Spell selection fo BBEGs with high int?

[iwatt]

I usually run the super high Int (with decent Wis) Lichs without preselecting their spells. Unless the PCs actually catch him by surprise, he usually has the right spell chosen for the moment. How many others do this as well?

I'm pondering this since one of the NPCs in my campaign is a very High Wis cleric who at some point will be assaulted by forces of evil while the PCs are around, and I was thinking that High Wis characters should have the same benefit that I give super intelligent NPCs.

By the way, my players know I do this, and agree with me that super intelligent Lichs should probably have thought out everything well in advance. It's got to do with High int and a very long time to ponder things.....

 

[nothing to see here]

I find that Wisdom (as opposed to Charisma) is the hardest attribute to define in concrete terms. People talk about awareness, perception and general resolve...but it's not as intuitive as how smart or how likeable you are.

It would seem to me that it would indeed be reasonable for a high INT character to have selected the right spells in advance. A High WIS character on the other hand, wouldn't have this insight, but would instead quickly adapt to circumstances and use the spells he/she had to greater effect.

IMHO I would leave one spell slot per level open for the high WIS bad guy, to fill in as needed to reflect, this basic adaptability.

 

[schporto]

We ran an epic game with casters. Any caster with int or wis higher then 25 got the following benefit. For each point above 25 they may leave 2 spell slots open of level 2*(point over 25) or lower. Kinda silly, but gave an extra little appopriate benefit without being too over powering.
-cpd