One of my players was using a spell, and it said he could cast it at will. What exactly does that mean? He was playing it like it means he could use it infinitely without using spell slots, but I think that is too broken.
What is the spell and do you know what feature lets him cast it? Generally "at will" does indeed mean something can be cast without spell slots, but there are relatively few features for players that use that language.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
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Your player is correct regarding the meaning of "at-will" spellcasting. The specified spell can be cast as frequently as desired without expending a spell slot (normal casting time still applies). In my experience such spells are typically first or second level spells, and are typically defensive in nature. For example, Armor of Shadows allows a character to cast Mage Armor at will, and the Svirfneblin Magic feat allows the character to cast Non-Detection at will.
Out of curiosity, what spell is your player casting "at will"? What source grants that at-will casting? It's possible your player got some other detail wrong.
The most common kind of spell that can be cast at will are called cantrips, or 0th level spells, and almost all classes that can cast spells start with a few of these. Some common examples are Prestidigitation or Eldritch Blast. Cantrips represent the most basic forms of magic a caster has and if they increase in power at all they do so automatically with character level.
Other than cantrips there are a few ways of casting specific 1st level or higher spells at will. The most common of these are Eldritch Invocations. Typically these are gained by being a Warlock of 2nd level or higher, or by taking the Eldritch Adept feat. Mask of Many Faces for example lets you cast Disguise Self at will even though it is a 1st level spell.
Beyond Eldritch Invocations the only other class feature that does something like this I can think of is Spell Mastery given to 18th level Wizards. This feature let's the Wizard choose one 1st level and one 2nd level spell. The chosen spells are always considered prepared and the wizard can cast them at their base level without using a spell slot.
"At Will" means indefinitely, without consuming spell slots, but the player must still obey the other casting requirements. A 1 Action At Will spell still requires 1 action to cast. It essentially becomes a cantrip for that player.
This can be great for some abilities like Fiendish Vigor granting At-Will False Life, but generally becomes less useful at later levels. Since Cantrips scale automatically, and leveled spells do not, a 17th level Fire Bolt will do 4d10 damage per round, whereas an At-Will Inflict Wounds would be stuck at 3d10.
One of my players was using a spell, and it said he could cast it at will. What exactly does that mean? He was playing it like it means he could use it infinitely without using spell slots, but I think that is too broken.
What is the spell and do you know what feature lets him cast it? Generally "at will" does indeed mean something can be cast without spell slots, but there are relatively few features for players that use that language.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Your player is correct regarding the meaning of "at-will" spellcasting. The specified spell can be cast as frequently as desired without expending a spell slot (normal casting time still applies). In my experience such spells are typically first or second level spells, and are typically defensive in nature. For example, Armor of Shadows allows a character to cast Mage Armor at will, and the Svirfneblin Magic feat allows the character to cast Non-Detection at will.
Out of curiosity, what spell is your player casting "at will"? What source grants that at-will casting? It's possible your player got some other detail wrong.
The most common kind of spell that can be cast at will are called cantrips, or 0th level spells, and almost all classes that can cast spells start with a few of these. Some common examples are Prestidigitation or Eldritch Blast. Cantrips represent the most basic forms of magic a caster has and if they increase in power at all they do so automatically with character level.
Other than cantrips there are a few ways of casting specific 1st level or higher spells at will. The most common of these are Eldritch Invocations. Typically these are gained by being a Warlock of 2nd level or higher, or by taking the Eldritch Adept feat. Mask of Many Faces for example lets you cast Disguise Self at will even though it is a 1st level spell.
Beyond Eldritch Invocations the only other class feature that does something like this I can think of is Spell Mastery given to 18th level Wizards. This feature let's the Wizard choose one 1st level and one 2nd level spell. The chosen spells are always considered prepared and the wizard can cast them at their base level without using a spell slot.
"At Will" means indefinitely, without consuming spell slots, but the player must still obey the other casting requirements. A 1 Action At Will spell still requires 1 action to cast. It essentially becomes a cantrip for that player.
This can be great for some abilities like Fiendish Vigor granting At-Will False Life, but generally becomes less useful at later levels. Since Cantrips scale automatically, and leveled spells do not, a 17th level Fire Bolt will do 4d10 damage per round, whereas an At-Will Inflict Wounds would be stuck at 3d10.
I'm just going to wait for context...
“At Will” generally does mean indefinitely. What is the spell, and what feature or trait is granting that spell to that character?
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“At will” was a 4e term. The closest thing in this version for a caster would be a cantrip.
There are lots of instances of "at will" in 5e. Most commonly for Warlock Invocations.
Several dozen monsters have it for their spells as well.