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<blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 3185933" data-attributes="member: 7737">I think the new statblock format helps a lot with this. Spells are listed in reverse order by level (i.e., highest level spells are listed first, followed by next-highest, etc.). SLAs are listed the same way, I think (or at least they should be!).Almost all of the monsters the PCs face are going to die in a handful of rounds, so the monsters have every reason to unleash their most powerful spells up front, holding nothing back. (One exception would be if you want a recurring villain to escape, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that.)You do need to spend a couple minute looking at spells, SLAs, or other special abilities so you can pick out which ones are actually worthwhile and which ones aren't. But literally only a couple minutes should be ample time.For example, off the top of my head...The very high level cleric could lead with a maximized flame strike, or imposion if he's 17th+ level. And then follow with progressively weaker spells until he or the PCs are dead.The horned devils could open with dispel good, and then half of them could fling fireballs while the rest melee. (They're immune to fire damage, so no reason not to fireball their friends.) I'd not bother having the horned devils try to summon additional devils, as that would just complicate the combat, and has a low chance of success anyway.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Joshua Randall, post: 3185933, member: 7737"] I think the new statblock format helps a lot with this. Spells are listed in reverse order by level (i.e., highest level spells are listed first, followed by next-highest, etc.). SLAs are listed the same way, I think (or at least they should be!). Almost all of the monsters the PCs face are going to die in a handful of rounds, so the monsters have every reason to unleash their most powerful spells up front, holding nothing back. (One exception would be if you want a recurring villain to escape, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that.) You do need to spend a couple minute looking at spells, SLAs, or other special abilities so you can pick out which ones are actually worthwhile and which ones aren't. But literally only a couple minutes should be ample time. For example, off the top of my head... The very high level cleric could lead with a [i]maximized flame strike[/i], or [i]imposion[/i] if he's 17th+ level. And then follow with progressively weaker spells until he or the PCs are dead. The horned devils could open with [i]dispel good[/i], and then half of them could fling [i]fireballs[/i] while the rest melee. (They're immune to fire damage, so no reason not to fireball their friends.) I'd not bother having the horned devils try to summon additional devils, as that would just complicate the combat, and has a low chance of success anyway. [/QUOTE]

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