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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DethStryke" data-source="post: 2938405" data-attributes="member: 1309">Re:Raven Crowking*nod* I agree, especially as I started as the DM in my groups and did so for the first 10 years. I'm currently on a DM holiday. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />The main issue as I see it regarding time needed in DMing the creatures with spells is the pitfall of making them smarter than they are... My wizard has a 19 intelligence, so he will probably be able to think of things easier and faster than I can as a person because *I* don't have a 19 intelligence. But... I have higher than a 12 by most accounts <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />. Just because an Orc shaman can cast a few spells doesn't mean he's going to have creative mastery of them either... so you can get away with more common and straightforward applications of a spell, and/or an abbreviated list of available ones. That doesn't take any real time or energy. He's going to overlook tactical advantages and creative applications out of anger, fear, rage, lack of experience, etc.I mean, when was the last time your common enemy spell caster got to rest and regain different spells? It just doesn't happen often, and certainly not enough to make it the norm. These are common shortcuts that DMs have to make to keep everything straight and flowing well. I typically have a stat box set up with just the list of spells s/he has memorized, and that's it. Nothing major, and all suited as one would expect that creature would have at the start of the day. Besides, it's not good form to outshine the players with every creature, just because they have the feats or attacks to do it... their (in)ability to think of these things in a six-second time span when they are being threatened don't normally allow for that.OTOH, I also allow the players more time, when I DM, than I do the monsters/NPCs not because I think if every monster played at my "A-game" level that the players would have no chance (which is actually sometimes, albiet rarely, the case), but because it doesn't strike me as realistic OR fun for the PCs to do so. I don't have anything to prove so strongly that I would try to outshine the PCs every chance I get.Now, if they are fighting Dragons, BBEGs, etc... then it's on and the time needed each round expands, because I'm doing chess-like future move thinking in my head.But that should be expected... at least, it is in my head. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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