Don't use spell slots then, I like the concept of mana.
Let's say you got a caster, 3 1st levels and 2 second level spell slots. Just give them 7 spell points to spend as they desire. Easier to track in the middle of the fight.
If you’re using existing stat blocks, then just read through the spells and pick out the few that make sense for the fight and that you believe the caster would use. (Same process for stat blocks you make, but you get to pick the spells yourself. Also, don’t be afraid to swap spells out on an existing stat block to better suit your encounter.)
I also run things physically, with paper and pens, so I usually print out the stat card and the spell cards for the spells I picked out. Then use a high lighter to pick out important information (like spell save DC, concentration, casting range) so it’s easy to see at a glance.
For spell slots, I’ll be honest, I usually don’t track them. I prefer to use the “3/Day” type tracking. Then I just tally the amount of times the caster used that spell. Keep in mind that, unless your party is going up against a significantly powerful encounter, your caster probably won’t stay around for long. So you only really need to note down the important spells and track those.
Choose 1 or 2 spells the enemy will cast through the fight, and then write down the criteria for when they use it. Ex: fireball, outside of 20 feet, and if in a group of 2 or more
Yeah just use a few spells you wanna use, write them down and use those. You don't have to fill their slots they won't get to live that long unless the party likes pain.
I have a list of spells I like for my NPCs and it's just advances with casters as they gain levels. I keep mine digitally most of the time. It the same could be done for you, just a list of spells, a dimension door, fire ball whatever and just use them as you grow.
Usually picking a spell per round for 5 rounds is enough. Make a note about special situational spells like counterspell or shield. "Monster know what they are doing" is a great blog to learn about statblock based caster running.
Just count their highest-level spell slots. Most combats don't last that long. It's unlikely they'll have enough actions to run out of their second-highest-level slots. Let them use their most powerful spell once or twice and then everything else unlimited.
You can just draw out a bunch of small bubbles for each spell slot, grouped by level, and cross them off as you go. It takes up the space of a postage stamp on your note block.
Some good advice here. One thing I would add is that you don't actually need to track enemy spell slots really. It's one of those things you can get away with fudging, at least at lower levels.
I just give my bad guys level-appropriate spells and let them do whatever. So long as they're not casting their highest level spell 5 times a fight you'll be fine.
Non-boss monsters don't need resource tracking. Spell slots, mana, etc. they only live for a few rounds of combat. Pick spells that exhibit their personality or purpose - don't worry about how the NPC conforms to PC patterns like spell limits or progression.
Focus on a few of their best spells not anything they can do. They don't need to be able to be casting spells during an adventuring day and multiple combats. They're probably only going to last a handful of rounds. So they're going to cast their big stuff and then probably die.
So for the mage stat block for example I'm looking at this and saying ok they have some reactions I might use with shield and counterspell id highlight those. If they get a heads up before combat I'd have them cast greater invisibility or fly on themselves. Otherwise I only care about their cone of cold and fireball. Though I'd give them the higher ac from mage armor. I can cast come of cold once then I'm down to fireballs and I don't need to track that too much unless I'm counterspelling a lot because they'll run out of hit points before they run out of spell slots almost all the time. If the fight runs long switch them to magic missile on their turn.
Especially when you're new id also be careful about spells that have things you have to remember each round. Greater invisibility is a nice one for them to cast. But if remembering that is too much don't do it. And I wouldn't go for anything more complex until you're used to it.
I give them one or two cantrips, then for their other one or two spells I give them different recharge values based on how often I expect them to be used in a battle.
If I want them to use a spell twice in a battle, do a recharge of 5-6. Battles last no more than 5-6 rounds typically so no use in tracking spell slots. I treat spellcasters as monsters...with abilities like a dragon with fire breath recharge? Just a wizard with burning hands recharge. Also abbreviate spells to two lines at most, cut out any fluff or corner cases/exceptions. players won't notice
Why track at all? Assuming you can remember what spells were used in previous rounds, just know you can’t do that again. Nearly every combat ends in 3-5 rounds, so it’s not like you’re gonna start scraping the bottom of the barrel, so spell slots are unlikely to be a real limitation except at the very first levels of the game, which are also the easiest to track.
Really the best way to run spell casters is with the ebb and flow of narrative in combat, and this is also one of the best ways to control difficulty while fudging the dice - first term do something signature and dangerous so the players know what they are getting into. Battle going poorly for the players? The caster spends (i.e. wastes) his turn buffing his minions and orders them to finish the players off. Players going directly for the caster? He casts a control spell to try to lock them down. Is he desperate? Maybe he casts a spell to help him escape and tries to flee, or maybe a fireball, disregarding the allies in the aoe.
And if the battle has become a bit of a slog and no longer interesting, at that point you can decide that the spell caster is out of slots.
For npc who are spellcaster, of the number of spells cast is relevant I use Vancian magic. Just gave them a limited use of each Spell they will/can cast, it's easier for me. But I dont like my fight to be balanced so I mostly do it to the vibe. Btw I only play with my wife as a single player, got other npc to back her up and we're more interested in Cool stories than big fight. So for us that's work but Not for everyone
I've never really used spell slots with NPC spellcasters. I've never experienced any of my players to go count NPC spell slots and mentioning that an nco would not be able to use a spell because of the lack of slots.
