Monstrous Spellcasters

Monsters who memorize and expend spells in the same fashion as player characters fall into this category. A monster that has a character level equivalent, such as a 19th-level lich or a 10th-level vampire mage, is a monstrous spellcaster. In general, monstrous spellcasters must abide by the same rules and restrictions of human and demihuman wizards and priests; monstrous wizards may not wear armor (although many monsters have a natural Armor Class to compensate), monstrous priests and mages may be restricted in choice of weapons, monstrous spellcasters must be able to use verbal, somatic, or material components required by the spell, and they can be interrupted by damage or other distractions during spellcasting.

There are several types of monstrous spellcasters, including humanoids, undead, extraplanar creatures, and (for lack of any better word) nonhumanoids. Most monsters have an effective casting level equal to their spell ability, so a cloud giant with the spell ability of a 4th-level priest casts spells as if he were 4th level, while a ki-rin with the spell ability of an 18th-level mage casts spells as an 18th-level wizard. A few rare monsters, such as dragons or kenku, have the ability to use spells of a certain level but aren’t wizards or priests with levels. Unless otherwise noted, these monsters have a casting level equal to their Hit Dice.

Humanoids: This category includes living monsters that are generally bipedal or humanoid in form, ranging from bullywugs or lycanthropes to githyanki or giants. In many cases, spellcasters are quite rare among their race; only 1 in 10 cloud giants has the ability to use wizard spells, for instance. The Monstrous Manual™ tome and The Complete Book of Humanoids describe dozens of races that have the ability to produce priests or wizards.

Undead: Human or demihuman spellcasters who retain their magical abilities after death fall into this category. The principle examples are liches and vampires. In both cases, the character’s class and level are retained through the transformation into undeath.

Extraplanar: A small number of extradimensional or extraplanar monsters have magical abilities. Some aasimon and yugoloths fall into this category, but creatures that are or formerly were mortal (githyanki, githzerai, tieflings, or einheriar) are considered to be humanoid spellcasters instead. Most extraplanar creatures also command a formidable array of spell-like abilities in addition to their memorized spells.

Creatures of this sort do not need spell books or extended periods of study to learn their spells; after a good rest, or a period of concentration or prayer, extraplanar spellcasters may choose their spells just as a mortal spellcaster would select spells from a book or pray for spells from his patron deity. The actual spell memorization only requires 1 to 3 turns, but the creature’s resting time or other preparations consume several hours at the minimum. In any event, spells may be memorized no more than once per day.

Extraplanar creatures with wizard spell ability are still limited in their total number of spells known—in effect, they carry their “spell books” in their own memory, and merely select which ones will be available during the course of a day. Creatures with priest spell ability are assumed have access to the same spheres available to a standard cleric.

Nonhumanoids: This broad category includes all other creatures who memorize and expend their spells. Couatl, dragons, lammasu, nagas, and sphinxes are just a few examples of nonhumanoid spellcasters. Generally, nonhumanoid spellcasters follow the same guidelines described under extraplanar spellcasters: they do not need spell books and simply recall their spells once per day. In addition, nonhumanoid spells have verbal components only; no somatic or material components are required, since creatures such as nagas or couatl develop variations on standard spells that do not require hands to cast.

Monstrous Specialists: Most monsters with spell ability are assumed to be mages or clerics. However, specialist wizards and specialty priests are not unheard of. First of all, humanoids from races familiar with magic, such as githyanki or githzerai, could quite easily be specialist wizards. Similarly, shamans are common among all kinds of barbarians, and goblin or bugbear shamans are reasonable.

Undead spellcasters could be specialist wizards or specialty priests of any variety, since they gained their magical powers during their lifetimes. On the other hand, extraplanar and nonhumanoid specialists would be fairly unusual, simply because these creatures have a wide array of powers to begin with. Some might be appropriate—a red dragon elemental fire specialist, an arcanaloth dimensionalist, or a planetar with druidic powers are all possible, if rare.

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