How do you play NPCs with access to the GATE spell?

[Dark Dragon]

Two options, IMHO:

:snip:

2. You ditch the spell altogether and use something a bit more playable; call outsider and portal to another plane from Arcana Unearthed, which split gate into two spells, work nicely as an alternative IMHO.

Just my 2 cents...

Hmm, that sounds not bad. I don't have AU, but I could ask a friend to have a look at that book...

Althugh I'm not familiar with the white slaad, dismissal and banishment are always nice options as well. Part of the challenge of DMing high lvl spellcaster NPCs is that while it hurts PCs to spend xp for things like the calling function of gate, spending xp is mostly irrelevant for NPCs. As a DM I always have to watch myself to make sure I'm being fair.

I agree with that, and at the first thought about the slaad I wasn't sure if it is good to use it. OTOH, the party knew that this bunch of wizards fights with the back to the wall, and it fights recklessly. In previous fights against the merchand family, the party encountered juggernauts and high-level spells (and it was a very tough fight) and one member of the family didn't hesitate to break a Staff of Power in a try to kill one of the PC wizard (the PC survived with 19 hp, the opponent was sent to another plane )...

And the party received a warning vision that the merchand family had decided to kill the adventurers that are threatening its plans and life....

EDIT: stupid typos...