D&D 5E Crash Course in Magic

[casterblaster]

Sorry if this has been asked before but...How exactly does spell casting work in 5e because I feel like I am doing it and teaching it wrong. Spells that do not specify a saving throw, do they just work? Does the caster (divine or arcane) have to roll for every spell Thanks in advance!

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yes, spells that don't force saves or require attack rolls just work automatically.

No, no roll is required simply to cast a spell. Or prepare a spell. Or learn a new spell.

 

[Andor]

As of the basic rules there is no roll to cast.

Some spells do require a roll to hit, but the spell works whether it hits or not.

Some spells allow the victim to make a saving throw. If there is no saving throw they just take whatever the effect is.

A spell which requires concentration to maintain can be disrupted by damage. If the MU concentrating on the spell takes damage they must make a constitution check (IE 1d20 + Con mod) against a target number of 10 or 1/2 the damage, whichever is higher.

Hope this helps.

 

[tuxgeo]

Most of the following information should still be correct:

The decision of which spell to cast using which spell slot is made at the time of casting, not at the time of preparation.

Bards & Sorcerers don't "prepare" spells: they simply have a few spells that they totally know, and can cast any of those if they have a high-enough level spell slot available.

Wizards can prepare any spell they have in their spell book, up to a limit of the number of spells they can prepare when they have a specific number of wizard levels. The number of spells they can prepare is merely a number, with no spell levels associated therewith.

Clerics can prepare any spell on the Cleric spell list, provided they can cast spells of that level. However, they have Domain spells which they always have "prepared," which do not count against the number of spells they can prepare at any one time.

 

[Dausuul]

Okay, crash course in magic:

• Casting a spell takes however long it says in the casting time (usually 1 action).
• You don't normally have to make any kind of roll. You just announce you're casting the spell and mark off a spell slot. If the spell grants a save or requires an attack roll, it will say so in the text description.
• If a spell grants a saving throw, it's DC 8 + proficiency bonus + spellcasting stat modifier (so a 1st-level wizard with Int 16 has a save DC of 8+2+3 = 13).
• If a spell requires the caster to make a "spell attack," the attack bonus is proficiency bonus + spellcasting stat modifier (so the same 1st-level wizard has +5 to hit with spell attacks).
• The limiting factor on spellcasting is spell slots. Each time you cast a spell, you must expend a spell slot of the appropriate level.
• You can cast a spell using a slot of higher level (e.g., use a 4th-level slot to cast a 2nd-level spell). If there is an "At Higher Levels" entry at the bottom of the text description, the spell is more effective when cast using a higher-level slot.
• You cannot cast a spell using lower-level slots.
• A long rest allows you to regain all lost spell slots.
• Cantrips don't cost spell slots. If you know a cantrip, you can cast it all day long and never run out.
• Some classes "prepare" spells. This means choosing a certain number of spells from a list of spells you know (for a wizard, the spells in your spellbook). Those are the spells you can cast with your spell slots.
• You can cast a prepared spell as often as you want, as long as you have the spell slots to do so. You don't have to decide what spell you're using a given slot for, until you actually cast it.

Refer to the Basic Rules, pages 78-81, for more information.

 

[Andor]

* And if the spell can be cast as a ritual you can cast it without expending a spell slot, if you take an extra 10 minutes to cast it.

 

[casterblaster]

Thanks fellers, I was doing it ad teaching it correctly. I tend to over think things and make it more difficult than it should. Just felt like something was off.