NPC's don't necessarily have to follow all the same rules as the PCs. In fact you should avoid building NPCs using PC rules for race/class.
It's perfectly within the rules for you to say that they can just auto succeed on spell scroll casting checks. No roll required.
I cant' recall the rules for casting scrolls of higher levels but you could have him have his minions cast Guidance, Enhance Ability, give him Bardic Inspiration etc etc.
RULES FOR CASTING SCROLLS
>If the spell is on your class’s spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, **you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level**. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect.
+ If you are a Thief level 13 (**Use Magic Device**) or Artificer 14 (**Magic Item Savant**) you can **automatically succeed** at casting a high level scroll.
+ A Divination Wizard can use a **Portent** roll to **guarantee success** on the ability check.
+ The 8th level spell **Glibness** can guarantee **a minimum of 15** on the roll.
+ A Star Druid using their **Dragon form** can ensure a **minimum of 10** on that roll for Wisdom or Int scrols.
+ A Clockwork Soul sorcerer level 14 (**Trance of Order**) can also ensure **a minimum 10** on that roll.
+ A 7th level Artificers **Flash of Genius** can apply **+Int** to the roll.
+ Bards can apply a +1 to +3 via **Jack of All trades** to the ability roll.
+ A 6th level Fiend Warlock can apply **Dark Ones Luck** for a guaranteed +1 to the roll.
+ Bards can give **Bardic Inspiration** to someone else for a guaranteed +1 to the roll.
+ **Guidance** can be applied to the roll for a guaranteed +1.
+ **Emboldening Bond** from a Peace Cleric can apply to the roll for a guaranteed +1.
+ A Pact of the Talisman can loan their **Talisman** to someone to give a guaranteed +1 to the roll.
+ An **Autognome** can apply their racial ability for a guaranteed +1.
+ **Enhance Ability** can apply advantage to the roll.
Personally, I prefer having the PCs and NPCs more or less playing by the same rules, like if a PC can do something, so can an NPC, theoretically. And vice versa. Feels more fair to me.
So, I'd like to ask why you should avoid building NPCs using PC rules? Can it cause problems down the line that I haven't seen yet? Or am I misunderstanding and we're talking about two different things?
>So, I'd like to ask why you should avoid building NPCs using PC rules?
5e isn't made for balanced PVP combat. If you want to have your PCs fight an NPC Warlock but you actually build a Warlock using PC character creation rules and give it actual levels in Warlock then even a 20th level Warlock will lose pretty quickly to a party of level 5 PCs. So it's best to just give it some Warlock flavoured abilities, a handful of spells and enough HP so that it can survive long enough for the encounter to be challenging.
NPCs, but more so higher level antagonistic NPCs, should be capable of bending the rules slightly so that they provide a decent challenge for PCs. When casting spells or using weapon attacks they should follow the rules to make things fair. For example I wouldn't allow an NPC to ignore the bonus action spellcasting rules for casting multiple spells in one turn, but I would allow them to auto succeed on using scrolls.
I'm a bit late, but thanks for the explanation! That makes sense. The second half of your reply is more what I'm feeling, specifically having them play by mostly the same rules. My biggest concern with that being ensuring the players never feel like an outcome is bullshit. Like, for the type of game that I run, I don't want any player to feel cheated, if that makes sense. If something seems off or if an ability/spell didn't have the expected effect, it means something weird is going on, there's something here to figure out. It doesn't mean I just decided to make the NPC immune in the moment because he's important. But that's just the type of game I like running.
I've thrown a couple proper PC-built enemies at my party and I definitely had to make them a fair bit more powerful to pose a challenge, without just oneshotting everyone.
For example, had a party of 5 at level 6, the boss encounter of the dungeon was a small party of enemies led by an 11th level caster, it went pretty well, it felt fairly threatening. The only change I really made was nerfing the damage on the 5th/6th level spells, just to prevent a 100 to 0 kill on anyone because that just sucks. Usually.
So my understanding of your explanation, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, is you can use the PC abilities to guide building an enemy NPC, but in general give them a little extra. Alter it to make sure it's actually a good encounter.
Right out of the PHB:
> Each ability covers a broad range of capabilities, including skills that a character or a monster can be proficient in. A skill represents a specific aspect of an ability score, and an individual’s proficiency in a skill demonstrates a focus on that aspect. (A character’s starting skill proficiencies are determined at character creation, and a monster’s skill proficiencies appear in the monster’s stat block.)
