D&D 5E My Simple Spell Rarity House Rule

[el-remmen]

Actually, this works for other editions of D&D beyond 5E as well.

Essentially it comes down to this. . . any spell with a name attached is a rare spell and is not available as a spell that a PC can simply choose when they go up a level. In other words, these spells can only be found in-game. Of course, this mean the DM has to be fair-minded in littering adventures with scrolls or spell books with some of these spells.

Presumably all spells were once associated with particular wizards and became more common over time, so ones with names still attached are simply still not as common.

This also provides an opportunity for characters to seek out some of these spells or research their own versions of them, if your players are into that kind of thing.

Finally, it also makes possible to make other spells a little harder to get. Want to delay access to Rope Trick? Call it Rary's Rope Trick. Think fireball is too powerful for its level but too weak to go up a level? Call it Fustrea's Fireball. And so on. . .

Don't want your group to have easy access Leomund's Tiny Hut? Make them wait to find it. Want to give them a motive for exploring a particular place, perhaps the wizard Bigby is said to have squirreled away a book holding his various "Hand" spells (I know they were collapsed in 5E, but there are various other versions out there to be converted). Want to give a villainous homebrew NPC some more chutzpah? Name some spells after them - perhaps as a way to introduce spells from beyond the core books.

I have already started doing this my own games and it works.

 

[J.Quondam]

I've often limited spell accessibility in this way, but only by going through the list and starring the problematic/limited ones. Using a name attached to each one is a much simpler way to differentiate the rare ones. Nice idea!

When appropriate to a setting, I've used a similar principle as identifying characteristics to use as clues, for example to discern where/from whom a caster learned their art, or what famous wizard penned a scroll. "Oh look! His fireballs are tinged with green flames and do a splash of acid damage? He probably learned that at L'Academie du Petit Miasme.... which just happens to be where our suspicious new patron teaches! Dun dun dunnn!"

I love this sort of thing. It's an easy way to keep spells, etc, interesting in a setting with ubiquitous magic.

 

[R_J_K75]

Actually, this works for other editions of D&D beyond 5E as well.

Essentially it comes down to this. . . any spell with a name attached is a rare spell and is not available as a spell that a PC can simply choose when they go up a level.

I like this idea and would like to see it as an official rule in the new edition. I'm pretty sure that this was in fact a rule in 2E Forgotten Reals in regard to any spell in the setting attached to a specific wizard. I can't remember off hand where I read this might've been Pages From the Mages or maybe the Wizards Spell Compendium. Regardless, I'm not a fan of spellcaster players having access to and being able to pick whatever spells they want.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Regardless, I'm not a fan of spellcaster players having access to and being able to pick whatever spells they want.

Prior to 3rd edition, you couldn't. If you wanted to add new spells when you went up a level, you had to find scrolls or other spellbooks.

 

[R_J_K75]

Prior to 3rd edition, you couldn't. If you wanted to add new spells when you went up a level, you had to find scrolls or other spellbooks.

Yes, that is correct. In our 1E/2E games our DMs did a good job of making sure spellcasters found plenty of scrolls and spell books while adventuring so they had options when leveling. I liked the max spells known, # spells per level and % to learn spells rules. It really made players carefully consider which spells they wanted to learn.

 

[J.Quondam]

Yes, that is correct. In our 1E/2E games our DMs did a good job of making sure spellcasters found plenty of scrolls and spell books while adventuring so they had options when leveling. I liked the max spells known, # spells per level and % to learn spells rules. It really made players carefully consider which spells they wanted to learn.

And it certainly makes scrolls and spellbooks into truly special treasures. That alone provided a huge impetus for delving for my wizard PCs in my earliest games.

 

[el-remmen]

And it certainly makes scrolls and spellbooks into truly special treasures. That alone provided a huge impetus for delving for my wizard PCs in my earliest games.

I maintain this by having this be the only way non-core spells can be found. When a player finds a scroll or spellbook with a spell from Xanathar's - or better yet a 3rd party product they have never heard of - their eyes light up!

 

[R_J_K75]

And it certainly makes scrolls and spellbooks into truly special treasures. That alone provided a huge impetus for delving for my wizard PCs in my earliest games.

Not only that but players had to take great pains to guard and protect their spell books. IIRC correctly if they lost it they had to find the same spells they had and re-learn them, there was no swapping spells or just finding the same spell and memorizing then casting from that spell book, it had to be re-learned and transcribed.

 

[R_J_K75]

I maintain this by having this be the only way non-core spells can be found. When a player finds a scroll or spellbook with a spell from Xanathar's - or better yet a 3rd party product they have never heard of - their eyes light up!

Makes for a more dynamic game, adds balance and makes finding a unique spell all the more exciting. It also gives the DM some control of which spells they allow in their game.

 

[el-remmen]

To be fair, however, it was a common 2E house rule that wizards got to choose a spell or two upon leveling - well, not in my games, but in other people's I encountered.


One of my 3E house rules was that you chose the spell(s) you gained upon leveling but did not get them until the off-level between new spell levels, representing the time it took to figure out the new spell. So if you hit 5th level you could choose to figure out lightning bolt only if you already had other spells of that same school among those you knew and would not complete learning that spell until you hit 6th level. This made seeking out higher level spells before you could cast them a common goal.