If you are foolish enough to blow your only two spells for the day on the first encounter and then want to "boohoo I'm outta magic"...that's YOUR fault, not the systems.
As for "better to play a videogame than get turned into a Sage NPC", says you, is what I sez to that! Again, what your character does (with or without their spells) is on YOU, your imagination and your role playing...or apparent lack thereof.
If you'd rather play a videogame, by all means go do so...don't muck about in my RPG because you want more "pew pew."
are you kidding?
If you are foolish enough to blow your only two spells for the day on the first encounter
so lets say you are waking up from camp outside in the woods less then an hour from the dungeon. You are first level, and as such have 1 spell per day Plus 1 for a high Int. You have preped 2 1st level spells.
5 kobolds ambush the party, the fight lasts 4 full combat rounds, and 1 suprise round (kobolds get the suprise) providing no PCs die from those 5 kobolds, you do what for those 4-5 rounds. Out of game that is like half hour to forty minites.
Lets say you do no spells, int hat fight.
you get to the dungeon and the first room are 2 goblin archers behind cover with a wolf. great sentrys. How ever this is another 3-5 round fight, and another half hour... then you go into the dungons get started.
I bet more then half the wizards in D&D over the last 40 or so years would have been sitting out 7-10 combat rounds.
As for "better to play a videogame than get turned into a Sage NPC", says you, is what I sez to that! Again, what your character does (with or without their spells) is on YOU, your imagination and your role playing...or apparent lack thereof.
Lets advance to level 5, and give them 10 spells... You still can't cast a spell every round, but atleast you can most.
My imagination rocks, but I can't imagin casting 2 spells over 3-5 combats being a fun time. I have put up with it knowing better days are coming, but that is still boreing games.
If you'd rather play a videogame, by all means go do so...don't muck about in my RPG because you want more "pew pew."
First I don't play video games any more, last time I was playing games regulary was pre PS2, however I did kinda get into GTA Vice city for a while.
I don't want video games, I want wizards to be magical, and have magi options. I want to play the game at level 1, level 3, or level 10.
Lets look at 3e wizards.
Level 1 Wizards have 1 spell per day (+1 bonus spell)
level 2 wizards have 2 spell per day (+1 bonus spell)
Level 3 wizards have 4 spells per day (+2 bonus spells)
so lets pretend I start at level 3, and everyone else starts at level 1, and I stay at level 3 as the other PCs level up through the levels until level 4.
So this wizard has 6 spells per day, and in the Dungeon with lest say 4 combat encounters, 1 puzzel, 1 trap, and the day starts with that ambush fight out side the dungeon... Each combat last on avrage 4 rounds so lets assume the theif handles the trap, and I am totaly not needed. lets say I have a divination that helps with the puzzel, but doesn't auto settel it.
so that leaves me 20 combat rounds and 5 spells.
Now imagin that same dungon at level 1... yea..
now imagin a slightly diffrent game, one where I have 5 at will cantrips, Light (no big deal in example) Detect magic (see light), Ray of frost, Magic Missle, Mystic Rubble.
i also have the same divination type spell as a rituel that I can use, but it costs gold and time.
I also have 2 "Big gun" dailys like Sleep and Burning hands
notice I still have the big magic feel, but I don't go get pizza during a fight (By the way in early level 2e games the rule was always wizard was the one to run errands for the table becuse he was most likely to sit out a round or two.)