're not bad players, they simply don't process complexity as quickly as others. In general (and this is a broad generalization!), such players struggle more with character options that present larger amounts of rules bits to process, such as spellcasters, especially spellcasters who can modify their spell list every rest.

 

[TwoSix]

Dude, you're the DM. You should know all of the spells. And classes. And races. And rules. And equipment. And Backgrounds. And Archtypes. And...and...and... You are the one in control of the game. You are the final authority on if and how something can get done in game. Now, learning and remembering all the things in a new'ish RPG takes time, and 5e has only really been out for just over a year now...but being a DM isn't just about rolling dice for monsters.

Suffice it to say this statement only has broad relevance if you play in a hardcore old school style, and there are many playstyles for which this is not relevant at all. Having more information at your disposal is never BAD, but it certainly isn't necessary.