D&D 5e Spellcasting Explained in Plain English
Dungeons & Dragons has literal textbooks worth of rules —mainly the Player’s Handbook — but brand-new players generally don’t need to…
Dungeons & Dragons has literal textbooks worth of rules —mainly the Player’s Handbook — but brand-new players generally don’t need to know them. The primary exception to this, though, is the mechanics of spellcasting. Every spellcasting class varies in their amount of spell slots, ability to learn new spells, and general types of spells available to them, and the handbook explains these complexities using very convoluted jargon that simply doesn’t make sense to new players. As a result, new players often shy away from playing these classes. But it doesn’t have to be that way. After giving the following guide to several new players with promising results, I’m confident that it will improve new players’ understanding of spellcasting.
Why do I have more/less/higher/lower spells than everyone else? What does that mean?
Spellcasters in D&D 5e were not created equally. Rather, each class can be grouped into the following general categories. Many of these are never referred to in the Player’s Handbook, but are useful to be aware of nonetheless.
Martial: Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, and Rogues fall under this category (except for the Eldritch Knight Fighter and the Arcane Trickster Rogue subclasses). These classes do not receive Spellcasting or Pact Magic at all and solely rely on their other features and skills throughout the game.
Full-Caster: Bards, Druids, Clerics, Wizards, and Sorcerers fall under this category. These classes receive Spellcasting all the way to 9th level spells with enough spell slots to make Spellcasting their core feature. These classes almost solely rely on spellcasting throughout the game.
Half-Caster: Paladins and Rangers fall under this category as well as Artificers (although the Artificer’s spellcasting mechanics are slightly different because it was designed later). These classes receive Spellcasting up to 5th level spells with a modest amount of spell slots, so they balance Spellcasting with their other features relatively equally, hence the term “half-caster”.
Third-Caster: The Eldritch Knight Fighter and the Arcane Trickster Rogue subclasses fall under this category. These classes receive spellcasting up to 4th level with few spell slots, so they will almost exclusively use spells to complement other features.
Pact Magic: Warlocks fall under this category. While Warlocks rely about as heavily on spells as the full-casters, Pact Magic works differently than the Spellcasting feature.
(Note: for those playing a Warlock, scroll down to the bottom to this guide where I address Pact Magic.)
How are the number of spells I have available to me each day determined?
Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Rangers have a list of learned spells assembled from their respective class spell lists, and they learn more each level. They have access to all of their learned spells and only their learned spells at all times. Druids, Clerics, and Paladins don’t have a learned spell list, but instead pick a certain number of spells from their respective class lists to prepare each day. This list of prepared spells is the spells accessible to them, but those spells can be switched out for other spells on their respective class lists after every long rest. These classes thus have more flexibility when it comes to choosing spells. Wizards use both methods. They have a learned spell list assembled from their class spell list, but they pick a certain number of spells from their learned spell list to prepare each day. Only the spells prepared are accessible to the Wizard, and the spells prepared can be switched out for other spells on the Wizard’s learned spell list after every long rest. This is due to the Wizard having the largest number of total spells in the game. Please see your class’s Spellcasting feature for further details on how many spells can be prepared/learned.
How do I use spells?
You’ll notice on your spellcasting sheet and in the Player’s Handbook that your levels of spell slots are shown. When you cast a spell, it costs one spell slot of that spell’s level or higher. Casting spells using a spell slot that is higher-level than the spell in question is called upcasting, and a lot of spells are more powerful when you upcast them, so check the spell description before doing so. You regenerate spell slots every long rest (with the exception of Warlocks.)
What are cantrips?
Cantrips are like “mini-spells” that you can use an unlimited number of times. They’re basic spells that you can always use, so choose them wisely and make good use of them.
How do I know what a spell/cantrip does and how to use it?
Each spell has a description box with its effects, as well as casting time, components, whether it’s concentration/ritual etc. These are available in the Player’s Handbook and other D&D source books, but can also be found online. For explanations of the various symbols and markers on these description boxes, please see the rest of this guide.
What are Components and how do they work?
S means somatic, meaning you need at least one free hand for movements. V means verbal, meaning you need to be able to speak some kind of incantation. M means material, meaning you either need your Spellcasting Focus/Component Pouch (your character begins the game with one of these two objects; there is no mechanics difference between the two), or the material specified. If the material specified is valued at a specific amount of money, though, your character needs that item specified on hand to cast the spell. Check the spell to see if the material component is expended or not; if the material component is expended, it is used up during the spell and disappears into thin air as soon as the spell is cast.
What’s Concentration?
Some spells require concentration, and you can only concentrate on one spell at a time. This prevents you from using two long-lasting spells at the same time, like Faerie Fire and Bless. When you take damage while concentrating, you have to make a Constitution Saving Throw to keep concentration (your DM will determine the DC, or Difficulty Class). If you lose concentration, the spell wears off entirely. This can be avoided using certain features or magic items.
What’s ritual casting?
Wizards, Bards, Druids, Clerics, and Artificers have the Ritual Casting feature. If a spell is marked as a ritual, these classes can cast it without a spell slot if they spend ten extra minutes casting it. This feature is very useful for conserving spell slots.
What are spell schools?
Every spell in the game falls under a school, which are essentially categories of spells organized by their effects. These exist primarily to describe spells in roleplay and in certain features (e.g. Detect Magic), so don’t worry about learning them.
I’m playing a Warlock. How does Pact Magic work?
Warlocks may initially seem ‘weaker’ than other classes, but this is not actually true. They may have far fewer spell slots, but this is made up for in their other features with the right strategies. Pact Magic follows many of the mechanics of Spellcasting, with the following exceptions:
Warlocks always have spell slots in one level only, which is not true of other classes. They also have far fewer spell slots than other full-casters. For example, a Druid at level 4 has four spell slots of 1st level and three of 2nd level, but a Warlock at level 4 has only two spell slots, both of which are of 2nd level. This means that Warlocks are often forced to upcast their spells.
Warlocks regain all expended spell slots every short or long rest, not just every long rest.
Warlocks have features built into their class that allow them to cast many spells without expending spell slots at all, such as certain Eldritch Invocations as well as Mystic Arcanum.