D&D 5E DM's: How Do You Justify NPC's Having Magic/Abilities That Don't Exist in the PHB?

[Seramus]

The books are finite. There's no way they can contain everything a world needs to live and breathe.

Even with something like Forgotten Realms, those old spells and abilities from earlier editions don't stop existing just because they are no longer listed.

 

[Seramus]

Fine, except if the PCs just saw someone use this previously-unknown ritual then that someone has a spellbook somewhere and that ritual's gonna be in it.

I always allow my PCs access to the same strange rituals the NPCs use, if they meet the requirements. Sometimes those requirements are swearing undying fealty to Juiblex and letting an ooze devour their insides to puppet their Hollow shell of a body.



If a PC actually does it, I WILL let them use the ritual!

 

[SakanaSensei]

Yeah, I just do it. No one has ever asked any questions.

 

[Aldarc]

It's a game.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

i mean, if you're just trying to justify it to the players, then just...don't make it a spell. make it a feature specific to your BBEG. as soon as you make it an actual spell you place it in a system the players are almost certainly actively engaging with. you don't need to open that can of worms if you don't want to.

 

[Stormonu]

I try not to use spells that PCs can't turn around themselves and do, but I'm not too bothered if an NPC has an ability they can use that the PCs can't replicate.

Could be that BBEG is an illusionist who has the ability to cast spells through his projected image. Maybe he used wish to have that ability.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

No need. Class abilities only describe what the PCs can do, they don't apply to the rest of the universe.

 

[Andvari]

Magical research has existed since the beginning of D&D, so new spells are likely being invented across the world. The PHB just has the more common spells. If you want to go the extra mile, you can create rules for the spells and let the PCs find them in the evil wizard's spell book as part of the reward for defeating him.

But in general, don't feel restricted by the PHB when it comes to NPCs. That way lies madness. How did the red dragon become a red dragon? It's not listed as a race in the PHB. NPCs can be creatures or "classes" that aren't available to players, including having access to magic or special abilities PCs might never be able to learn.

 

[el-remmen]

It also depends on what it is. . . like if I give the BBEG a spell that lets him project his image, what does it matter if later on in the campaign they find the spellbook containing the ritual of project image? They can do it if they meet the requirements.

If it is the ritual of razing the capital city the PCs operate from, well maybe they gain access to that too, but why would they want to do that? Or maybe they do!

Also, don't underestimate the power of "that's just something they can do." For example, the first time the PCs in my game (which has no rogues) ran into a foe with the Cunning Action ability and thus could disengage as a bonus action they were up in arms! "You can't do that! Disengage is an action!" To which I responded, "It is just something he can do. . ."

 

[Fanaelialae]

The PHB only covers the playable options. It isn't meant to cover every possible person or creature in the world, as evidenced by the MM which contains plenty of abilities unavailable to players.

If you need an in-game explanation, there are plenty available. For the example you gave, perhaps it's only feasible for someone who's been born with an extremely rare talent. The PCs weren't born with that talent, and therefore can't replicate the BBEG'S ability.

An easy approach for these types of one-off abilities is to think about the various ways that superheroes/villains obtain their unique abilities in stories.