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<blockquote data-quote="aboyd" data-source="post: 4740513" data-attributes="member: 44797"><p>Wizards are often difficult. One of the players in my campaign wanted to copy some spells into his spell book. He was shocked when I told him it would take 16 days and something like 1200 gold pieces (PHB 179).</p><p></p><p>Wizards also have to pre-select their spells. You must decide at the start of the day what spells you have, and how many of each. There is no adjusting later. If you pick a spell that is not useful during the course of your adventuring day, tough.</p><p></p><p>Sorcerers are easier in the sense that you just innately "know" a small selection of spells, with no spell book costs. Sorcerers are also easier in the sense that you don't need to preselect spells. If you know Ice Dagger, Kelgore's Fire Bolt, and Identify, you can cast ANY of them until you run out of level 1 spells for the day. Sorcerers are worse in the sense that they get spells a level after wizards do. If a wizard gets level 3 spells (yay Fireball!) when the wizards reaches level 5, well... a sorcerer of the same level is limited to level 2 spells. When the sorcerer reaches level 6, <em>then</em> he can cast 3rd level spells.</p><p></p><p>Many people confuse the sorcerer's "spells known" table with the sorcerer's "spell slots" table. One is how many spells you know, the other is how many times you can cast.</p><p></p><p>A trick, kinda hyper-optimizing, but used well by one of my players: Figure out which class you want to play long-term, and then make your first level be in the OTHER class. Generally, you don't want to lose spell casting levels, because at the high-end of the game (level 15+) you're going to suffer if you are NOT casting 8th & 9th level spells when all your enemies are. If you fall behind by even a level or two, ouch. Having said that, our campaigns END at level 15 or so, which makes such worries for us a little less... worrisome. So, start with 1 level of sorcerer before embarking on a career as a wizard (or vice versa)? Because the first level of each class comes with a big starting dump of spells. You don't get such a bounty at any other level. A second-level character who has one level of sorcerer & one level of wizard can cast 8 cantrips and <em>at least</em> 4 1st-level spells (probably more due to bonus spells).</p><p></p><p>Last tip. As a player, I generally spread my ability score points out. If I'm doing 32 point buy, I <em>hate</em> spending 3 points just to get an ability score from 16 to 17. Spending <em>another</em> 3 points to increase it to 18 has always seemed absurd to me. I'd rather have a couple 16s and 14s. But it turns out that having a few sorta-high stats really is only good for fighter types & generalists (like a bard). For clerics/druids/sorcerers/wizards, you really, <em>really</em> want your main casting stat high. This affects the DC of your spell saving throws. Getting your DCs up even just a couple of points is a major victory.</p><p></p><p>I played a cleric with a 16 wisdom. A friend played a wizard who had an 18 intelligence, <em>and</em> had a feat or something that also increased DCs. The end result was that if we were both on the battlefield casting hold person on enemies, bad guys rolling a 15+ were unaffected by my spell, but they needed to roll an 18 to save against the wizard's <em>exact same spell.</em></p><p></p><p>You don't realize how significant that extra 1 or 2 (or 3!) points is until you actually see it play out.</p><p></p><p>Spellcasters should have an 18 stat and not feel bad or guilty about point-buying their way to it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aboyd, post: 4740513, member: 44797"] Wizards are often difficult. One of the players in my campaign wanted to copy some spells into his spell book. He was shocked when I told him it would take 16 days and something like 1200 gold pieces (PHB 179). Wizards also have to pre-select their spells. You must decide at the start of the day what spells you have, and how many of each. There is no adjusting later. If you pick a spell that is not useful during the course of your adventuring day, tough. Sorcerers are easier in the sense that you just innately "know" a small selection of spells, with no spell book costs. Sorcerers are also easier in the sense that you don't need to preselect spells. If you know Ice Dagger, Kelgore's Fire Bolt, and Identify, you can cast ANY of them until you run out of level 1 spells for the day. Sorcerers are worse in the sense that they get spells a level after wizards do. If a wizard gets level 3 spells (yay Fireball!) when the wizards reaches level 5, well... a sorcerer of the same level is limited to level 2 spells. When the sorcerer reaches level 6, [i]then[/i] he can cast 3rd level spells. Many people confuse the sorcerer's "spells known" table with the sorcerer's "spell slots" table. One is how many spells you know, the other is how many times you can cast. A trick, kinda hyper-optimizing, but used well by one of my players: Figure out which class you want to play long-term, and then make your first level be in the OTHER class. Generally, you don't want to lose spell casting levels, because at the high-end of the game (level 15+) you're going to suffer if you are NOT casting 8th & 9th level spells when all your enemies are. If you fall behind by even a level or two, ouch. Having said that, our campaigns END at level 15 or so, which makes such worries for us a little less... worrisome. So, start with 1 level of sorcerer before embarking on a career as a wizard (or vice versa)? Because the first level of each class comes with a big starting dump of spells. You don't get such a bounty at any other level. A second-level character who has one level of sorcerer & one level of wizard can cast 8 cantrips and [i]at least[/i] 4 1st-level spells (probably more due to bonus spells). Last tip. As a player, I generally spread my ability score points out. If I'm doing 32 point buy, I [i]hate[/i] spending 3 points just to get an ability score from 16 to 17. Spending [i]another[/i] 3 points to increase it to 18 has always seemed absurd to me. I'd rather have a couple 16s and 14s. But it turns out that having a few sorta-high stats really is only good for fighter types & generalists (like a bard). For clerics/druids/sorcerers/wizards, you really, [i]really[/i] want your main casting stat high. This affects the DC of your spell saving throws. Getting your DCs up even just a couple of points is a major victory. I played a cleric with a 16 wisdom. A friend played a wizard who had an 18 intelligence, [i]and[/i] had a feat or something that also increased DCs. The end result was that if we were both on the battlefield casting hold person on enemies, bad guys rolling a 15+ were unaffected by my spell, but they needed to roll an 18 to save against the wizard's [i]exact same spell.[/i] You don't realize how significant that extra 1 or 2 (or 3!) points is until you actually see it play out. Spellcasters should have an 18 stat and not feel bad or guilty about point-buying their way to it. [/QUOTE]
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