How do casters play in 5e?


4th Edition


I've read the rules but I have had no opportunity to actually try and play it.

I'm curious to know how casters play in the new system. I notice several major changes.

1: Far fewer spell slots at higher levels
2: Spells rely less on caster level
3: Most duration spells being concentration means much less buffing and controlling

This strikes me as a recipe for artillery casters where each caster buffs himself or casts some duration spell and then relies exclusively on damage spells until combat is over.

A potentially mitigating factor is the possibility that now with no items to boost base abilities, we'll see many more items geared towards providing characters with duration abilities which do not require concentration.

Frankly I know very little about magic items in 5th edition.


Hiya.

Haven't played very high level yet, but so far (with a cleric, sorcerer and wizard) in the group...everything is running just fine.

The feeling we are getting is that casters tend to rely a bit more on thinking outside the box for what to do. I'm finding that the players are taking more time and expending more effort on what is actually happening in the current situation/round than they are pouring over the books trying to find the next spell to cast. I get the feeling it's because of the 'free' cantrips; the players are just playing the game, and if some situation pops up during the round that makes them think "This would be the perfect opportunity to cast sleep!", they take advantage of it. I guess it kinda boils down to a bit more resource-management in terms of spells. With the way AC and Damage is now, the casters are more likely to try and contribute something to the combat that isn't just a spell...mainly because they generally have a decent chance to do it (as opposed to a 3.x/PF/4e style game where a non-caster's to hit chance is so far outclassed by the likely defenses of his opponent as to make any choice other than 'I cast a spell', pointless).

Spells are turning out to be very 0e/1e in terms of effectiveness. They may not work all the time, but when they do...boy, are they useful! :)

As for "artillery casters". Maybe at higher level it will start to become more noticeable, but I don't think it will ever be a "thing". The bounded accuracy thing is really helping with keeping the numbers down...which in turn is keeping player engagement high; nobody is searching through books looking for some way to get another couple bonuses to hit, or some tricky means of getting an AoO, etc. The players are playing the game, without worrying about how the mechanics are going to work. I see 'artillery' style spells being used similar to just that; fire off a big spell in the first round, then move on to more precise stuff.

PS: As for the magic items thing...I don't see any magic items really showing up that "break" the rules. From what I read, and how the game plays now, I think magic items will be more along the lines of allowing a better, or more-often style ability use (re: "recover 1 spell slot per character level after a short rest", or "gives disadvantage to saves against all fire-based spells the caster casts for the day", etc.). I don't think they'll be putting out things that allow "the caster can concentrate on one extra spell at a time", or "the wizard may prepare an extra 9 spell levels worth of spells". Those two things would directly unbalance the rules; the former examples just 'add to' the rules. Big difference...break vs. add. :)

^_^

Paul L. Ming


You misunderstand me regarding items.

I speculate that magic items, rather than boosting caster abilities provide the ability to use some spell duplicating effects without the concentration requirements.

Cloak of flying, gloves of spiderclimbing, etc. etc.

Ie: It's not an attempt to somehow "counter" the lack of spells to do this easily but rather a way to encourage use of magic items in their place.

Liberty's Edge

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We are playing D&D 5E at 15th level. The party has a barbarian, cleric, paladin, ranger/rogue (arcane trickster), and wizard.

The wizard does fire off some attack spells. He has also cast haste and invisibility on others. He had his familiar fly up to a cloud castle to get a rock so he could teleport the group up safely. Blink is a favorite defensive spell to cast that can him completely off the battlefield.

The cleric also attacks and buffs others. If PCs get hurt badly he casts some healing. Heroes' Feast is expensive but gets cast before a big combat sometimes if he has the time.

The paladin has many spells cast as a bonus action so he buffs his smite a lot.

The barbarian took the totem path so he frequently communes with nature before wilderness treks to seek out any unnatural dangers like fiends or undead.

The rogue hasn't used his arcane spells much yet. He has cast some control spells using the ranger list.

What you don't see is several minutes of casting buff spells or a cleric growing in size and casting a spell to fight better than a fighter. Combat is really fluid. A concentration spell may fail after a hit or another concentration spell may become really important. Casters have to think a bit about what they want to accomplish. Spells don't solve everything.

Teleport is a good example. Without thinking to send his familiar up to grab a rock, the spell can misfire. The spell in a vacuum isn't an instant win or a instant problem solver.


That sounds good. From just reading the rules it seemed to me as if all casters would spend most of their time blasting.

The Exchange

Even at low levels this isn't happening fully. I've had the warlock in my party using hideous laughter to really nail down a fight. The dancing lights spell has been extremely useful so far as well.

Thaumaturgy and disguise self has come in to use for some great roleplay stuff too.

While it's easier for casters to be effective blasters in this edition, you can certainly be a proactive problem solver as well.

The best thing so far is that there is no real ability to just "cast one spell, entire situation resolved", like there are in some of the other editions. This one is making my players think much harder about how to deal with things.

Cheers


Hiya.

Charlie D. wrote:

We are playing D&D 5E at 15th level. The party has a barbarian, cleric, paladin, ranger/rogue (arcane trickster), and wizard.

The wizard does fire off some attack spells. He has also cast haste and invisibility on others. He had his familiar fly up to a cloud castle to get a rock so he could teleport the group up safely. Blink is a favorite defensive spell to cast that can him completely off the battlefield.

**snip**

Teleport is a good example. Without thinking to send his familiar up to grab a rock, the spell can misfire. The spell in a vacuum isn't an instant win or a instant problem solver.

I'd just like to add a bit here. If I was DM'ing, I would not have let "a rock" qualify. If you read the description of Teleport, it mentions "Associated Object" and gives examples. It is the examples that are most telling; "..a book from a wizard's library, bed linen from a royal suite, or a chunk of marble from a lich's secret tomb". Those are all significant items...not just "a rock". The item should be just that "significant" to the area. For the cloud castle thing...I probably would have required something a bit more specific...say, a key to one of the doors in the castle, for example.

Of course, thats me. :)

^_^

Paul L. Ming


Pass without Trace -> Thunderwave...


Basically you cast a single encounter defining spell and spam cantrips for the most part. And by encounter defining I mean something that wins the encounter or vastly helps your team.

Spells That Count

Bane
Bless
Faerie Fire
Fireball
Hypnotism
Slow

You can nova but will quickly run out of spells.

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