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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 6331130" data-attributes="member: 996">It sounds like that's really the only point where they resort to entirely PC-like mechanics.  In 4e, sure, a monster/NPC with spells would have them statted out (and they might be different from the PC version of the spell).  5e goes for the old-school vibe that recognizes rules as de-facto laws of physics, so a monster has a PC spell, it works like the PC spell - in which case, why re-print the whole text of the spell (which is likely to be longer than the text of a 4e power, too).By the same token, in 4e a monster would only have relevant combat abilities statted out, since he need exist only long enough for the PCs to fight him.  In 5e as in classic D&D, the idea is to include stats that matter to his backstory, place in the setting, and so forth.  So if an evil spellcaster is using magic to excavate the dungeon, he'll have Move Earth or Dig prepped, even if he's not likely to use it when he kills the PCs.  Rather than stat all those 'background'/flavor spells in his block, just referencing them makes sense.  It probably /would/ be a good idea, in products that don't run up against a space constraint, to put the monster/NPC's 'favorite'/combat spells, perhaps in an short summary form, in his stat block.</blockquote>