I will soon be starting a new #DnD 5E campaign. I’ve done that in the past, and for the most part the system has worked for me - except for one thing:
NPC stat blocks for spellcasters.
For everything else, NPC and monster stat blocks include all the information you need to run them in combat. Not so with spellcasters - for with them, you have to look up each and every spell they might use in a fight, and that takes me away from the game.
So I am wondering: How are others handling this issue? Have you found any ways of simplifying spellcaster stat blocks so that everything you need to run them is on a single page?
As a preface I’m an ADHD DM and so I improvise a lot. My spellcasters are built with a few combat spells with refresh mechanics (i.e. so you just cast fireball roll a d4 and on a 4 you can use the ability again) and then a spellcaster level to guide access to the main spell list and a chunk of spell level points (usually twenty is a good range for mid level encounters) that they can use to cast any spell they want off the class spell list. Does the caster want to randomly cast banishment because the party brought summons? Well, let’s deduct six spell points and give it a go.
I’ve also got a personal preference that good spell casters have a load of HP (no 3e elf wizards with 20 HP at level 10 please) but embarrassingly low AC. They usually have other tools in their box to make it annoying as fuck to hit them so don’t put a statistically difficult roll behind a puzzle solution.
An addendum: I just discovered the SRD for Level Up: Advanced 5E by EN Publishing. And the document for NPCs does have simplified stat blocks which include spell descriptions for many NPCs!
I took a page from Flee Mortals and use actions instead of spells for NPC combatants.
https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/collections/flee-mortals-the-mcdm-monster-book
for what its worth, the new (2024/2025) monster manual supposedly has spellcasting monsters with more “magical” actions built in. While they do still have a list of spells, they have more built in tailored “magic action” type things they would be using instead of spell casting in most scenarios, like having a “magic bolt” type attack for a mage or something. We don’t exactly know how extensive this is yet, since we’ve only seen previews so far, but it could make running spellcasting creatures a bit easier.
Spellcasters are a pain to run. You can do a few things:
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Assuming you’re playing in person, you can make or buy spell cards and lay them out or put them on a ring.
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Pick 3-4 spells as their “signature” spells and primarily use those, and only deviate (perhaps via option 1) in special circumstances. Single-target, area of effect, buff/debuff/control, and healing are usually good. Also remember you can always re-flavor the spell description on the spot.
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If it’s a party ally, turn over control (with the entire list of spells) to a player to control during combat. Provide guidance if they try to perform an action that would stray too far from what the NPC would do.
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