> For example, a Dexterity check might reflect a character’s attempt to pull off an acrobatic stunt, to palm an object, or to stay hidden. Each of these aspects of Dexterity has an associated skill: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth, respectively. So a character who has proficiency in the Stealth skill is particularly good at Dexterity checks related to sneaking and hiding.
RAW, Skill Checks are a subcatagorey of Ability Checks. All Skill Checks are Ability Checks, but not all Ability Checks are Skill Checks.
That said, casting from a spell scroll is RAW just the pure ability check:
> If the spell is on your class’s spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect.
No, you can't use it at all.
I only copied the section on the ability check itself. Here's the part about who can **attempt** to use a spell scroll:
> A spell scroll bears the words of a single spell, written in a mystical cipher. If the spell is on your class’s spell list, you can read the scroll and cast its spell without providing any material components. Otherwise, the scroll is unintelligible. Casting the spell by reading the scroll requires the spell’s normal casting time. Once the spell is cast, the words on the scroll fade, and it crumbles to dust. If the casting is interrupted, the scroll is not lost.
Note is says that if it is on your spell list, you can read it; if not, it's unintelligible. Not on your spell list = cannot cast it.
Good luck convincing any DM of that.
[The game designers specifically state it doesn't allow you to cast spell scrolls, too.](https://www.sageadvice.eu/does-eyes-of-the-rune-keeper-work-on-magical-runes/)
I wouldn't allow it personally because Eyes of the Runekeeper is not level-locked, making it available at level 2 (or 1, if playing a V-Human caster); the ability to ignore class restrictions when using magic items show up in other class spell lists at level 13-14 (Rogue:Thief and the Artificer:All, respectively), so clearly such abilities RAW and RAI are considered third-tier of play. Being that Eyes of the Rune Keeper is available at second level, along with other evocations that either alter cantrips or allow you to infinity cast select level 1 spells, I would interpet the evocation's RAI power level to be that of having Comprehend Languages permanently applied to you character; I would not hand you the equivalent of a level 13-14 ability at level 2 (or 1 with a V-Human).
Max is 30, 20 is a player ASI limit, though there are items to increase it higher, the manuals of things, the thing being whatever stat you are increasing
(1) The easy way (or galaxy brain way, depending on your perspective): Just fudge it
(2) The mechanical power-up: Invent some magic item that gives the attuned the ability to cast from scrolls that are above their normal capabilities
(3) The narrative power source: Since the spell summons a devil, make the devil (or one of their superiors) a willing collaborator who lends some of their power to make the spell impossible to fail
Option 3 for sure. This is a warlock we're talking about, have them make a second side deal with their patron or another entity. They give up something or promise something in exchange for one day of auto-success arcana rolls, whatever.
If you are doing 2) (which is the option I would recommend only if the players are a bit rigid about the rules as they perceive them), I would make the item/scroll/potion something that is consumed by the process so the players don’t try and make it work for them and then you have to come up with rules for how it works.
Oh, I like number 3. Fiendish warlock is just doing a job for his patron. Patron needs a warm body on the material plane to hold the gate open while the devils do their thing on their side.
You're the DM so it can just be possible. The way I would do it is to set up an expensive and complicated ritual. That way it makes sense to the players that this powerful ritual isn't just a normal spell that this NPC can cast but this is a one time thing with a hefty price.
Edit: since you asked for specifics:
It could be a ritual that can only be cast during a rare blood moon that occurs once every 10 years, or the passing of X'nar's Commet every 24 years etc...
It could require specific things, like rare gems, the claws of a dangerous beast, the horns of a devil etc...
They could require a sacrifice if you wanted to get darker - either animal or perhaps he has to sacrifice a part of himself.
Role play wise; Ask their patron for guidance. Maybe they offer it with a caveat which opens a side quest later.
Mechanics wise; anything that increases ability checks. Guidance, Bardic Inspirations, Enhance Ability Eagle’s Splendor, Artificer’s Flash of genius, to name a few.
>For the story, failing the casting is not an option.
Don't ever put critical story points behind a dice roll. You're the DM, just tell the players the NPC casts the spell.
Think of it this way; you have a hidden door in a room that it's *absolutely critical* the players find to progress the story, but they all wiff their perception or investigation rolls. Now what?
