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

[Bill Zebub]

So when a level 11 fighter sees a wizard cast a level 6 spell and says, “I want to learn that!” What’s the path forward?

 

[Maxperson]

My argument is, that in a game like D&D if a statable NPC can do it, then the PCs, with training, should be able to do it. Thus the new magic created falls under the standard magic framework (system).

It should be theoretically possible, not "I can just train and do it." Training doesn't get you a lot of stuff. For example, you cannot train to be a Chosen of Mystra. She chooses you or it doesn't happen.

 

[Pedantic]

So when a level 11 fighter sees a wizard cast a level 6 spell and says, “I want to learn that!” What’s the path forward?

Retraining rules? I don't think that's a setting/mechanical issue, if your fighter could have decided to be a wizard and simply didn't, that's a different situation altogether.

 

[jasper]

Only when you mouse over them.

Mickey, Minnie, Ralph, or Fred?

 

[jasper]

Because everything in the universe has some sort of underlying principle(s) of physics that allows it to function as it does. Magic is no exception.

For those who follow this idea.
Please explain in game what happen five minutes ago. We were using the PHB just last Saturday, but Wotc just dropped a new book on Tuesday.
Why does your wizard have the new "Silver Bullet" cantrip in his head?
Why does Oofta looks more like an orc?
Why is my gnome now a robot and good at technology/
Because in game just five minutes ago, orcs were monsters now they are pc races. The cantrip did not exist. And neither did autognomes or artificers.
What in game Magic is physics allows this to happen every time WoTC drops a new book?

 

[AnotherGuy]

It should be theoretically possible, not "I can just train and do it." Training doesn't get you a lot of stuff. For example, you cannot train to be a Chosen of Mystra. She chooses you or it doesn't happen.

I did post upthread unless it has anything to do with non-statable entity so I covered that base there.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So when a level 11 fighter sees a wizard cast a level 6 spell and says, “I want to learn that!” What’s the path forward?

Multiclass to wizard, advance to 22nd level.

 

[Micah Sweet]

For those who follow this idea.
Please explain in game what happen five minutes ago. We were using the PHB just last Saturday, but Wotc just dropped a new book on Tuesday.
Why does your wizard have the new "Silver Bullet" cantrip in his head?
Why does Oofta looks more like an orc?
Why is my gnome now a robot and good at technology/
Because in game just five minutes ago, orcs were monsters now they are pc races. The cantrip did not exist. And neither did autognomes or artificers.
What in game Magic is physics allows this to happen every time WoTC drops a new book?

Because some tables don't follow magic as physics.

 

[Lanefan]

I think we accept that we use our shared understanding of how gravity generally functions (stuff falls down, and gets faster and hits harder if it falls farther) in the game, because fantasy isn't really about exploring alternate gravitational states.

But I don't know if people generally assume their fantasy world is actually a sphere, and that the space outside the world is actually heliocentric.

I know I do, until and unless told otherwise.

Lots of fantasy doesn't work that way!

Then tell me how - in this particular setting - it does work!

You can't expect players to base their decisions on alternate non-Earth physics unless you up-front explain those alternate physics to them and what the in-setting ramifications of those alternate physics are going to be. You also need to consider all the consequences of changing something that at first might look simple...

If your world's gravity is only half that of Earth, for example, jumping becomes much easier and missile ranges go up by a huge amount; carrying capacities likewise unless strength is adusted to suit. It also means the atmosphere will work differently, and probably be either considerably thinner (like on Mars) or considerably deeper above the surface than we're used to; either of which will affect the colour of the daytime sky and the brightness/colour of the sun(s). Weather will also be vastly different than what we're used to; and is gravity lower because the world is smaller than Earth (which will affect your mapping) or because it's hollow (which will play merry hell with your geology as the planet doesn't have a molten core)? Etc., etc.

For something so simple like changing gravity, the knock-on effects go on forever!

 

[Lanefan]

I agree they can make the wrong design choices. What makes you say that they did in this case?

I remember all of the problems that manifested in 3.x when using character creation rules to build foes in terms of DM prep time.

Because DMs didn't shortcut where they could have.

It doesn't matter how the NPC is built or prepped or dreamed up as long as the end result could be achieved by a player rolling up the character at that level.

I also see that with bounded accuracy the primary knob left for survival is HPs, so foes having a lot more HPs than PCs is rather embedded - changing to using PC rules would seem to require quite a bit of other changes in the foundation of 5e math.

Or a relaxation of bounded accuracy, which - in moderation - might be a worthwhile idea.