are you looking for a guide on how to
play a spellcaster better maybe just
some quick tips so that you don't look
like that idiot barbarian over there
well today we have a very special guest
a level 20 wizard who's going to share
with us the top 12 lessons that he's
learned over his career as an adventurer
yes indeed level 20 by traditional
experience points not this newfangled
milestone rubbish
welcome to the DM lair
I'm Luke Hart and I've been a dungeon master
since high school on this channel I give
practical dungeon master advice that you
can implement at your table today our
special guest will be shared with our
fellow Dungeon Master's 12 tips for
role-playing NPCs spellcasters and I
feel that it's important to note that
many of these points i shall touch upon
apply to D&D players as well not just to
Dungeon Master's actually yes of course
I think there's probably quite a bit of
crossover but let's just get into it
shall we
did you mean to say roll initiative yes
yes let us begin right so can you just
kind of start off by telling us a little
bit of what you do to prepare before a
game session it would be my pleasure my
first piece of advice for anyone playing
a spell caster is to study your spell's
in advance of a game session so that you
know what they do really that's tip
number one I mean that that seems kind
of obvious don't you think now listen
here young Hobbit I'm not a hobbit well
you're acting like one you have no idea
how many times I've been in a game
session with some buffoon who doesn't
know how his own spells work do you have
any idea how embarrassing that is for my
profession that's like a barbarian
forgetting how to swing his axe
okay okay point taken if you're gonna
play a spellcaster you need to know how
your own spells work what else you got
for us well this is my second piece of
advice for the young whippersnappers out
there is to know which spells require
concentration and which don't you see
when I was younger I had to walk several
miles uphill through the snow to get to
the Wizards Academy wait what does that
have to do with concentration why
nothing at all the point here is that
you can only concentrate on one spell at
a time so if does you no good if most of
your prepared spells require
concentration I aim for about 25% of my
prepared spells to require concentration
and for the other 75% not oh yeah that
totally makes sense it's kind of like
how some spells can be cast with a
reaction well actually it's nothing like
that at all but while we're on the topic
point number three is to consider which
spells to be cast with a reaction stones
like counter spell and shield and which
spells can be cast with a bonus action
spells like spiritual weapon doing this
helps you take good advantage of action
economy in your battles and point number
four for Dungeon Master's playing NPC
spell casters remember your life
expectancy is very short if you're lucky
you'll survive three rounds before the
PCs obliterate you so plan in advance
which spells you'd like to cast during
your short short time on camera and I
suggest making them good ones you know
that's a really great point because I
have noticed it as a dungeon master once
I reveal an NPC spell caster my players
start headhunting him right away
wizard wizard
Twitter and point number five with the
kiddos out there don't be afraid to
change up your spell list now what
exactly do you mean by that well I'm
going to be honest with you sometimes
the spell lists that Wizards of the
coast mm-hmm
they call themselves wizards hmm anyway
many times the spells they put on NPCs
spell lists are quite lame and boring if
the NPC's spell list makes you want to
multi class into a barbarian well then
it's time to swap out a few spells don't
forget to join the DM lair I discord
there's a link down below in the
description right got it don't be a
barbarian what else you got
yes barbarians are imbeciles must to
avoid that fate tip number six as a
Dungeon Master is to avoid casting
spells that take your players out of the
game or rob them of their agency you see
there's nothing quite so boring for a
player of Dungeons and Dragons then to
sit on the sidelines and do nothing
while everyone else plays the game
spells like command hold person wall of
force and banishment suck for players
you know that's that's rather
interesting I actually know a guy who
knows a guy who knows a guy who made a
video about spells like that recently
you mean he was saying that those are
some of the best spells for Dungeon
Master's to use well that man is a
complete and utter fool no one should
listen to him but yeah that's that's
actually what I was telling my buddy
John the other day yes well you also
want to avoid spells like dominate
person or suggestion as well you see
many RPG players get rather prickly when
their agency that is to say their free
will is taken away from them so you
don't ever use them I didn't say
I said to avoid them use them sparingly
with discretion do you need me to
further rephrase this point no III think
we're good here excellent because you're
beginning to remind me of someone
moving on to point number seven consider
spells that create interesting
situations for your players spells that
require your players to be clever to
overcome them are great fun at the table
you mean like a fireball no not fireball
you dunce think of spells that affect
the terrain for instance like web or
wall of thorns or an illusion perhaps of
a bottomless chasm fireball can we stop
putting him in the video now seriously
his his antics are distracting the
viewers people are watching this video
to hear a level 20 wizard lecture on
spell casting tips not to witness the
antics of an idiot barbarian well why
don't we ask our viewers what they think
what about it guys let us know down in
the comments if you want to see more of
our barbarian friend here in future
videos or if you prefer to hang out with
a stuffy condescending at level 20
wizard some more and you vote for me if
your intelligence score is above a 6 ok
mr. wizard what's number 8 spell casters
are squishy as we all know so they need
front line melee types to keep the PCs
off from them a spell caster by himself
is dead meat the players will swarm him
surround him and pound him and at that
point your NPC spellcasters life
expectancy goes from three rounds to one
round many of my NPC spellcaster friends
have met their demise by trying to solo
a group of 4 or 5 pcs it just doesn't
work very well I'm a frontline melee
type
Oh tip number nine have you an npc
wizard or sorcerer or whatever buff up
in advance cat spells like mirror image
Mage Armor and spirit Guardians before
combat begins otherwise you will spend
your three round life-expectancy casting
those spells instead of turning the PCs
into news yeah I think that totally
makes sense especially when you consider
that an enemies spell caster probably
has an inkling that enemies the heroes
of course have invaded his tower or
wherever he happens to be I was a new
once well you certainly did not get
better now one of the things that I have
noticed is that once my enemies spell
caster has been revealed to my players
they all start targeting him right away
give me suggestions for not getting
squished quite so fast
absolutely tip number 10 is not to stand
in the middle of the room out in the
open like a twat use your movement and
the terrain to make it harder for the
PCs to attack you cast your spell and
then duck around a corner
or take cover behind your alchemy
station or you have your flush golem
manservant carry around a thick sheet of
steel that you can hide back you have a
large intelligence score for a reason
use it
the blemings tall sense now another
question for you do you often find that
flipping through your spell book
during combat takes a lot of time well
of course that's why tip number 11 is
not to use this to find low spells
personally I use this and a free app
called fifth edition spell book for all
of my spell casting needs during combat
perfect now that's a free app available
for all users of androids and iPhones
right no Apple sucks the app is only
available for Android users you do
realize you just offended half of the
people watching this video
yeah all right fine let's just get tip
number 12 done so that I can go and
start answering all of the angry emails
that I'm gonna be getting Dungeon
Master's learn from your players pay
attention to the spells they cast and
then use the really good ones against
them it is the only way to make it from
a level 1 NPC spellcaster to a level 20
NPC spellcaster perfect now can you give
us a quick bonus tip for our viewers
absolutely if your players are counters
spelling you all of the time do this
break line of sight in order to ready
the spell that you want to cast and
choose an appropriate trigger now it
does require concentration to ready a
spell
however since when you ready it you cast
it and you're around a corner and the
PCs can't see you when you cast it they
can't counter you and then you simply
slip back around the corner
so did your in line of sight and you're
triggering condition is fulfilled and
your spell goes off and those pesky PC
wizards won't be able to counter it
that'll help give you some more
practical Dungeon Master advice that you
can implement at your table I created
this spell it
right here it's actually a playlist so
smash that bad boy to learn more
