D&D 5E How many spells does a wizard *need*

[Ahglock]

My best guess is that Strength-based warriors will probably turn to barbarian instead of fighter. On the other hand, I doubt that 1 point of AC will matter that much.
The best case scenario is that Strength-based fighters (or clerics, for that matter) won't dump Dexterity like they can do now.

Id do want to play a strength based fighter with a lowish dex with a noble background. Have him/her constantly complain about the loss of their armor on the voyage over. Of course they remind everyone that they don't regret their decision to save the less fortunate instead of their armor it was their duty as a knight after all. Take the followers background option and make sure he always says it when they can hear. Not sure if he actually saved them or was maybe saved by them and he's just lies about it to make himself look good.

the next campaign I run might be stealing this campaign idea. Thanks OP.

 

[David Boute]

the next campaign I run might be stealing this campaign idea. Thanks OP.

Then be sure to steal from the same source I did: slangdesign.com/rppr/the-new-world-free-4e-dd-campaign-setting/
And all materials you can get your hands on about the Maztica campaign setting, the Jakandor (Odyssey) campaign setting and The Living Jungle RPGA setting.

 

[Ashrym]

I am going to point out an obvious consideration to what is needed. Functionally, not many spells are needed for gameplay. Mechanically, enough to have at least one spell to fill out how many the wizard can prepare should be a minimum.

A wizard can star with 8-10 spells in a spell book, add 1 spell to the book with each level gained, and will end up with enough to cover all preparation plus spell mastery and signature spells, and still make use ritual caster ability. If a person is looking for a variation then that would probably be the minimum. It starts out with strong utility ritual ability and restricts high level spell knowledge much more in the end.

That would probably be a reasonable minimum for a wizard in 5e.

 

[david.boute]

I forget if it was on Twitter or in a Sage Advice column or something, but Mike Mearls has stated that the Wizard class is perfectly balanced and playable with just the spells granted automatically as a part of level advancement. Anything else is a bonus.

Relevant link:
https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/684469197162721280

 

[Ahglock]

Relevant link:
https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/684469197162721280

It's a nitpick but that's not the same thing as balanced. But 5e wasn't ever shooting for balanced.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

My suggestion, based on what you've said, would be to attempt to give a limitation to each type of character. No extra spell books, heavy armor, and limited magic items? How about limited finesse weapons (no rapiers at the least) and crappy thieves' tools too? Maybe sorcerers are limited in the type of magic they can access--only primitive and elemental spells, for example. Just think about what logical limitations your setting might impose on each character.

The alternative is to favor certain classes over others, which will tend to drive players to either play those classes or intentionally play a more difficult choice.

Either one of those would work fine for me. I think, perhaps, if your player is wanting a more traditional wizard experience, they might want to consider saving it for another campaign and playing something more in-genre for this one.

 

[devincutler]

This summer, I'm starting a new campaign in which the players will spearhead the colonisation of a new continent.

Rescources will be scarce as I really want to emphasise the feeling of isolation from the motherland. I want the players to have to think on their feet and work with imperfect tools.

One of my players will be playing a Gnome wizard with a focus on control. Because of the total lack of lootable spellbooks (the new continent doesn't have any wizards), I've decided to houserule the wizard class so they get 9 spells to start with and get to choose 3 spells when they level up.

The player argues that he needs at least 10 to 12 spells for each spell level to be effective as a wizard, and not be a glorified sorcerer without metamagic.

Because I don't have a lot of experience playing wizards, I'll pose the question to you guys: How many spells does a wizard need to do his job? Is 6 spells per spell level enough?

Thanks in advance

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This is almost precisely what my 3.5 campaign was.....spearheading a new continent with no wizards at all.

I gave the PC wizard warning that there would be no spellbooks to copy from and arcane scrolls would be rare. I also stated that until they were high level, there would be no way back to the old continent with wizards in it (for various reasons).

I instead said that the 1st level wizard PC had stolen or was bequeathed his master's spellbook, and I said it had a certain number of spells per spell level. I then rolled half of them randomly and allowed the PC to choose the other half.

It worked out quite well.

As far as how many? I'd probably give him 6 1st level spells in addition to what he starts with, 5 2nd, 4 3rd, 3 4th, 2 5th, and 1 6th. After that, he's on his own.

Also, I don't think 5th edition has rules for researching spells, but you could always borrow from the 3.5 rules for it and allow it as a downtime activity.

 

[david.boute]

I instead said that the 1st level wizard PC had stolen or was bequeathed his master's spellbook

Stealing this idea. Thanks!

 

[Tony Vargas]

The alternative is to favor certain classes over others, which will tend to drive players to either play those classes or intentionally play a more difficult choice.

5e went out of it's way (or back into D&D's way, I suppose) to assure that classes were mechanically differentiated. That means that almost any campaign - except, perhaps, one carefully engineered and maintained with the imposition of class balance as an overriding goal - is going to favor some classes and disfavor others, at least in some situations (and likely different classes in different situations). The facile assumption, of course, being that it'll all 'even out' somehow (such as being made to even out by DM fiat).

The OPs setting might tend to do so across the board. Sometimes, though, a disfavored class, especially a caster, can end up doing well if that disfavor is reflected in the setting. If wizards and paladins, say, are rare on the continent, then most potential enemies won't be expecting those abilities that are unique to those classes.

 

[Shasarak]

How many spells does a Wizard *need*?

All of them.