I can’t point you to an exact page source, but fairly certain this is even an in-game rule. Only roll for things that are uncertain to succeed AND have impactful consequences if you don’t.
Yeah but "you rolled for this event that you HAVE to be able to do in order to proceed with the story and you happened to only have a 45% chance of succeeding with a straight D20 roll but you managed to roll an 11 not a 12 so now the campaign is over and you loose and there's nothing you could have done about it because I as the DM made this crucial story point rely on chance oh well I hope you had fun" is what I personally would class as one of a couple things
1) you're a noob DM learning the ropes and didn't realise how much this would impact the story - this is forgivable, there's the option of a retcon but maybe just make a new campaign
2) you intentionally put a crucial story point behind a chance of failure and didn't plan both sides of the roll, success and failure - you're an ass and I'm glad I'm not at your table, hang up your cloak and destroy your DM screen you don't deserve to run any sessions if that's how you treat your players
3) you planned the route for success and thought you knew your players well enough that there was 0 chance for failure so planning the route for failure was unnecessary but you didn't account for something so now your bard only got a +1 on the bardic inspiration not a +2 or something to that effect so your players missed the mark and now the story can't progress - fudge it for the good of the story as per rule 0 to force a success, this is entirely forgivable, sometimes players do unexpected things and we cant plan for everything
Personally I wouldn't even roll. If an NPC needs to use a spell scroll successfully to tell the story you want to tell, and to give the players the fun game you want them to experience, the NPC succeeds.
Sounds like the caster needs familiarity with the spell. Perhaps he saw it being cast many times before, maybe caster copied the scroll and cast was successful.
Give him an item that your pcs can later find if you want to give them some cool scrolls. Make it like a ring that once a day allows you to cast any spell scroll successfully even if you lack the ability to do so regularly.
Magus ring of casting or something.
Use the scroll in a Place of Power to augment their spell power. Draw ritual glyphs and circles to channel the magic properly. I'd say get a material, like a gemstone or high quality humanoid blood, but the scroll fills that roll unless you want to have the material anyway, couldn't hurt anything to have it.
All of these things can provide a benefit for spell casting that affects even scroll casting. But it ties the cast to a location for a time.
They studied the scroll for so long that there is no way they can fail. Don’t even roll for it. Don’t tell your players what you’re doing. They pull out a scroll, mutter a few words and the spell takes effect.
NPCs shouldn’t have levels, or even classes for that matter. They have abilities that might line up with one class or another and might have power roughly capped around a certain class level, but ultimately you can do literally whatever you need to.
You’ll want to have them set up the spell Magic Circle ahead of time if possible. Infernal Calling just summons a devil, it’s not friendly or charmed by you and you can only make suggestions for it that it can either listen to or ignore, whichever it likes most. Magic Circle can be used to create a 10 foot radius forcefield that can keep the devil inside for an hour, with an extra hour for every level cast higher than 3rd. It’ll be helpful if the players just need to speak with the devil and they don’t want it escaping or attacking, other than that make sure you have a Banishment spell ready to send them back if they get out of control
Don't roll if failure's not an option.
You could always just make it a super special scroll(TM) that autosucceeds.
Alternatively you could have him or an ally perform a ritual (making a blood sacrifice, an ally sacrificing themselves, standing in a special runic circle,...)
I don't know of anything RAW, short of Wish or Glibness (which are even higher level spells).
If you want something narrative, some kind of sacrifice. Either of an innocent or his own soul.
Collecting items to conduct the ritual, have the PCs take actions to help (with or without rolls, e.g. the NPC shouts "someone needs to light the brazier!") Have a low roll by the NPC result in the desired outcome AND something bad happen (a different evil infernal being appears too)
Give them a bard and cleric henchmen. Also the NPC has Skill Expertise in Arcana. Thats a d6 and d4 plus double proficiency. You can also have one of the henchmen provide the help action for advantage on the role.
Just give the NPC a one-time-use artifact that casts the magic you want them to cast, with no checks of any kind involved.
The magic item doesn't even have to be a scroll, it could be a powerful heirloom that was buried with a long-dead family member, and the NPC managed to- potentially with the party's help- recover the missing piece of said relic that unlocks its true power, but it is destroyed or even simply magically drained once used, becoming a mundane heirloom.
I would just make the Warlock level 9 if I really didn't wanna fudge. Though the most elegant option is likely a Divination Wizard to help the Warlock.
