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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 6869514" data-attributes="member: 82106">Yeah, my assessment of 5e casting is that it is MUCH more forgiving than classic D&D Vancian (which is pretty much carried from version to version without big changes, though 3.x removed a lot of strictures on when and where and how you could actually USE the spells). Vancian casters MAY have more spell slots at higher levels, but since they have to define exactly how many of each spell they can cast on a given day they are MUCH more restricted in terms of accessing the more niche spells. Add on 5e's ritual system where you get many utility spells basically 'for free' (no 5e wizard would bother to memorize things like detect magic, its a waste of a spell slot) and you have a LOT more actual freedom.My level 7 5e wizard has 4,3,3,2 slots, the same as a level 8 2e wizard, so he's not even behind on basic spell slots. Then he's got cantrips (4 of them IIRC). Then he's got rituals (I think I've got at least 10 rituals in my spell books altogether). On top of that he's got 2 very solid class features (he can alter up to a cubic foot of certain basic materials for a short period of time) and he has Philosopher's Stone that is a fairly decent buff 'spell' that lasts all day. Beyond that he can uplevel any of his 1-3rd level spells up to as high as a level 4 slot, meaning in essence he has 10 different 4th level spells he can cast (though probably half of them really aren't worth pushing there are several which really benefit a lot from this and would otherwise be much less potent spells). Its true, the scope of the spells is somewhat more limited. My level 4 wizard spells maybe aren't quite as crazy powerful as the 2e ones, but actually I'm not even sure this is true. I've got Stone Shape, which is kinda limited, but I've still found many pretty open-ended uses for it. Polymorph is stupid powerful, every bit as strong as its AD&D equivalent (more so in fact, as there's no 'system shock' or anything like that in 5e). 5e clerics are pretty nasty too. I mean just Bless and Guidance KICK ASS. Compared to an AD&D cleric, who basically had almost no choice except to memorize N iterations of Cure * Wounds and maybe risk burning one slot on Bless, a decent but not overwhelming spell, the 5e cleric is vastly stronger. I don't know about really high level casters. My experience with AD&D was that really the highest level spells SOUND awesome, but most of them are so situational that they're really plot devices. You want certain ones, for sure, but there's really only a few that you would tote around a dungeon and cast on things. Also buffs just sucked in AD&D, whereas it looks like 5e, with the flexible slots, gives you the chance to have both the 'stock' spells AND some of the weird ones, and to at least carry a couple potent buffs that you can always burn in a variety of situations.</blockquote>

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