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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8515877" data-attributes="member: 29398">Because the NPC has been recognized as a fighter and thus shouldn't be able to cast spells any more than my PC fighter can.A wizard should, if she can find them, be able to cast any spells of appropriate level that an NPC can, and vice-versa.Sauron has capabilities that the PCs will never want to have, but in theory could have if so desired; and that temptation fuels a a large part of the story.Voldemort is simply higher level than the PCs and has a different spell selection.  Hermione could learn all those spells and abilities if she wanted, given time.Yes; and to me that's an innate ability of the monster, different and separate from a learned/prayed-for spell (for example, it can't be interrupted like a normal spell can) and thus not subject to the same rules.A real-world analogy would be a skunk's scent ability - it's an innate ability of the creature that it can do and many other creatures can't.Indeed.I'm not whining that the boss has powers I don't.  I'm saying there needs to be a consistent underlying rationale for how and why the boss has those powers; and if they're powers I can in theory access now or later I should be able to try to do so.  For example, if the boss hits me with a Time Stop (a 9th-level spell in 1e) then sure, it's not something I can do yet (and will never be able to if I'm not a Wizard) but eventually, if I get big enough as a Wizard and learn the spell - or find it on a scroll and cast directly from that - I can. The underlying rationale is consistent.That said, when things happen I want to be able to, in character, figure out how they happen.One thing the Potterverse leans into much more than D&D is self-researched or self-taught magic, meaning that yes, many wizards and witches will have developed their own magics for their own needs or amusement (e.g. Arthur Weasley's flying car or the various things Fred and George develop for their joke shop).  But even there, on seeing a new magic another witch or wizard can always reverse-engineer it and figure out how it was done, because it's all sitting on a consistent and predictable set of underlying principles.It'd be cool if D&D could handle the same sort of thing but putting any sort of balancing framework around it would be hella hard.</blockquote>

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