D&D 5E Spell Preparation: Leaving Slots Open

[the Jester]

You can change that list any time you want, assuming you've had a long rest since the last time you changed the list, and spend the time to change it. You don't need to wait until the next day to swap out spells on your list if you haven't changed the list since your last long rest.

You kind of do. You can only take one long rest per 24 hours.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest.

A character can't benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period, and a character must have at least 1 hit point at the start of the rest to gain its benefits.

 

[occam]

You can change that list any time you want, assuming you've had a long rest since the last time you changed the list, and spend the time to change it. You don't need to wait until the next day to swap out spells on your list if you haven't changed the list since your last long rest.

You kind of do. You can only take one long rest per 24 hours.

Please reread what I wrote. You don't need to wait until the next day to change your spell list, if you haven't changed it since your last long rest. Unlike 3e and prior, you don't have to prepare/memorize the list every day; you can keep your list from the previous day, then change it if you feel you need to, anytime between long rests. There's no need to "leave slots open" as in 3e; you get to change your spell list once per day, at any time.

 

[thewok]

In Pathfinder/3E ... they never explicitly stated in those editions you could leave slots open.

Yes they did.

From the D20 SRD:
"When preparing spells for the day, a wizard can leave some of these spell slots open. Later during that day, she can repeat the preparation process as often as she likes, time and circumstances permitting. During these extra sessions of preparation, the wizard can fill these unused spell slots. She cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared spell to replace it with another one or fill a slot that is empty because she has cast a spell in the meantime. That sort of preparation requires a mind fresh from rest. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least 15 minutes, and it takes longer if the wizard prepares more than one-quarter of her spells."

I would have the casters prepare all spells at the start of the day. It's part of the strategy of playing the class. They already have loads more flexibility than they did in 3E. The Sorcerer gets to choose spells on the fly from his entire list. His tradeoff is having a much, much smaller list from which to choose.

 

[jrowland]

So when I tell you "for your meal, please pick three dishes from the menu" in informal language there aren't all kinds of possible interpretations, there's only one. (There's no need to say pick three and only three. Nor do you need to add three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three.)

But the PHB can't talk back at you.

But the DM can, and should, using natural language.

You don't do that with your friends: "You just told me you were away for six hours, but yesterday you told me you didn't leave until two o'clock and I checked our train ticket: we met half past seven. That only leaves five and a half hour. You're inconsistent and probably hiding something. Tell me now! Confess!!"

Nor do friends bypass the natural language of their guide (the DM) and turn to a manual and say "you're doing it badwrong!"

Instead, when you read "natural language", you expect kind-of-sloppy inexact phrasings that you interpret in the most straight-forward way possible.

Or you turn turn the guy running the game (the DM) and ask. And just go with what they think is best, because the game can survive a player walking away in disgust, but it can't when DMs walk away.

Rule 0 always trumps any interpretation

 

[jrowland]

The "When..." is definitive. It has no qualifier. When you prepare spells, you do the entire amount. So no slots should be empty save to screw yourself. When you want to change, it has to be a long rest. A natural reading of the "When..." text I overlooked. That means one time between long rests. Oh well, it wouldn't have been that great an advantage, though I do prefer the fiction of preparing a spell when needed rather than all at once.

if RAW floats your boat more than your preferred fiction, more power to you. But I think you are over-inflating the "houserule" aspect of this. It's an interpretation. If every interpretation had to be codified and written up, I suppose I could see the reluctance, but I think this is easily "remembered".

Do it, RAW be damned, and focus on the fiction.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

"You prepare the list of wizard spells that are available
for you to cast. To do so, choose a number of wizard spells
from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier +
your wizard level (minimum of one spell). The spells must
be of a level for which you have spell slots.
...
You can change your list of prepared spells when
you finish a long rest." Player's Basic Rules, p.30

The rules tell you you can prepare your spells. It doesn't mention anything about when. But the only time it says you can change them is after a long rest.

So sure, you can leave spell preparations open when your caster enters the game in your first session. But the only time you can make changes to your list (which is what preparing a spell is) is after a long rest.

So no, you cannot leave a spell preparation open and fill it later in the day without a house rule.

 

[jrowland]

"You prepare the list of wizard spells that are available
for you to cast. To do so, choose a number of wizard spells
from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier +
your wizard level (minimum of one spell). The spells must
be of a level for which you have spell slots.
...
You can change your list of prepared spells when
you finish a long rest." Player's Basic Rules, p.30

The rules tell you you can prepare your spells. It doesn't mention anything about when. But the only time it says you can change them is after a long rest.

So sure, you can leave spell preparations open when your caster enters the game in your first session. But the only time you can make changes to your list (which is what preparing a spell is) is after a long rest.

So no, you cannot leave a spell preparation open and fill it later in the day without a house rule.

You're forgetting that if you left one unprepared yesterday, eg. then had a long rest, you could, at any time during the day after the long rest, prepare it.

 

[CapnZapp]

Please reread what I wrote. You don't need to wait until the next day to change your spell list, if you haven't changed it since your last long rest. Unlike 3e and prior, you don't have to prepare/memorize the list every day; you can keep your list from the previous day, then change it if you feel you need to, anytime between long rests. There's no need to "leave slots open" as in 3e; you get to change your spell list once per day, at any time.

I believe he did read what you said.

And then he refuted it.

As others have already posted, the one opportunity to change your list of prepared spells is right after a long rest.

You do it any other time, you're expanding upon the PHB. An excellent house rule, but not what a straightforward reading gives you.

 

[CapnZapp]

But the DM can, and should, using natural language.



Nor do friends bypass the natural language of their guide (the DM) and turn to a manual and say "you're doing it badwrong!"



Or you turn turn the guy running the game (the DM) and ask. And just go with what they think is best, because the game can survive a player walking away in disgust, but it can't when DMs walk away.

Rule 0 always trumps any interpretation

Everything you just said is true.

But nothing you said is relevant to the case in hand: here at the forums, we have no DM. We have to discuss the rules as written But Not Yet Interpreted By A Human DM.

Rule -1 if you will.

The baseline from which you, or I, later add our own interpretations.

As I've said upthread, the only aspect I'm interested in discussing is not to confuse this baseline from your interpretation.

Because my interpretation might differ from yours, it's best to use the conservative reading as the assumed baseline.

For example, when Celtavian started this thread, he asked how others read a certain passage. He got answers.

What's left is to encourage him to make his own preferred interpretations even if they're more expansive than the baseline.

Cheers

 

[GX.Sigma]

You're forgetting that if you left one unprepared yesterday, eg. then had a long rest, you could, at any time during the day after the long rest, prepare it.

Where is that implied? In the rules, it says you can change your list of prepared spells "when you finish a long rest." Not "any time during the day after you finish a long rest."

So like, you take a long rest. The DM says "Your rest is uninterrupted," and the players reset their HP, HD, spell slots, etc. You can change your list of prepared spells at this time. The next time you get an opportunity to change your list of prepared spells is the next time you finish a long rest.