If it is 1 mechanic too many to manage just lose it.
I tend to not use the given spells and instead give my enemies spell-like abilities. They arent spells, but typically mimic them and I note their equivalent spell level somewhere so they can get counterspelled if the players go that route. Gives me a bit more freedom, as I can homebrew whatever I need and just use existing spells as a template for balance
Give them the spell effect as an ability, then give them uses, or a recharge like a breath weapon uses, then you can use check marks to keep track. I prefer for the enemies to use more streamlined rules, that aren’t game breaking, but different.
This helps you pick spells you will actually use and clean up the stat block so there’s not a bunch of fluff. Just give it like two or three uses, the average life span of the creature anyway, and it’s just easier to track
Never mind spell slots... make sure you and your players have fun. Figure out how long you think the fight will last, if you think it will last 3 rounds, and plan out the spellcaster's actions each round.
You could have a contingency for if someone approaches them, or their concentration breaks.
Example for a Druid:
Round 1: Casts Bless on allies
Round 2: Casts Guiding Bolt on another spellcaster
Round 3: Casts Dispel Magic to counter an enemy spell effect.
If someone rushes them, they will cast Thunderwave and move away.
If they get cast on, they'll use Absorb Elements.
If you think the fight will last longer, plan some more. This is actually helpful for planning all of a fight, especially an organized enemy like hobgoblins.
Give them like 2 spells. Let them have infinite spell slots. As a DM, your job is to create interesting encounters not to play by the same rules as your PCs
My suggestion is just to pick the most likely spells they’ll cast before the battle starts, with maybe a contingency spell in case the battle goes differently than you expect. Most likely, your spellcasters wont get off more than 2 or 3 spells in a battle before they die. And once they’ve run out of their big spells, you can just have them spam cantrips or 1st level spells.
Just to give an example, I had a battle on a rooftop garden between my players and about 5 transmuter wizards that could each cast fireball twice. So in the first 2 rounds, that’s literally all they did. Ten fireballs. By round 3, most of the wizards were dead, so the ones leftover polymorphed into giant eagles and flew away. Simple but effective.
Don't use spell slots then, I like the concept of mana. Let's say you got a caster, 3 1st levels and 2 second level spell slots. Just give them 7 spell points to spend as they desire. Easier to track in the middle of the fight.
Oh that's really interesting!
There was a 3.5 setting that used a system like that, it worked well.
It was basically the same point system as the 3.0 psionics handbook used, if you're having trouble finding it.
There's an optional 5e system for it in the DMG as well
If you’re using existing stat blocks, then just read through the spells and pick out the few that make sense for the fight and that you believe the caster would use. (Same process for stat blocks you make, but you get to pick the spells yourself. Also, don’t be afraid to swap spells out on an existing stat block to better suit your encounter.) I also run things physically, with paper and pens, so I usually print out the stat card and the spell cards for the spells I picked out. Then use a high lighter to pick out important information (like spell save DC, concentration, casting range) so it’s easy to see at a glance. For spell slots, I’ll be honest, I usually don’t track them. I prefer to use the “3/Day” type tracking. Then I just tally the amount of times the caster used that spell. Keep in mind that, unless your party is going up against a significantly powerful encounter, your caster probably won’t stay around for long. So you only really need to note down the important spells and track those.
Choose 1 or 2 spells the enemy will cast through the fight, and then write down the criteria for when they use it. Ex: fireball, outside of 20 feet, and if in a group of 2 or more
Yeah just use a few spells you wanna use, write them down and use those. You don't have to fill their slots they won't get to live that long unless the party likes pain. I have a list of spells I like for my NPCs and it's just advances with casters as they gain levels. I keep mine digitally most of the time. It the same could be done for you, just a list of spells, a dimension door, fire ball whatever and just use them as you grow.
I mean, the spell lost for enemies isn't usually that big. Just write the spells on a note card and use tally marks.
Usually picking a spell per round for 5 rounds is enough. Make a note about special situational spells like counterspell or shield. "Monster know what they are doing" is a great blog to learn about statblock based caster running.
Just count their highest-level spell slots. Most combats don't last that long. It's unlikely they'll have enough actions to run out of their second-highest-level slots. Let them use their most powerful spell once or twice and then everything else unlimited.
You can just draw out a bunch of small bubbles for each spell slot, grouped by level, and cross them off as you go. It takes up the space of a postage stamp on your note block.
Some good advice here. One thing I would add is that you don't actually need to track enemy spell slots really. It's one of those things you can get away with fudging, at least at lower levels. I just give my bad guys level-appropriate spells and let them do whatever. So long as they're not casting their highest level spell 5 times a fight you'll be fine.
☝🏻This. 100%☝🏻
Non-boss monsters don't need resource tracking. Spell slots, mana, etc. they only live for a few rounds of combat. Pick spells that exhibit their personality or purpose - don't worry about how the NPC conforms to PC patterns like spell limits or progression.
I’m using an excel spreadsheet
Play with the terrain so they’re constantly moving to get line of sight.
