Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Why is it that all these NPC casters seem to have never picked useful or good spells on their stat block. Almost every spell is a damage one. Lots of power word kill very little wish/foresight, loads of fireball and lightning bolt, but very limited on tiny hut. Very little on wall of force/creation or mirage arcane.
I find it difficult to believe very powerful casters choose to not learn mind blank or wish or demiplane. Where is the utility spells?
I often feel like NPCs are not even the same species they have way more hp and initiate. At will spells all over the place. I don't mind a monster sure but like an arch mage or a noble prodigy are ment to be the same species as the players..
D&D is an "asymmetric" system. Meaning that 'monsters', while having the same basic stats such as AC, ability scores etc, do not necessarily follow the same "rules" as player characters.
In the case of NPCs, i.e. mostly monsters that are Humanoids with class-like traits, then the ones in the Monster Manual and similar books are generally written with the concept of them being antagonists and that PCs will basically be fighting them. Hence the focus on combat spells.
But...as a DM, you are also entirely free to change these spells (or any other abilities) if you want an NPC that needs to fulfil some other role rather than "monster to kill". You don't even have to be too formal about it. If this is a 'one-off' NPC that the PCs visit for help, and you want that NPC to use the Archmage state block but have the Divination spell, then they have the Divination spell. That simple.
Because stat blocks are primarily for combat and thus reflect the combat-relevant information for the NPC. It's uncommon to encounter the same NPC in a combat and non-combat situation so it's rare for the stat block to list both combat and non-combat information.
If an NPC is meant to participate in the story in a non-combat role, they'll usually have a modified stat block. For example you might have Thestos the Spellwright who uses the Mage stat block, but also has the spells Message, Sending, and Skywrite prepared.
When it comes to combat, the DM has a lot of information to parse, so stat blocks need to be as efficient as possible. You don't need to be flipping through 7 different spells, only to find out 3 of them are completely irrelevant to combat.
What fun is Wish on an NPC? Some do have Mind Blank or Demiplane, but not on their stat block. It'll be in their description or traits, such as "X casts Mind Blank on before combat on themselves" and the resistances and immunities are listed in their stat block.
Yes, because D&D is an asymmetric game. NPC HP is determined by size category, not class—tiny is d6, small and medium are d8, large is d10, huge is d12, and gargantuan is d20. Some NPCs add their proficiency bonus to their initiative because that matters more for balanced game design. You're confusing "same species" with "mechanically designed the same".
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This has been a complaint by some of us for quite some time now. You can of course solve this, just by making a character sheet for that NPC following the same rules that PCs must follow. That's what we do. If it's an NPC and has a class, it gets all abilities that a PC would get, and follows the same rules.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (original Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
OP should be aware that doing this will lead to NPC enemies that perform considerably differently in combat.
Most NPC spellcasters don't have Forcecage or similar because no one likes spending their turns in a magic box.
If you have ever been blocked in a room with a tiny hut, or put in the microwave with a wall of force and sickening radience combo, I think you can see why people in the design team wouldn't want to encourage DMs to do that to players by putting those spells out there on the NPC sheet.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
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To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
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I alter stat blocks all the time. On occasion I even change things mid-combat. If I think an NPC or a monster should have a spell or an ability, I just give it to them.
I want the NPC using the most effective tools they would have available in conjunction with their int and wis stats. The PC are special but do not hold the monopoly on tactics and brains
Unfortunately, that is unlikely to create a fun encounter. How fun do you think it would be for your precious PC to get cheese gratered to death by a monk?
2024 stat blocks are designed to be easy to use in combat; non-combat capabilities are generally not listed (this is not limited to spellcasters), and there's pretty much no effort to be simulationist. It is assumed that the DM will just fill them in (incidentally, most utility spells have zero effect on CR, so as a DM you can just... add them).
It's certainly possible to just build NPCs like they were PCs (there's no rule for xp value; if you actually need it, I suggest 150-200% of the High difficulty budget for a PC of the same level), it's just a significant block of work that really doesn't pay off for minor NPCs.
If you give the NPCs Wish, they can just Wish whatever plan they have going on to succeed, and the PCs have nothing to do. And now your Campaign is about going to the corner store to buy rations, since the evil cult runs the world.
That's... really not how the Wish spell works. It can potentially do a lot, but presumably the same caveat that prevents PCs from immediately ending a campaign with it keeps it from being a Cosmic Cube for BBEGs as well.
"THE COSMIC CUBE CAN DO ANYTHING!"-old-school Marvel
"No, not that"-Wish vs. the DM.
I think Wish has to alter what is, not what will be, lore-wise. It isn't chaos manipulation:It's reality warping.
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Wish when used by NPCs can do whatever the plot calls for. Typically that's not a huge amount, because "X happened because someone Wished for it" is a lot less interesting than "X happened because <insert evil scheme>", and it's not like the DM can't just announce stuff happening with or without wish.
Another important thing to consider is that NPC spellcasters probably aren't "optimizers" the same way PCs are. Why would a Diviner learn Forcecage when Teleport is more useful in broader situations and also a great way to get out of fights?
Even many damage spells are remarkably bad ideas. They tend to pick the worst possible ones for flavor.
The truth is there are a lot of great spells that fundamentally are better than others of the same level. The truth is, every single NPC Wizard that is combat based should have at one spell of every two spell levels from the following list (If they are can cast 4th level spells, they should have 2 spells from this list):
The starred spells are practically essential Counterspell and Misty Step defeats so many things it is shocking someone does not take at least one of them. When I am in charge, every spellcaster that can cast those two spells gets them.
In addition, quite often they have glaring situational issues. That is they know they are going up against an army of demons and devils and still only memorize cold and fire spells. A good DM should always declare one or two spell can be 'switched' if the NPC had at least one day to plan ahead for a specific fight.
I would 100% run a campaign like that. It’s a really god hook for a start of something. I’d probably also say casting it hit the BBEG’s 1 in 3 chance of it not working again. So it set the world state, and the bad guys are in charge, and now comes the rebellion against an enemy everyone thinks is invincible, but has actually played its best card.
But that's the thing, it's a campaign hook, not something that should just happen in the middle of combat.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
You're confusing the most effective tools they would have available with the most effective tools in the game rules. Just because Wish or Force Cage exist as spells, that doesn't mean an NPC capable of casting them would have access to them.
Also, super-optimal NPCs aren't fun, they're broken. NPCs aren't built like PCs in the sense that there are rules defining PC creation and progression that put intentional guide rails on how strong they are. NPCs are made in response to the strength of PCs with the goal of creating fun and entertaining encounters. The limiting factors of NPC creation are "Will this make for a fun encounter". I could make a CR 1 NPC that can at will cast Wish and Counterspell and has unlimited reactions and 20s in all mental stats and I wouldn't be breaking any rules other than "not being fun to play against".
I'd go so far as to say NPCs shouldn't have the most effective tools available, they should have the tools available that make them a threat but not unbeatable. That is where brains and tactics come in, on that knife edge. In fact, an NPC with the most effective tools doesn't need brains or tactics, because they can just push the "I Win" button
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