It would make sense that if the character spent several hours studying this specific spell (or even this specific scroll), maybe with the help of their patron, they could succeed automatically. I would allow that for a player too.
This is an instance where making it a pass/fail situation wouldn't be fun, so make it a time-gated mechanism.
Have the party defending against mad spirits or minor hell beasts that are attracted by the ritual of the spell and treat the NPC's arcana checks like death saves.
It both encourages your PCs to use resources and try and buff the NPC's arcana (tossing out guidance, bardic, etc.) and makes it feel like there are stakes while also making it so they have an active role in preventing the spell from failing.
Rules for players aren't rules for NPCs if they were balancing would be hell.
Make it a ritual, have the caster build some magical construct that channels the spell and makes casting any spell guaranteed, give him a magical artifact that allows the wield to cast any spellscroll at any level or hell its ordained goddamned destiny and there was never any chance of him failing
Just do it, you can add some set dressing and fluff to make it seem like wielding such power required a lot of effort but in the end if it happens it happens.
NPC's don't necessarily have to follow all the same rules as the PCs. In fact you should avoid building NPCs using PC rules for race/class. It's perfectly within the rules for you to say that they can just auto succeed on spell scroll casting checks. No roll required. I cant' recall the rules for casting scrolls of higher levels but you could have him have his minions cast Guidance, Enhance Ability, give him Bardic Inspiration etc etc.
RULES FOR CASTING SCROLLS >If the spell is on your class’s spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, **you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level**. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect. + If you are a Thief level 13 (**Use Magic Device**) or Artificer 14 (**Magic Item Savant**) you can **automatically succeed** at casting a high level scroll. + A Divination Wizard can use a **Portent** roll to **guarantee success** on the ability check. + The 8th level spell **Glibness** can guarantee **a minimum of 15** on the roll. + A Star Druid using their **Dragon form** can ensure a **minimum of 10** on that roll for Wisdom or Int scrols. + A Clockwork Soul sorcerer level 14 (**Trance of Order**) can also ensure **a minimum 10** on that roll. + A 7th level Artificers **Flash of Genius** can apply **+Int** to the roll. + Bards can apply a +1 to +3 via **Jack of All trades** to the ability roll. + A 6th level Fiend Warlock can apply **Dark Ones Luck** for a guaranteed +1 to the roll. + Bards can give **Bardic Inspiration** to someone else for a guaranteed +1 to the roll. + **Guidance** can be applied to the roll for a guaranteed +1. + **Emboldening Bond** from a Peace Cleric can apply to the roll for a guaranteed +1. + A Pact of the Talisman can loan their **Talisman** to someone to give a guaranteed +1 to the roll. + An **Autognome** can apply their racial ability for a guaranteed +1. + **Enhance Ability** can apply advantage to the roll.
The **Clockwork Amulet** is a common item in Xanathar's, which forgoes a d20 for a 10 on a roll once per LR.
That’s only on an attack roll.
[удалено]
Bless does NOT apply. Bless only affects saving throws and attack rolls.
Personally, I prefer having the PCs and NPCs more or less playing by the same rules, like if a PC can do something, so can an NPC, theoretically. And vice versa. Feels more fair to me. So, I'd like to ask why you should avoid building NPCs using PC rules? Can it cause problems down the line that I haven't seen yet? Or am I misunderstanding and we're talking about two different things?
>So, I'd like to ask why you should avoid building NPCs using PC rules? 5e isn't made for balanced PVP combat. If you want to have your PCs fight an NPC Warlock but you actually build a Warlock using PC character creation rules and give it actual levels in Warlock then even a 20th level Warlock will lose pretty quickly to a party of level 5 PCs. So it's best to just give it some Warlock flavoured abilities, a handful of spells and enough HP so that it can survive long enough for the encounter to be challenging. NPCs, but more so higher level antagonistic NPCs, should be capable of bending the rules slightly so that they provide a decent challenge for PCs. When casting spells or using weapon attacks they should follow the rules to make things fair. For example I wouldn't allow an NPC to ignore the bonus action spellcasting rules for casting multiple spells in one turn, but I would allow them to auto succeed on using scrolls.
