D&D 3E/3.5 How to run spells in 3.5 OGL/Pathfinder

[jdeleski]

As mentioned by others, prior to our game session I find it easiest to prepare a list of the spells, along with all relevant statistics, that the creature is most likely to use.

I first prep an outline of what defensive spells the creature will cast prior to combat (provided that it has time to cast them) and then I put together the updated creature stats after all defensive spells are cast.

I then also prepare a round-by-round casting/melee list of actions. This round-by-round list of actions is rarely completed by the creature in combat as planned, but it gives me a firm sense of what I want the creature to do.

By the time that I've completed these lists, I've familiarized myself with the spells and have all necessary "cheat sheets" prepared. Combat usually goes much better when I've done this prep--as opposed to when I just "wing it" when I don't have to time to prepare.

J.

 

[degasvegas]

Wow all of you came back with awesome replies. I'm just so used to 4e prep where all the monster stat blocks had all the info in them already.

I'm going to go back then, and just re-prepare any spellcasters - I do expect page-long stat blocks.

Otherwise I'll just wing-it.

Thank you all for your input.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

If you have access to a laptop or the like, I'd recommend using resources with search capabilities. Besides the ones mentioned so far, there's also a few online versions of the paizo srd:

Pathfinder_OGC
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document

Paizo's also got many versions of its books available for purchase online as PDFs.

 

[degasvegas]

I've had my laptop out at a few games - do you feel it detracts from the game when your constantly looking at your laptop for certain things?

Or when a webpage takes too long to load ect ect, I just don't want to be spending too much time using online resources - i want to keep the flow as fast and furious as i can.

 

[ruemere]

The fights rarely last long beyond fourth or fifth round, so the daily buffs plus decision on five spells beforehand is sufficient in most cases.

For a handy cheat sheet, print class-relevant part of Paizo's spell lists. This is sufficient to make an informed decision in case you need to go beyond tactic presented in the first paragraph as the short description of spells are sufficient to remind you of spell contents.

Regards,
Ruemere