My players are currently level 4 in Dragon of Icepire Peak. This is their first campaign and we have had about 6 sessions. All but one of the players rarely use their abilities and I know that they don't have to but I would like to try and get them to remember especially seeing that the bard and cleric have only used one spell for the entire campaign. Thanks for any advice.
For offline play, try using spell and action cards. I learned as a DM that players that have all their options as cards in front of them, remember more and come up with creative combinations.
If it's an offline campaign, I'll agree with Voras. You could also give them a spell slot tracker. For my discord campaign I have custom channels dedicated to each character's abilities which which only players playing the characters and me the DM can see.
Maybe try ramping up the challenge a little? Not enough to seem punative, of course, you're not trying to ruin their time, but it seems to me that if they're getting by just fine with just "i attack" "I cast firebolt" "I attack" etc and not doing anything else, then they probably haven't needed to yet.
I think the best way to encourage your players to familiarize themselves with their abilities is maybe to give them a warning, like "ok head's up this is a boss-level encounter and might be a little tougher than you're used to. My advice; be looking at your character sheet so you're aware of all your options."
And, depending on your party's size, a good way to bump up encounter difficulty slightly while still being easily manageable might just be to throw one or two weaker enemies in alongside the bigger boss monster (a la minions from 4e), or give one or two of the baddies a little extra bonus HP. You'll especially want to ramp up combat difficulty if you have a larger party that you're playing through a published adventure with, because the published adventure will be balanced around a party size of 3-4, so if you're going in with 5-6 players, then they'll likely breeze through all the combats without having to try that much.
Way back in 2019 when I was getting back into 5e and thought I would be playing a bard, I bought the bard spell card deck and the XGE expansion spell card deck, and my plan was to have those cards in front of me during play (even though we were going to play online) to help me remember what I had and what my character could do. This never ended up happening for 2 reasons. 1. The DM was not able to do it, so I took over as DM. And 2., the text on the blasted spell cards is so small that even with my reading classes on I have trouble reading it.
But assuming your players' eyes are better than mine, a spell deck can be super useful.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Maybe try ramping up the challenge a little? Not enough to seem punative, of course, you're not trying to ruin their time, but it seems to me that if they're getting by just fine with just "i attack" "I cast firebolt" "I attack" etc and not doing anything else, then they probably haven't needed to yet.
This suggestion probably bears more weight than it may outwardly appear.
If you are only focusing on combat encounters and not leaning on social or exploration opportunities, your players will only lean on the bits that matter - I stab it with my hammer - I cast magic missile at the darkness. If you expand the necessity to include other skills, the players will be forced to look at a different part of the character sheet, besides the Actions / Weapon Attack portion. Give them terrain to cover, that requires the use of rope, or good balance, or climbing kits. Give them an escort quest with someone who doesn't follow instructions very well, or is overeager to join in combat, regardless of their lack of competence. Provide them diverse opportunities and you will have more chances for them to use a diverse skillset.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Level 4 after 6 sessions for brand new players is a little fast, I have DMd Dragon of icespire and slowed the leveling right down, partly to help with this issue and allow my new players to learn and experiment with their abilities.
Can I ask have you followed the suggested level, from recollection the first 3 quests level you to level 2, level 1 after one then level 2 after the other 2, after that I think it is 1 level per 2 quests, I went for 3, so if you are doing a quest per session they should be halfway through level 3, although your sessions may be longer and you might have completed more.
My advice slow the game down there level 4 and let them breathe a bit into there characters and learn and experiment.
My players are currently level 4 in Dragon of Icepire Peak. This is their first campaign and we have had about 6 sessions. All but one of the players rarely use their abilities and I know that they don't have to but I would like to try and get them to remember especially seeing that the bard and cleric have only used one spell for the entire campaign. Thanks for any advice.
Online or offline?
For offline play, try using spell and action cards.
I learned as a DM that players that have all their options as cards in front of them, remember more and come up with creative combinations.
If it's an offline campaign, I'll agree with Voras. You could also give them a spell slot tracker. For my discord campaign I have custom channels dedicated to each character's abilities which which only players playing the characters and me the DM can see.
Maybe try ramping up the challenge a little? Not enough to seem punative, of course, you're not trying to ruin their time, but it seems to me that if they're getting by just fine with just "i attack" "I cast firebolt" "I attack" etc and not doing anything else, then they probably haven't needed to yet.
I think the best way to encourage your players to familiarize themselves with their abilities is maybe to give them a warning, like "ok head's up this is a boss-level encounter and might be a little tougher than you're used to. My advice; be looking at your character sheet so you're aware of all your options."
And, depending on your party's size, a good way to bump up encounter difficulty slightly while still being easily manageable might just be to throw one or two weaker enemies in alongside the bigger boss monster (a la minions from 4e), or give one or two of the baddies a little extra bonus HP. You'll especially want to ramp up combat difficulty if you have a larger party that you're playing through a published adventure with, because the published adventure will be balanced around a party size of 3-4, so if you're going in with 5-6 players, then they'll likely breeze through all the combats without having to try that much.
I also agree with the Spell Cards idea.
Way back in 2019 when I was getting back into 5e and thought I would be playing a bard, I bought the bard spell card deck and the XGE expansion spell card deck, and my plan was to have those cards in front of me during play (even though we were going to play online) to help me remember what I had and what my character could do. This never ended up happening for 2 reasons. 1. The DM was not able to do it, so I took over as DM. And 2., the text on the blasted spell cards is so small that even with my reading classes on I have trouble reading it.
But assuming your players' eyes are better than mine, a spell deck can be super useful.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
This suggestion probably bears more weight than it may outwardly appear.
If you are only focusing on combat encounters and not leaning on social or exploration opportunities, your players will only lean on the bits that matter - I stab it with my hammer - I cast magic missile at the darkness. If you expand the necessity to include other skills, the players will be forced to look at a different part of the character sheet, besides the Actions / Weapon Attack portion. Give them terrain to cover, that requires the use of rope, or good balance, or climbing kits. Give them an escort quest with someone who doesn't follow instructions very well, or is overeager to join in combat, regardless of their lack of competence. Provide them diverse opportunities and you will have more chances for them to use a diverse skillset.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Level 4 after 6 sessions for brand new players is a little fast, I have DMd Dragon of icespire and slowed the leveling right down, partly to help with this issue and allow my new players to learn and experiment with their abilities.
Can I ask have you followed the suggested level, from recollection the first 3 quests level you to level 2, level 1 after one then level 2 after the other 2, after that I think it is 1 level per 2 quests, I went for 3, so if you are doing a quest per session they should be halfway through level 3, although your sessions may be longer and you might have completed more.
My advice slow the game down there level 4 and let them breathe a bit into there characters and learn and experiment.
We have done the recommended leveling. My party is new so there is little to no role play so the party very easily completes quests.