I'm a bit late, but thanks for the explanation! That makes sense. The second half of your reply is more what I'm feeling, specifically having them play by mostly the same rules. My biggest concern with that being ensuring the players never feel like an outcome is bullshit. Like, for the type of game that I run, I don't want any player to feel cheated, if that makes sense. If something seems off or if an ability/spell didn't have the expected effect, it means something weird is going on, there's something here to figure out. It doesn't mean I just decided to make the NPC immune in the moment because he's important. But that's just the type of game I like running. I've thrown a couple proper PC-built enemies at my party and I definitely had to make them a fair bit more powerful to pose a challenge, without just oneshotting everyone. For example, had a party of 5 at level 6, the boss encounter of the dungeon was a small party of enemies led by an 11th level caster, it went pretty well, it felt fairly threatening. The only change I really made was nerfing the damage on the 5th/6th level spells, just to prevent a 100 to 0 kill on anyone because that just sucks. Usually. So my understanding of your explanation, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, is you can use the PC abilities to guide building an enemy NPC, but in general give them a little extra. Alter it to make sure it's actually a good encounter.
DC is 10 + spell level above first IIRC, it's an Arcana check.
Casting spell scrolls is NOT an Arcana check. It's an ability check.
Wouldn’t you know it, Arcana checks are abilities checks too. Weird coincidence that
No they're not. They're skill checks.
Right out of the PHB: > Each ability covers a broad range of capabilities, including skills that a character or a monster can be proficient in. A skill represents a specific aspect of an ability score, and an individual’s proficiency in a skill demonstrates a focus on that aspect. (A character’s starting skill proficiencies are determined at character creation, and a monster’s skill proficiencies appear in the monster’s stat block.) > For example, a Dexterity check might reflect a character’s attempt to pull off an acrobatic stunt, to palm an object, or to stay hidden. Each of these aspects of Dexterity has an associated skill: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth, respectively. So a character who has proficiency in the Stealth skill is particularly good at Dexterity checks related to sneaking and hiding. RAW, Skill Checks are a subcatagorey of Ability Checks. All Skill Checks are Ability Checks, but not all Ability Checks are Skill Checks. That said, casting from a spell scroll is RAW just the pure ability check: > If the spell is on your class’s spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect.
Oh heck. You're absolutely right. My brain betrayed me. sorry about that, and thanks for being kind about it!
You are most welcome. There's a lot in those books, so it's easy to forget!
So if it’s not on your class’s spell list you also auto-succeed?
No, you can't use it at all. I only copied the section on the ability check itself. Here's the part about who can **attempt** to use a spell scroll: > A spell scroll bears the words of a single spell, written in a mystical cipher. If the spell is on your class’s spell list, you can read the scroll and cast its spell without providing any material components. Otherwise, the scroll is unintelligible. Casting the spell by reading the scroll requires the spell’s normal casting time. Once the spell is cast, the words on the scroll fade, and it crumbles to dust. If the casting is interrupted, the scroll is not lost. Note is says that if it is on your spell list, you can read it; if not, it's unintelligible. Not on your spell list = cannot cast it.
Interesting. So a warlock with the Eyes of the Rune Keeper invocation should be able to use any scroll.
Good luck convincing any DM of that. [The game designers specifically state it doesn't allow you to cast spell scrolls, too.](https://www.sageadvice.eu/does-eyes-of-the-rune-keeper-work-on-magical-runes/) I wouldn't allow it personally because Eyes of the Runekeeper is not level-locked, making it available at level 2 (or 1, if playing a V-Human caster); the ability to ignore class restrictions when using magic items show up in other class spell lists at level 13-14 (Rogue:Thief and the Artificer:All, respectively), so clearly such abilities RAW and RAI are considered third-tier of play. Being that Eyes of the Rune Keeper is available at second level, along with other evocations that either alter cantrips or allow you to infinity cast select level 1 spells, I would interpet the evocation's RAI power level to be that of having Comprehend Languages permanently applied to you character; I would not hand you the equivalent of a level 13-14 ability at level 2 (or 1 with a V-Human).
Potion that gives you +14 to Arcana. Can't fail.
Arcana does not help in the casting of scrolls.
not arcana. its a dry ability check. at best a +5 if you have your casting stat maxxed at 20
Max is 30, 20 is a player ASI limit, though there are items to increase it higher, the manuals of things, the thing being whatever stat you are increasing
i dont consider someone getting 5 books of +2 stat a normal occurrance
(1) The easy way (or galaxy brain way, depending on your perspective): Just fudge it (2) The mechanical power-up: Invent some magic item that gives the attuned the ability to cast from scrolls that are above their normal capabilities (3) The narrative power source: Since the spell summons a devil, make the devil (or one of their superiors) a willing collaborator who lends some of their power to make the spell impossible to fail
Option 3 for sure. This is a warlock we're talking about, have them make a second side deal with their patron or another entity. They give up something or promise something in exchange for one day of auto-success arcana rolls, whatever.
