D&D 5E would you let a PC learn a non spell magic power?

[Willie the Duck]

Some new monsters replace action attack spells with magic abilities that are close to (and in some case exact dup) of spells. If you have a monster/npc with a firey blast that duplicates fireball but doesn't count as a spell, and a player makes friends with them, can they learn firey blast?

if so would the character have to be a caster?

Can my 9th level fighter make friends and spend downtime learning Fiery blast ?

in some cases it seams like it would just be a boon like a magic item (maybe use an attunement slot maybe not) but if so and if not WHY?


side question: what would you think if someday there was a sorcerer (or other name but sorcerer like) class that just did this as there class thing... semi duplicate spells but not count as spells?

My group has had (over almost 40 years and massively multiple editions) characters who have become lycanthropes, vampires, liches, talking skeletons (misworded wish to get back ally turned undead), sentient animals (reincarnation), a displacer beast, a frail caster permanently taken over a muscle bound enemy's body using magic jar, and IIRC a treent character who met their demise in a sawmill becoming a sentient sailing vessel. I would have no issue with a character picking up (non-game-breaking) powers as the story presents itself.

That said, none of this has changed or been affected by the new books using 'spell-like abilities.' I agree with Umbran that these are gaming conventions and you have to decide on a case by case basis what they represent and how one might obtain those abilities.

When I wrote the OP I was thinking of the wizard style NPCs

Yeah. In my mind, those are spell-casters, and there's already multiple PC-facing methods for picking up spellcasting -- classes, feats, archetype choices, etc. I don't know if the new implementation moving even more away from PC-monster symmetry will be an improvement or not, but I get the reasoning and in my mind a MM mage is still a mage, etc.

curses. biological abilities and the like would take more story work...

'Run into a mage and decide to start learning magic' is more consistent, but I'd say that biological abilities makes for a more interesting story. Think about all the superhero origins that come from 'ran into a _____ and gained ____-like powers' (or, as mentioned in the She-Hulk thread, get a blood transfusion).

in some cases it seams like it would just be a boon like a magic item (maybe use an attunement slot maybe not) but if so and if not WHY?

The #1 thing I think Boons have going for them is that they are explicitly at the DM's discretion*. That makes it easier to say no to that one spell that will be disruptive but yes to the other spell (maybe of the same level and class list) that is just plain fun and in no way disruptive.
*yes, all things are DM-gated in theory.

side question: what would you think if someday there was a sorcerer (or other name but sorcerer like) class that just did this as there class thing... semi duplicate spells but not count as spells?

There was a PrC like that at the cusp of 3.0 and 3.5 (Illithid Savant, from Savage Species). I think the issue with such codification was that not all abilities are equal in power, so the effort to balance such a class is pretty much impossible (especially the instant your DM uses any third-party monsters).

 

[Faolyn]

Depends on the power. Plus it would probably cost a feat. But it wouldn't be limited to casters only.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

It says in the action descriptions.

Ranged SPELL attack. Melee SPELL attack.

So for all those asking if these are spells or not, yes, they are spells. They are just spells that, for an unspecified lore reason, the players cannot normally learn. Whether you decide to them learn these, or whether you come up with a fun lore reason is completely up to you, but they are literally called spell attacks.

Unarmed strikes are weapon attacks, which are made in melee range, but they are not melee weapon attacks and cannot be used with features which require a melee weapon attack.

Trying to apply logic to the meanings of the terms used straight-up fails in 5e. "Ranged SPELL attack" does not guarantee that the attack is a spell. Just as unarmed strikes being weapon attacks, made in melee range, does not mean they are "melee weapon attacks."

 

[Jer]

Some new monsters replace action attack spells with magic abilities that are close to (and in some case exact dup) of spells. If you have a monster/npc with a firey blast that duplicates fireball but doesn't count as a spell, and a player makes friends with them, can they learn firey blast?

Yes, but they'd have to attune a magic item slot for it. And also it's a spell even though it doesn't use spell slots.

if so would the character have to be a caster?

No - casters have easier ways to get spells.

Can my 9th level fighter make friends and spend downtime learning Fiery blast ?

Sure, so long as they sacrifice a magic item attunement slot.

side question: what would you think if someday there was a sorcerer (or other name but sorcerer like) class that just did this as there class thing... semi duplicate spells but not count as spells?

I mean, if a player is slinging magic around it's a spell, so I personally think this question is contradictory.

 

[Seramus]

Would you allow a pc to learn "Petrifying Gaze" from a friendly medusa?

Anytime someone tells me "My eyes are up here!" I immediately suspect a medusa.
And not the friendly kind.

 

[Jer]

Would you allow a pc to learn "Petrifying Gaze" from a friendly medusa?

Funny story - in my current 13th age campaign my players have befriended a medusa and so I've had to come up with an NPC version of a medusa that doesn't overpower the encounters all on her own. So I guess my answer is now yes? Since I've already done that work...

 

[Reynard]

If I wanted to play a game where monsters were designed with systems different from the PCs for the sake of gameplay and DM ease of use, I go play with 4th edition!

NPCs have been designed independent of PC rules since the very beginning of the edition. I think you're looking for 3.5.

 

[Zubatcarteira]

Unarmed strikes are weapon attacks, which are made in melee range, but they are not melee weapon attacks and cannot be used with features which require a melee weapon attack.

Trying to apply logic to the meanings of the terms used straight-up fails in 5e. "Ranged SPELL attack" does not guarantee that the attack is a spell. Just as unarmed strikes being weapon attacks, made in melee range, does not mean they are "melee weapon attacks."

Unarmed strikes actually are melee weapon attacks, they're just not an attack with a melee weapon, since those two terms mean different things for some reason. Stunning Strike specifies it's used on a melee weapon attack, and it obviously works with an unarmed strike, for example.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Unarmed strikes actually are melee weapon attacks, they're just not an attack with a melee weapon, since those two terms mean different things for some reason. Stunning Strike specifies it's used on a melee weapon attack, and it obviously works with an unarmed strike, for example.

Ah, pardon. I got the association backwards. Regardless, it is one thing, but not the other, even though in natural language the two should be synonymous.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Some new monsters replace action attack spells with magic abilities that are close to (and in some case exact dup) of spells. If you have a monster/npc with a firey blast that duplicates fireball but doesn't count as a spell, and a player makes friends with them, can they learn firey blast?

if so would the character have to be a caster?

Can my 9th level fighter make friends and spend downtime learning Fiery blast ?

in some cases it seams like it would just be a boon like a magic item (maybe use an attunement slot maybe not) but if so and if not WHY?


side question: what would you think if someday there was a sorcerer (or other name but sorcerer like) class that just did this as there class thing... semi duplicate spells but not count as spells?

I feel i would have to. To do otherwise makes no narrative sense.