Make 5E Monster Spells MORE FUN!

[@olivercrouley]

"spells with little practical use-" *glares at Strahd's statblock*

[@semipessimistic]

For disintegrate and power word kill, what about a mechanic that allows a player to choose to sacrifice their magic armor or weapon to avoid the effect? That could add tension and a good story beat.

[@matthewmoran1866]

I disagree, in my opinion if you're giving a monster a spell like disintegrate. It should be because that monster is a dangerous high level boss who poses a serious threat, even to powerful player characters. If you want a boss fight with the kiddy gloves on, swap those options out for other spells. I wouldn't use them abundantly and I would try to either foreshadow how dangerous this enemy is or just have them disintegrate a friendly NPC during the party's first encounter with them. These spells should of course be used sparingly but, consider the Lich. it has pwk, disintegrate and blight and I think that's perfectly fine for CR 21 boss monster, this is an endgame enemy that should be incredibly dangerous to fight. I realize that dying isn't fun for the player in question, but that's true whether you die by disintegrate or just any other attack. The threat of death is part of the game, and at high levels that means sometimes the enemies have very, very dangerous magic. If you want a game where player death isn't a serious possibility, don't give your monsters disintegrate.