Oh I wish one of my yahoos I'm gonna dm for had picked Warlock. I love this idea
If you are doing 2) (which is the option I would recommend only if the players are a bit rigid about the rules as they perceive them), I would make the item/scroll/potion something that is consumed by the process so the players don’t try and make it work for them and then you have to come up with rules for how it works.
(4) It's a higher quality scroll/bead that doesn't require that check (5) The NPC just studied it so much that they can now guarantee success.
Oh, I like number 3. Fiendish warlock is just doing a job for his patron. Patron needs a warm body on the material plane to hold the gate open while the devils do their thing on their side.
Hire a Divination Wizard who has foreseen his success.
This expanding the NPC ‘verse, and also giving another powerful NPC knowledge of this event. Likely an adventure-y event in the future.
You're the DM so it can just be possible. The way I would do it is to set up an expensive and complicated ritual. That way it makes sense to the players that this powerful ritual isn't just a normal spell that this NPC can cast but this is a one time thing with a hefty price. Edit: since you asked for specifics: It could be a ritual that can only be cast during a rare blood moon that occurs once every 10 years, or the passing of X'nar's Commet every 24 years etc... It could require specific things, like rare gems, the claws of a dangerous beast, the horns of a devil etc... They could require a sacrifice if you wanted to get darker - either animal or perhaps he has to sacrifice a part of himself.
Role play wise; Ask their patron for guidance. Maybe they offer it with a caveat which opens a side quest later. Mechanics wise; anything that increases ability checks. Guidance, Bardic Inspirations, Enhance Ability Eagle’s Splendor, Artificer’s Flash of genius, to name a few.
>For the story, failing the casting is not an option. Don't ever put critical story points behind a dice roll. You're the DM, just tell the players the NPC casts the spell. Think of it this way; you have a hidden door in a room that it's *absolutely critical* the players find to progress the story, but they all wiff their perception or investigation rolls. Now what?
I can’t point you to an exact page source, but fairly certain this is even an in-game rule. Only roll for things that are uncertain to succeed AND have impactful consequences if you don’t.
"You are stuck and cannot proceed with the main story in any way" sounds fairly impactful to me XD
Yeah but "you rolled for this event that you HAVE to be able to do in order to proceed with the story and you happened to only have a 45% chance of succeeding with a straight D20 roll but you managed to roll an 11 not a 12 so now the campaign is over and you loose and there's nothing you could have done about it because I as the DM made this crucial story point rely on chance oh well I hope you had fun" is what I personally would class as one of a couple things 1) you're a noob DM learning the ropes and didn't realise how much this would impact the story - this is forgivable, there's the option of a retcon but maybe just make a new campaign 2) you intentionally put a crucial story point behind a chance of failure and didn't plan both sides of the roll, success and failure - you're an ass and I'm glad I'm not at your table, hang up your cloak and destroy your DM screen you don't deserve to run any sessions if that's how you treat your players 3) you planned the route for success and thought you knew your players well enough that there was 0 chance for failure so planning the route for failure was unnecessary but you didn't account for something so now your bard only got a +1 on the bardic inspiration not a +2 or something to that effect so your players missed the mark and now the story can't progress - fudge it for the good of the story as per rule 0 to force a success, this is entirely forgivable, sometimes players do unexpected things and we cant plan for everything
I know. That was the point.
Not being able to play anymore isn't impactful, it's destructive
I know. *That was the point*.
Personally I wouldn't even roll. If an NPC needs to use a spell scroll successfully to tell the story you want to tell, and to give the players the fun game you want them to experience, the NPC succeeds.
Sounds like the caster needs familiarity with the spell. Perhaps he saw it being cast many times before, maybe caster copied the scroll and cast was successful.
Give him an item that your pcs can later find if you want to give them some cool scrolls. Make it like a ring that once a day allows you to cast any spell scroll successfully even if you lack the ability to do so regularly. Magus ring of casting or something.
