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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How do you keep track of spells for multiple NPCs?
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<blockquote data-quote="Harzel" data-source="post: 7635481" data-attributes="member: 6857506"><p>I use spell points, which, for me, are much more manageable than slots. But that might well be objected to if your players are using slots, since that would be a distinct advantage for the NPCs.</p><p></p><p>For spell (and other ability/feature) descriptions, I use a shorthand that eliminates as much text as possible, e.g., a range of 120 ft. and an effect that is a 20 ft. radius sphere becomes (R120/S20). Some of it comes out looking like code:<p style="margin-left: 20px"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'courier new'">~ DEX save ? 8d6 fire : 1/2</span></span></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'courier new'"></span></span></p><p>A few idioms like that cover a lot of the spell descriptions. It puts a lot in a small space and gives me a form I can read very quickly. There's no formalism behind it, though - just whatever compact description will remind me what it does.</p><p></p><p>Those things said, I have only run one encounter of the complexity that you are describing, and it definitely felt like a reach-exceeding-grasp situation for me - I didn't feel the NPC opponents performed up to their potential. However, I don't think the players noticed; they were quite terrified to be facing multiple casters, at least until things began to turn in their favor. Getting counterspelled seemed to be a particular shocker.</p><p></p><p>I think one thing that was helpful and I should have done more of as part of my prep was to take each of the caster NPCs and go through some generic tactical scenarios, thinking about how they would handle them.</p><p></p><p>Good luck.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Harzel, post: 7635481, member: 6857506"] I use spell points, which, for me, are much more manageable than slots. But that might well be objected to if your players are using slots, since that would be a distinct advantage for the NPCs. For spell (and other ability/feature) descriptions, I use a shorthand that eliminates as much text as possible, e.g., a range of 120 ft. and an effect that is a 20 ft. radius sphere becomes (R120/S20). Some of it comes out looking like code:[INDENT][SIZE=3][FONT=courier new]~ DEX save ? 8d6 fire : 1/2 [/FONT][/SIZE][/INDENT] A few idioms like that cover a lot of the spell descriptions. It puts a lot in a small space and gives me a form I can read very quickly. There's no formalism behind it, though - just whatever compact description will remind me what it does. Those things said, I have only run one encounter of the complexity that you are describing, and it definitely felt like a reach-exceeding-grasp situation for me - I didn't feel the NPC opponents performed up to their potential. However, I don't think the players noticed; they were quite terrified to be facing multiple casters, at least until things began to turn in their favor. Getting counterspelled seemed to be a particular shocker. I think one thing that was helpful and I should have done more of as part of my prep was to take each of the caster NPCs and go through some generic tactical scenarios, thinking about how they would handle them. Good luck. [/QUOTE]
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How do you keep track of spells for multiple NPCs?
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