Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 MrRezister Aug 03, 2014 18:06:17	I have never DM'd a game before, so 5e will be a great introduction I think. The rules are simple enough that I can remember most of them, and/or figure them out without too much prior knowledge.   One thing I would like to know from you more experienced Masters, are some hints for delivering "player specific" information to one or more players at a time without announcing it to the entire team.  For example, I may want to let the rogue know that the shop keeper is informing him via 'thieves cant' of the location of potential loot and/or a fence for questionable aquisitions.  I understand that I can just announce to the whole table; "Rogue, you pick up on....." or something similar, but I would love to be able to give the players chances to reveal their secret knowledge (or withold it) through their roleplaying, with as little metagaming as possible.  What do you guys think? Should I prepare some notes ahead of time and pass them out as needed?   Also, could I get some clarification on spell preparation and slots?  For example, if my wizard il lvl 4, she has a certain # of lvl 1 or lvl 2 spell slots, which define how many of each spell she can cast, but does it also define how many of each level spell she can prepare for that day, or could she prepare all 1st level spells and then just cast them at whichever level is appropriate at the time?
#2 Swede1985 Aug 03, 2014 18:15:34	In response to your first question, it depends on how you want to do it. Privaleged information at my table is sometimes just said for all to hear and everyone just plays nice about. Old school days it was passing notes to the DM and vice-versa which led to a many suspicious player. Nowadays Instant Messaging is great! If you all have phones you can just text them...just make sure it doesn't get out of hand. Second question. There should be a list of how many spells a caster can prepare as well as spell slots. Wizards know as many spells in their spell book and clerics get access to spells associated with their domain, usually.
#3 gregsc Aug 03, 2014 21:42:11	A Cleric can prepare a number of spells equal to Wisdom modifier plus Cleric level.  So a first level Cleric with a +2 Wisdom modifier can prepare three spells, even though the cleric only has two spell slots to use. I haven't read the rules for Wizard, but I assume they're similar.   The cleric also gets two spells from its Domain that are always prepared. So this cleric would actually have five prepared spells, with two spell slots to use. Again, I assume Wizards are similar with Schools of Magic.
#4 BoldItalic Aug 04, 2014 3:30:41	Number of spells that wizards can prepare works much the same as for clerics except with Int modifier instead of Wis   Basic PDF wrote:
#5 iserith Aug 04, 2014 5:44:22	MrRezister wrote:
#6 Steeliie Aug 04, 2014 9:50:23	I was just looking at the rules relating to your second question myself.   The number of spell slots is the number of times a character can use spells of each level before a long rest. This is the same for both Clerics and Wizards and you can find the table in the Basic PDF (p. 21/29). When a spell is cast, the caster chooses a spell slot to fill. A spell can use any slot of the same level or higher than the spell's level but cannot fit in a slot of a lower level than the spell. Some spells cast using higher level slots become more powerful.   Prepared spells are the spells the character has available to use each day (a prepared spell can be used multiple times as long as a suitable spell slot is available).   A Cleric prepares a number of spells determined by their domain and in addition can prepare a number of spells equal to their Wisdom modifier + Cleric level from the Cleric Spell List (Basic p. 82).   A Wizard prepares a number of spells equal to their Intelligence modifier + Wizard level from their spellbook. The spellbook contains 6 spells at 1st level, plus an additional 2 spells per Wizard level thereafter (chosen from the Wizard Spell List), as well as any other spells that the Wizard has copied from other sources. A spell can only be copied into your spellbook if you would normally have spell slots of its level available.   Cantrips are completely separate and don't need to be prepared or have a spell slot available to cast. The number of cantrips available at each level is given on the table on page 21/29 and they are chosen from the list on page 82.
#7 Aldente Aug 04, 2014 13:18:32	In some circumstances, you may be able to pass along private information between sessions. For instance, in your example, you may decide to follow up with the player via email after the session to let him/her know, and the player can act on it during the next session. It won't work for pick-up games (e.g., Encounters), but it's something. Also, if it's really time-dependent (e.g., the shopkeeper is telling the rogue that the NPC in the rogue's party is really a crony of the BBEG intending to kill them all), I've found that the rogue will almost always want to relay the information, so there's no harm done by sharing outloud as others have suggested.   Welcome to DMing!