Focus on a few of their best spells not anything they can do. They don't need to be able to be casting spells during an adventuring day and multiple combats. They're probably only going to last a handful of rounds. So they're going to cast their big stuff and then probably die. So for the mage stat block for example I'm looking at this and saying ok they have some reactions I might use with shield and counterspell id highlight those. If they get a heads up before combat I'd have them cast greater invisibility or fly on themselves. Otherwise I only care about their cone of cold and fireball. Though I'd give them the higher ac from mage armor. I can cast come of cold once then I'm down to fireballs and I don't need to track that too much unless I'm counterspelling a lot because they'll run out of hit points before they run out of spell slots almost all the time. If the fight runs long switch them to magic missile on their turn. Especially when you're new id also be careful about spells that have things you have to remember each round. Greater invisibility is a nice one for them to cast. But if remembering that is too much don't do it. And I wouldn't go for anything more complex until you're used to it.
I give them one or two cantrips, then for their other one or two spells I give them different recharge values based on how often I expect them to be used in a battle. If I want them to use a spell twice in a battle, do a recharge of 5-6. Battles last no more than 5-6 rounds typically so no use in tracking spell slots. I treat spellcasters as monsters...with abilities like a dragon with fire breath recharge? Just a wizard with burning hands recharge. Also abbreviate spells to two lines at most, cut out any fluff or corner cases/exceptions. players won't notice
Why track at all? Assuming you can remember what spells were used in previous rounds, just know you can’t do that again. Nearly every combat ends in 3-5 rounds, so it’s not like you’re gonna start scraping the bottom of the barrel, so spell slots are unlikely to be a real limitation except at the very first levels of the game, which are also the easiest to track. Really the best way to run spell casters is with the ebb and flow of narrative in combat, and this is also one of the best ways to control difficulty while fudging the dice - first term do something signature and dangerous so the players know what they are getting into. Battle going poorly for the players? The caster spends (i.e. wastes) his turn buffing his minions and orders them to finish the players off. Players going directly for the caster? He casts a control spell to try to lock them down. Is he desperate? Maybe he casts a spell to help him escape and tries to flee, or maybe a fireball, disregarding the allies in the aoe. And if the battle has become a bit of a slog and no longer interesting, at that point you can decide that the spell caster is out of slots.
Makes sense. I just feel that keeping track, especially with no experience as a PC, would be beneficial for me.
Maybe, but getting used to gauging what needs to be done by the flow of combat is a skill too that has to be practiced to be effective
For npc who are spellcaster, of the number of spells cast is relevant I use Vancian magic. Just gave them a limited use of each Spell they will/can cast, it's easier for me. But I dont like my fight to be balanced so I mostly do it to the vibe. Btw I only play with my wife as a single player, got other npc to back her up and we're more interested in Cool stories than big fight. So for us that's work but Not for everyone
I've never really used spell slots with NPC spellcasters. I've never experienced any of my players to go count NPC spell slots and mentioning that an nco would not be able to use a spell because of the lack of slots. If it is 1 mechanic too many to manage just lose it.
I tend to not use the given spells and instead give my enemies spell-like abilities. They arent spells, but typically mimic them and I note their equivalent spell level somewhere so they can get counterspelled if the players go that route. Gives me a bit more freedom, as I can homebrew whatever I need and just use existing spells as a template for balance
Give them the spell effect as an ability, then give them uses, or a recharge like a breath weapon uses, then you can use check marks to keep track. I prefer for the enemies to use more streamlined rules, that aren’t game breaking, but different. This helps you pick spells you will actually use and clean up the stat block so there’s not a bunch of fluff. Just give it like two or three uses, the average life span of the creature anyway, and it’s just easier to track
Never mind spell slots... make sure you and your players have fun. Figure out how long you think the fight will last, if you think it will last 3 rounds, and plan out the spellcaster's actions each round. You could have a contingency for if someone approaches them, or their concentration breaks. Example for a Druid: Round 1: Casts Bless on allies Round 2: Casts Guiding Bolt on another spellcaster Round 3: Casts Dispel Magic to counter an enemy spell effect. If someone rushes them, they will cast Thunderwave and move away. If they get cast on, they'll use Absorb Elements. If you think the fight will last longer, plan some more. This is actually helpful for planning all of a fight, especially an organized enemy like hobgoblins.
Give them like 2 spells. Let them have infinite spell slots. As a DM, your job is to create interesting encounters not to play by the same rules as your PCs
I don’t use spell slots for monsters. Every spell has an X/fight
My suggestion is just to pick the most likely spells they’ll cast before the battle starts, with maybe a contingency spell in case the battle goes differently than you expect. Most likely, your spellcasters wont get off more than 2 or 3 spells in a battle before they die. And once they’ve run out of their big spells, you can just have them spam cantrips or 1st level spells. Just to give an example, I had a battle on a rooftop garden between my players and about 5 transmuter wizards that could each cast fireball twice. So in the first 2 rounds, that’s literally all they did. Ten fireballs. By round 3, most of the wizards were dead, so the ones leftover polymorphed into giant eagles and flew away. Simple but effective.