Cap'n Kobold
Hero
As a warlock he hopefully won't have that many spells. As pkunui suggested, spell cards are probably the best bet.
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jgsugden
Legend
You have three reasonable paths forward: Do the work for them, demand they do the work, or ask them to not play casters.
I've done the work for players. Some people are a lot of fun at the table and I don't mind doing their homework for them if it means we get them to stay. Personal decision.
I've told players they need to do their own homework - and seen them sometimes step up, and sometimes not.
When they did not step up, I've asked them not to play characters where they need someone else to work for them to provide information they should have. This has not always gone well, but it is the final reasonable choice...
... and then there is the last path which is a touch unreasonable, but sometimes necessary: Kick them out. I've only done this a few times, and both times it was because the player just wanted to hang out and wasn't actually trying to play the game. In both instances, I hooked them up with some other people that were doing things more of their style and then we hung out at other times...
I've done the work for players. Some people are a lot of fun at the table and I don't mind doing their homework for them if it means we get them to stay. Personal decision.
I've told players they need to do their own homework - and seen them sometimes step up, and sometimes not.
When they did not step up, I've asked them not to play characters where they need someone else to work for them to provide information they should have. This has not always gone well, but it is the final reasonable choice...
... and then there is the last path which is a touch unreasonable, but sometimes necessary: Kick them out. I've only done this a few times, and both times it was because the player just wanted to hang out and wasn't actually trying to play the game. In both instances, I hooked them up with some other people that were doing things more of their style and then we hung out at other times...
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Are you the DM? If so, you might be able to give the player some "training wheels" - specific encounters or adventures where how to play your character or whatever spells he knows are key to victory. Give him a scenario where Arms of Hadar would be really useful, and the point it out: "You know, you have a spell that might be really useful here..."
That's pretty labor-intensive, but it's probably the most "organic" thing to do. Rather than tell him to do it, have the adventure itself be an education.
That's pretty labor-intensive, but it's probably the most "organic" thing to do. Rather than tell him to do it, have the adventure itself be an education.
Sword of Spirit
Legend
Here's what I've done to keep my game moving.
Since most of the casters in the party are known spell rather than prepared casters, I only have so many spells to worry about. I copy word for word (and format for format, since I've previously created my own D&D 5e approximation Word template) the party's known spells out of the PHB. I arrange them by level at this point (at higher levels, I may switch to alphabetical), and print myself out a copy. I now have every spell in the party on a couple of sheets of paper.
Here's the most relevant part--I then give each caster their version of that document, which only includes their spells. They have no excuse for not knowing their spells when they have a single sheet of paper (or pdf) with the full PHB write-up of what they do right there in front of them.
Since most of the casters in the party are known spell rather than prepared casters, I only have so many spells to worry about. I copy word for word (and format for format, since I've previously created my own D&D 5e approximation Word template) the party's known spells out of the PHB. I arrange them by level at this point (at higher levels, I may switch to alphabetical), and print myself out a copy. I now have every spell in the party on a couple of sheets of paper.
Here's the most relevant part--I then give each caster their version of that document, which only includes their spells. They have no excuse for not knowing their spells when they have a single sheet of paper (or pdf) with the full PHB write-up of what they do right there in front of them.
Tallifer
Hero
I miss the clarity of 4th Edition. Every spell, every class's trick, was written in a concise and consistent format. There were the occasional confusions, but any player could play any class. 5th Edition is sometimes written in long fluff-filled paragraphs of Gygaxian prose which need to be carefully filtered and parsed to find the actual rules.
For my own campaign, I have decided to start rewriting our witch's spells into 4E Power format for the casual player in my game.
For my own campaign, I have decided to start rewriting our witch's spells into 4E Power format for the casual player in my game.
TheCosmicKid
Hero
I speak from experience: some players had this problem in 4E too.
And since all the classes in 4E used the same "spell" system, the result was that these players could play no class.
On a more general note, I should add that different people process different styles of writing differently. One particular player I'm thinking of would probably have had a lot less trouble with 5E's natural-language prose* than 4E's terse, jargon-and-symbol-stuffed rule entries. Not everyone has that mathematician/lawyer/hacker brain.
*And please. If you think 5E's prose is "Gygaxian", you know not whereof you speak.
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Bardbarian
First Post
Just play the spells as written when they use it. They will learn what the spells do soon enough. Some people just a but challenged at understanding magic. Seeing them happen in play helps greatly if they are visual learners.
So, when they say I cast Arms of Hadar, you follow with making a saving throw on all creatures within 10 and applying effects.
Next time they cast it they will understand it is a close range spell used around them.
If you don't know how the spells work then that is another issue. A DM will generally need a bit more knowledge than the players to keep things going. It's part of the game.
So, when they say I cast Arms of Hadar, you follow with making a saving throw on all creatures within 10 and applying effects.
Next time they cast it they will understand it is a close range spell used around them.
If you don't know how the spells work then that is another issue. A DM will generally need a bit more knowledge than the players to keep things going. It's part of the game.
NotActuallyTim
First Post
Trust me. Everything is a competitive sport for the people trying hard enough.
'You call that breathing? THIS IS HOW YOU BREATH TO WIN!'
Lehrbuch
First Post
I do the following:
- Get the player to write a cheat sheet of the relevant information for all their spells. Getting the player to do this is much more valuable than the DM doing it for them, or acquiring pre-prepared spell cards.
- Have a limited time for players to decide what their character is doing in a combat round and enforce it. When it comes to their initiative turn I give players just 10 seconds to decide their action. If they can't decide the PC automatically takes "Ready: until end of round" and then the player gets another 10 seconds at the end of the turn. If the player can't decide then, the PC loses her action. It may seem draconian, but it really concentrates the mind of the players on what they want to do, and knowing their options (and pre-planning before combat actually begins, in cases where the PCs choose the fight), and thinking during other players turns.
- Outside of combat rounds, in "standing around looking puzzled / talking" encounters, it's generally not such a problem if the players dither about what they might do.
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