My two heavy magic users in my campaign have barely any interest at all to use spells and ignore their magic. I'm flexible but their spells could give better advantage to the party and I'm too concerned to tell them directly.
A little more background may be helpful; I happen to be the odd kind of guy that only plays routine wizards b/c I love using magic instead of fighting b/c, hey, magic exists and being creative with spell application is much more fun than just 'I attack with my sword' / roll / apply 8 damage
are they new to D&D or experienced? are we talking paladins, wizards, clerics, what? if it's a large enough party i'm curious why the other PC's haven't chimed in during action to ask for healing, suggest a fireball be cast from range, etc. if encounters are very melee based and that's what they seem to naturally gravitate to as a normal reaction, it may be useful to force the battleground into more ranged encounters from bad guys or else these characters will otherwise do "nothing" on their own turns.
Im not sure what level they are but something you can do is suggest lets say Hexblade if they are a warlock or another subclass that can be useful for melee. A spellcaster never necessarily has to be a ranged fighter and i find it interesting that your players chose to run in and fight with classes that are commonly called "Glass Cannons". I say let them do what they want to do but offer different situations where magic would be an interesting or easier approach but not the only approach. Something that you could do to help "Stimulate" magic use would be to throw some creatures who are resistant to anything non magical. That way you are not completely punishing or nullifying the physical play style but allow them to problem solve and decide on their own how easy they want to make the fight. I hope these ideas help and wish you luck.
magic use can be really confusing for new players. they don't understand their spells, that's a case of reading but giving them a printout with a sopell description on it can help. they get over whelmed by circumstance and forget to cast anything effectively simply forgetting half their options. (mention periodically theorugh the session don't forget you have spells. they're bright enough to realise they need to manage their magic for use at a vital time and that vital time doesn't happen in their head so the combat ends before they cast anything.(make fights harder so they either cast or die. but by far the simplest option is to keep mentioning that they have magical options till they remember and start to use them. you might have to slow your rounds down a little so that they can have time to think through their options for a short while and possibly you guide them a little, until they become more comfortable with their range of options.
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All plans turn into, run into the room waving a sword and see what happens from there, once the first die gets rolled
Also, throw enemy spellcasters with iconic spells from the characters lists against the party to show impact on the fight. Have a druid, have an opponent entangle the front liners, have a lock, hex the meatshield (give disadvantage on strike checks) and knock him prone with a shove attack, have a cleric, bane the party. Once they see magic in action they may have a better idea how to use it.
A Wand of the War Mage might tip one of them off to try using some cantrips, since they'll be getting a +1 (or whatever) to attack with any cantrips they have that require attack rolls. Once they see how well that works, that could lead to them using spells beyond cantrips.
in very simplified terms. create an encounter, maybe many, that uses the exact spells and resources they have available; to challenge them! if they can cast sleep, you cast sleep... if they have thamaturgy all the windows slam shut when ... if they have fireball cast fireballs.
in short, demonstrate the power and range of their magic.
My two heavy magic users in my campaign have barely any interest at all to use spells and ignore their magic. I'm flexible but their spells could give better advantage to the party and I'm too concerned to tell them directly.
A little more background may be helpful; I happen to be the odd kind of guy that only plays routine wizards b/c I love using magic instead of fighting b/c, hey, magic exists and being creative with spell application is much more fun than just 'I attack with my sword' / roll / apply 8 damage
are they new to D&D or experienced? are we talking paladins, wizards, clerics, what? if it's a large enough party i'm curious why the other PC's haven't chimed in during action to ask for healing, suggest a fireball be cast from range, etc. if encounters are very melee based and that's what they seem to naturally gravitate to as a normal reaction, it may be useful to force the battleground into more ranged encounters from bad guys or else these characters will otherwise do "nothing" on their own turns.
Boldly go
I'm also interested in what type of spell casters you have in your party and what level spells they can cast. What do they usually do in combat?
Im not sure what level they are but something you can do is suggest lets say Hexblade if they are a warlock or another subclass that can be useful for melee. A spellcaster never necessarily has to be a ranged fighter and i find it interesting that your players chose to run in and fight with classes that are commonly called "Glass Cannons". I say let them do what they want to do but offer different situations where magic would be an interesting or easier approach but not the only approach. Something that you could do to help "Stimulate" magic use would be to throw some creatures who are resistant to anything non magical. That way you are not completely punishing or nullifying the physical play style but allow them to problem solve and decide on their own how easy they want to make the fight. I hope these ideas help and wish you luck.
magic use can be really confusing for new players. they don't understand their spells, that's a case of reading but giving them a printout with a sopell description on it can help.
they get over whelmed by circumstance and forget to cast anything effectively simply forgetting half their options. (mention periodically theorugh the session don't forget you have spells.
they're bright enough to realise they need to manage their magic for use at a vital time and that vital time doesn't happen in their head so the combat ends before they cast anything.(make fights harder so they either cast or die.
but by far the simplest option is to keep mentioning that they have magical options till they remember and start to use them. you might have to slow your rounds down a little so that they can have time to think through their options for a short while and possibly you guide them a little, until they become more comfortable with their range of options.
All plans turn into, run into the room waving a sword and see what happens from there, once the first die gets rolled
Also, throw enemy spellcasters with iconic spells from the characters lists against the party to show impact on the fight. Have a druid, have an opponent entangle the front liners, have a lock, hex the meatshield (give disadvantage on strike checks) and knock him prone with a shove attack, have a cleric, bane the party. Once they see magic in action they may have a better idea how to use it.
A Wand of the War Mage might tip one of them off to try using some cantrips, since they'll be getting a +1 (or whatever) to attack with any cantrips they have that require attack rolls. Once they see how well that works, that could lead to them using spells beyond cantrips.
in very simplified terms. create an encounter, maybe many, that uses the exact spells and resources they have available; to challenge them! if they can cast sleep, you cast sleep... if they have thamaturgy all the windows slam shut when ... if they have fireball cast fireballs.
in short, demonstrate the power and range of their magic.
GL
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Your real troubles as a DM begin when the players truly understand the power at their command.
DMing a group with no magic is a walk in the park, Mr. Hunt.
Roleplaying since Runequest.