NPCs with Spells using Spell Attack

[mattcolville]

I give my Mind Flayer a spell with a melee spell attack and I see it there in the list of actions in the combat tracker where it says "[ATK:SPELL]".

The Mind Flayer has the Spellcasting trait which specifies that it uses Intelligence as its spellcasting stat.

So my expectation is that when I double click on [ATK:SPELL] I'll get a d20 roll with the Mind Flayer's Int bonus and Proficiency bonus added. But all I get is a d20 roll. Targeting works fine, just no bonuses.

It works when I give the spell to a PC, but obviously PCs work differently. Can monsters not make spell attacks or am I doing something wrong?

Edit: I searched the forums, couldn't find a post covering this.

[LordEntrails]

It works for NPCs. So some where you probably have the wrong text.

If you are using the spellcasting trait, make sure you have the text right and that you don't have the actual spells added to the NPC (if so, delete them). FG will parse and add actions for all the spells for you (I think this happens the first time you add it to the CT).

The actions should then work through the CT. Let us know if that doesn't solve the problem.

[Zacchaeus]

You need to add your spell to the spell stat block in the NPC traits. It will be headed Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting. By add I mean type the name of the spell into that section making sure you keep the correct format as the other spells that you see there. You will then need to delete all of the spells in the spells list that exist on the NPC already. Then close the NPC sheet and re-open it. The spells will then repopulate along with the one you added.

[mattcolville]

You need to add your spell to the spell stat block in the NPC traits. It will be headed Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting. By add I mean type the name of the spell into that section making sure you keep the correct format as the other spells that you see there. You will then need to delete all of the spells in the spells list that exist on the NPC already. Then close the NPC sheet and re-open it. The spells will then repopulate along with the one you added.

This part I don't understand; "You will then need to delete all of the spells in the spells list that exist on the NPC already."

Let's use, for instance, Bigby's Hand, because it has a spell attack roll.

The Mind Flayer has:

Innate Spellcasting (Psionics)
The mind flayer's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
At will: detect thoughts, levitate
1/day each: dominate monster, plane shift (self only)

It sounds like you're saying "Bigby's Hand" needs to be on the list with Innate Spellcasting. So it would read;

Innate Spellcasting (Psionics)
The mind flayer's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
At will: detect thoughts, levitate
1/day each: dominate monster, plane shift (self only), bigby's hand

Then I have to "delete all of the spells in the spells list that exist on the NPC already?" I'm having a real hard time parsing your meaning there. Bigby's Hand does not already exist on the NPC and closing the NPC and then opening it does not appear to add it.

I can drag Bigby's Hand to the Innate Spells section or the Spells Section, and then close the NPC and re-add them to the combat tracker, and I see the spell listed in the combat tracker, but it still doesn't use the Mind Flayer's spellcasting bonuses.

[Zacchaeus]

Indeed. You will need to add bigby's hand to the spells list. I'd suggest in this case also removing the (self only) from plane shift or add Bigby's hand before plane shift. (If you place it after FG will look for a spell called plane shift (self only) which doesn't exist.
Once you have entered the spell, scroll down the NPC and find the spells descriptions that will already be there So in this case detect thoughts, evitate etc. Delete those spells. Obviously Bigby's hand isn't there in that list. Once you have deleted all of the spells close the NPC and then re-open it and the spells will populate. And if you have done it right the Bigby's hand will have appeared.
By adding the spell in this way the creature's attack bonus will be used for spell attacks and the DC for saves will also be automated.
You can drag/drop spells into an NPC but they will not function as well than if you follow the procedure above.

[lasmela]

I tried it like Zac explained it and it didn't repopulate the spells because the Mind Flayer from the monster manual has (Psionics) added. If you delete this it will repopulate the spells. However there seems to be another problem causing the wrong outcome.

The Mind Flayer in the in the Monster Manual (the book and the fg module) does not have a the description for the spell attack to hit. The innate spellcasting in Matt's case should look ike this:
Innate Spellcasting
The mind flayer's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
At will: detect thoughts, levitate
1/day each: dominate monster, bigby's hand, plane shift

by the way Zac while checking this i realized that the variant version of the mind flayer is missing in the fg Monster Manual module but the book (Page 222) used the correct spellcasting description.

[Zacchaeus]

I tried it like Zac explained it and it didn't repopulate the spells because the Mind Flayer from the monster manual has (Psionics) added. If you delete this it will repopulate the spells. However there seems to be another problem causing the wrong outcome.

The Mind Flayer in the in the Monster Manual (the book and the fg module) does not have a the description for the spell attack to hit. The innate spellcasting in Matt's case should look ike this:
Innate Spellcasting
The mind flayer's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
At will: detect thoughts, levitate
1/day each: dominate monster, bigby's hand, plane shift

by the way Zac while checking this i realized that the variant version of the mind flayer is missing in the fg Monster Manual module but the book (Page 222) used the correct spellcasting description.

Well done lasmela; you are quite correct. Removing the (Psionics) is indeed necessary (which begs the question why does it work at all from the initial par5e). The spells that come with the Mind Flayer don't need any attack line which is why it's not needed; all of it's spells require some kind of saving throw and the detail in the Innate spellcasting is sufficient for that. So, again, you are correct. If you add a spell to this NPC which requires an attack then the line will need to be amended to include the +4 to attack.

Yes, I see that the variant doesn't have it's own NPC. I'll update the MM to include this and to add in the attack portion to the Innate Spellcasting trait..