D&D 5E Am I too strict?

[Benjamin Olson]

My own approach is generally to just say that the first few spells they learn on level up are ones that were already in their spellbook but that they just hadn't mastered yet. After level 5 or so I probably would say it is time for them to have to buy inks ahead of time for those spells if I was enforcing magic ink rules which I usually don't.

I always found the whole idea of magic ink (with spells somehow always using up the same amount per level) to be mostly silly, introduced for mechanical reasons rather than lore ones, and unnecessary. There is very little need to limit wizard spell copying with money because the DM already controls access to finding spells in the first place, as well as components for some of those spells. Even for free spells the DM controls access to level-up. Adding in the DM also needing to give them money just seems like one more form of DM power rationing to pick on one particular class.

 

[Krachek]

I see the rules of the two spells gain at each level, as an efficient rule to keep the Wizard playable despite any kind of setting, especially those where magic can be very hard to acquire, or gold or ink is also very rare.
so I would not restraint at all the player with this rule.

otherwise spell access to copy is a setting matter and there you can do what you want.

 

[Hriston]

This is why I require downtime and gold to level up, but I see that your group doesn't want that. For instant leveling, I think the best way of thinking about it is that the spells were in the book all along and that the wizard has only now gained mastery over them to add them to his/her repertoire.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Consider that maybe you see so many wizards not because they are overly powerful, but because your players just like playing wizards.

 

[Umbran]

It was perfectly crystal clear from the beginning of 5th edition. This is the first time this player makes a wizard. This is the first time the ruling is brought to question.

The beginning of 5th edition was about six years ago now. Real humans, when presented with a piece of information they then don't need for six years, will tend to forget that piece of information.

Is it too strict of a house rule?

"Strict" is not the word I'd use. I think it runs against the spirit of the rules - when a character levels up, they should be able to take advantage of their new class abilities. You are making so that one class needs to pay extra for access to their abilities that others do not, and I don't see that you've presented a good reason to do that.

 

[ccs]

Nope this is an example to clarify why I made this ruling. Would you make the spell just appear in the spell book. The wizard does not have any ink, not even a feather write with. So how does the spells appear? I am curious about the mechanic of spell writting itself in a spell book.

I believe there's a word that'll explain that. It's spelled M A G I C.

 

[Umbran]

Would you make the spell just appear in the spell book. The wizard does not have any ink, not even a feather write with. So how does the spells appear? I am curious about the mechanic of spell writting itself in a spell book.

Simple - the character has been working on these formulae since the last time they gained new spells. They've been making notes and calculations in all the time between, here and there, in moments and downtime we gloss over. The final moment of actually being able to cast it is the eureka they get at level-up.

 

[cbwjm]

This houserule would likely make me not want to play a wizard. Those two free spells you get from levelling are just that, free, there should be no charge associated with them.

 

[Todd Roybark]

Is this too strict?

You are not being strict at all, from a rules perspective, as you are not following the rules.
Per the a PHB:
LEARNING SPELLS OF lST LEVEL AND HIGHER
Each time you gain a wizard level, you can add two wizard spells of your choice to your spellbook for free.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When you find a wizard spell of l st level or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a spell level you can prepare and ifyou can spare the time to decipher and copy it.

The two free spells the Wizard learns are not necessarily being copied from an outside source, but could,(and probably should), be considered magical discoveries the Wizard made on their own.

Alfred Wallace did not copy Natural Selection from Chuck Darwin, Wallace independently discovered it a decade or so later.

In D&D terms the player ‘discovers’ Floating Disc....only later does the PC learn that some person named Tenser actually discovered it first.

If your player spent money to research custom spells would you also charge them to “copy” their custom spell into their grimoire?

Helldritch, if you were playing in a game and the DM ruled that “Level advancement is free except for Helldritch”, would that trouble you?

I imagine, that is likely how the player is feeling: only they have to pay gold to level up, while the rest of the group gets to level up for free.

 

[Coroc]

It has been this way since the beginning of 5ed. The player knew it. The other players throughout various campaigns that played a wizard knew it and accepted it. It is only one player that is not in agreement of the ruling.

Is it too strict of a house rule?

nope absolutely not, if you got a working economic which i assume, but that goes for all characters: The fighter has to pay for his weapons and armor, no wonderous starting gear but som 200 gold for everyone instead.
i rule even harder, no spells appear out of nowhere, but otoh you can get any spell you want at the Wizard s guild.
also you have to make that clear at the beginning but you sid this already obviously.
you also have to carefully balance how much dosh the players aquire and the relation of e.g. Cost of plate armor vs a third level spell.