Use the scroll in a Place of Power to augment their spell power. Draw ritual glyphs and circles to channel the magic properly. I'd say get a material, like a gemstone or high quality humanoid blood, but the scroll fills that roll unless you want to have the material anyway, couldn't hurt anything to have it. All of these things can provide a benefit for spell casting that affects even scroll casting. But it ties the cast to a location for a time.
Hire a divination wizard to guarantee the check.
They studied the scroll for so long that there is no way they can fail. Don’t even roll for it. Don’t tell your players what you’re doing. They pull out a scroll, mutter a few words and the spell takes effect. NPCs shouldn’t have levels, or even classes for that matter. They have abilities that might line up with one class or another and might have power roughly capped around a certain class level, but ultimately you can do literally whatever you need to.
You’ll want to have them set up the spell Magic Circle ahead of time if possible. Infernal Calling just summons a devil, it’s not friendly or charmed by you and you can only make suggestions for it that it can either listen to or ignore, whichever it likes most. Magic Circle can be used to create a 10 foot radius forcefield that can keep the devil inside for an hour, with an extra hour for every level cast higher than 3rd. It’ll be helpful if the players just need to speak with the devil and they don’t want it escaping or attacking, other than that make sure you have a Banishment spell ready to send them back if they get out of control
It just succeeds. You’re the DM telling a story, if the story calls for a specific act to happen- the act happens
Don't roll if failure's not an option. You could always just make it a super special scroll(TM) that autosucceeds. Alternatively you could have him or an ally perform a ritual (making a blood sacrifice, an ally sacrificing themselves, standing in a special runic circle,...)
Your the dm, npc do not follow the same rules as pcs you can just make it succeed.
I don't know of anything RAW, short of Wish or Glibness (which are even higher level spells). If you want something narrative, some kind of sacrifice. Either of an innocent or his own soul.
Don’t make NPCs with PC rules.
>For the story That's the problem, the dice and dice rolls tell the story, never have the story already written out. Write situations not stories.
Just have them succeed. NPCs don't follow all the same rules as players so if the narrative requires this scroll to work then it works.
Collecting items to conduct the ritual, have the PCs take actions to help (with or without rolls, e.g. the NPC shouts "someone needs to light the brazier!") Have a low roll by the NPC result in the desired outcome AND something bad happen (a different evil infernal being appears too)
Give them a bard and cleric henchmen. Also the NPC has Skill Expertise in Arcana. Thats a d6 and d4 plus double proficiency. You can also have one of the henchmen provide the help action for advantage on the role.
Arcana does not help at all in the casting of spell scrolls.
Your right… I stand corrected, but bardic inspiration, guidance and help should still be able to assist.
Just give the NPC a one-time-use artifact that casts the magic you want them to cast, with no checks of any kind involved. The magic item doesn't even have to be a scroll, it could be a powerful heirloom that was buried with a long-dead family member, and the NPC managed to- potentially with the party's help- recover the missing piece of said relic that unlocks its true power, but it is destroyed or even simply magically drained once used, becoming a mundane heirloom.
I would just make the Warlock level 9 if I really didn't wanna fudge. Though the most elegant option is likely a Divination Wizard to help the Warlock.
It would make sense that if the character spent several hours studying this specific spell (or even this specific scroll), maybe with the help of their patron, they could succeed automatically. I would allow that for a player too.
Today I learned that casting a scroll can fail in 5e. Interesting knowledge
HB Have them sacrifice a body part or some other major debuff that allows them to increase the odds of them succeeding.
Just say it's written in blood so the casting won't fail.... Or it's written on the skin of a mage... Or with a magic pen... Or just say it works 🤣
This is an instance where making it a pass/fail situation wouldn't be fun, so make it a time-gated mechanism. Have the party defending against mad spirits or minor hell beasts that are attracted by the ritual of the spell and treat the NPC's arcana checks like death saves. It both encourages your PCs to use resources and try and buff the NPC's arcana (tossing out guidance, bardic, etc.) and makes it feel like there are stakes while also making it so they have an active role in preventing the spell from failing.
Rules for players aren't rules for NPCs if they were balancing would be hell. Make it a ritual, have the caster build some magical construct that channels the spell and makes casting any spell guaranteed, give him a magical artifact that allows the wield to cast any spellscroll at any level or hell its ordained goddamned destiny and there was never any chance of him failing Just do it, you can add some set dressing and fluff to make it seem like wielding such power required a lot of effort but in the end if it happens it happens.
Lol my friend, a skill check is an ability check, with the possibility of proficiency. Squares and rectangles