I say play your NPCs and monsters as though they are players in their own campaigns. Most enemies are not on dungeon crawls or worrying about a future encounter. Just how many adventuring parties turn up in a lair every day?
Recharge 5-6 abilities should be brought out in round 1 if the battlefield allows. Any smart player would use them straight off. If a fight breaks out, you want your opponent on the ground ASAP.
I was looking at an NPC that my players might fight at some point, who is a level 12 cleric. She will hold back her 6th level slot for Heal rather than blowing it on Harm, because she has other offensive spells but no other Get Out of Jail Free card like Heal. She will, however, open up with a 5th level Hold Person in an attempt to lock down all four members of the party - there's no reason for her to mince about casting 2nd level Guiding Bolts whilst there are threats on the board. If they attack her, she'll attempt to crowd control everyone she can and then tear them a new one, using all of her highest level spell slots except the 6th.
It might seem dramatic to build up to the big attack, but pulling out the big guns in round one can get the players on the edge of their seats. It can seem like they're up against a bigger danger than they are. And with recharge abilities, they never know when they might be.
On the other hand, a special ability that mechanically builds up over more than one round gives the players an interesting challenge: can they defuse it somehow?
I say play your NPCs and monsters as though they are players in their own campaigns. Most enemies are not on dungeon crawls or worrying about a future encounter. Just how many adventuring parties turn up in a lair every day?
Recharge 5-6 abilities should be brought out in round 1 if the battlefield allows. Any smart player would use them straight off. If a fight breaks out, you want your opponent on the ground ASAP.
I was looking at an NPC that my players might fight at some point, who is a level 12 cleric. She will hold back her 6th level slot for Heal rather than blowing it on Harm, because she has other offensive spells but no other Get Out of Jail Free card like Heal. She will, however, open up with a 5th level Hold Person in an attempt to lock down all four members of the party - there's no reason for her to mince about casting 2nd level Guiding Bolts whilst there are threats on the board. If they attack her, she'll attempt to crowd control everyone she can and then tear them a new one, using all of her highest level spell slots except the 6th.
This is not always true.
Some monsters are not intelligent. They will not use always optimal tactics, but rather probably a predictable pattern.
Sometimes monsters are holding something in reserve. They don't know if you are a solo adventuring party or the vanguard of an assault in force.
For the same reason as, "It's what my character would do," is not always the right answer, if it spoils the fun of the other players. You might want to play your monster for a dramatic encounter rather than a min-maxed one.
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I say play your NPCs and monsters as though they are players in their own campaigns. Most enemies are not on dungeon crawls or worrying about a future encounter. Just how many adventuring parties turn up in a lair every day?
Recharge 5-6 abilities should be brought out in round 1 if the battlefield allows. Any smart player would use them straight off. If a fight breaks out, you want your opponent on the ground ASAP.
I was looking at an NPC that my players might fight at some point, who is a level 12 cleric. She will hold back her 6th level slot for Heal rather than blowing it on Harm, because she has other offensive spells but no other Get Out of Jail Free card like Heal. She will, however, open up with a 5th level Hold Person in an attempt to lock down all four members of the party - there's no reason for her to mince about casting 2nd level Guiding Bolts whilst there are threats on the board. If they attack her, she'll attempt to crowd control everyone she can and then tear them a new one, using all of her highest level spell slots except the 6th.
It might seem dramatic to build up to the big attack, but pulling out the big guns in round one can get the players on the edge of their seats. It can seem like they're up against a bigger danger than they are. And with recharge abilities, they never know when they might be.
On the other hand, a special ability that mechanically builds up over more than one round gives the players an interesting challenge: can they defuse it somehow?
This is not always true.
Some monsters are not intelligent. They will not use always optimal tactics, but rather probably a predictable pattern.
Sometimes monsters are holding something in reserve. They don't know if you are a solo adventuring party or the vanguard of an assault in force.
For the same reason as, "It's what my character would do," is not always the right answer, if it spoils the fun of the other players. You might want to play your monster for a dramatic encounter rather than a min-maxed one.