Spell effects in Fantasy TTRPGs are easily the times when we as DMs and GMs have to respond on the fly to changing parameters. In systems like 5e, we’ve discussed how they’ve crafted a system that does some of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to rulings. But, no matter how many rules exist, you are going to have times that interesting uses of spells make you have to adjudicate in a completely new way.
In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave discuss ruling on how spell effects change the landscape and/or battlefield that we ran into in one of our most recent games. Regardless of your newness or your experience, this discussion helps us realize that the old adage of artists is true… “if you want to learn to paint great bricks. Paint one thousand bricks.”
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1:14 Our listener question… from DM Chris?!?
3:15 The difference between Game-Changing and Game-Breaking.
8:00 Basing your adjudications on how the NPCs would react in a real-life situation.
9:40 Some of the same disadvantages to the NPCs will affect the PCs too.
12:50 Shout-out to Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Locations
13:30 Incentivize your players into using the environment to their advantage.
16:50 The importance of spells and mechanics that change the environment vs. pure damage-dealing.
21:45 The Earthquake Incident: managing spells that have incredibly far-reaching effects.
28:20 The DM-Player Agreement: Every adjudication is a prototype and can change.
33:15 When to lean into the players intent and when to corral them in.
37:45 For every time your players own the bosses, there’ll be times that they get their teeth kicked in.
40:40 Final Thoughts.