No Spell Prep - Wizard

[stegma]

What does everyone think of this. My DM lets the Wizards off without having to prepare spells - they can basically cast anything on their spell lists at anytime as long as its in their spell books and they keep track of which spell is in each book. Spell casters pay a bit more for the book/spells so they usually don’t have every spell.

What does everyone think when it comes to comparing strengths to other characters.
Obviously the Socrerer is out in the dust.......

I play a Wizard so sometimes I feel like its a bit unfair twards the others - I try not to abouse this privelage - but if the DM told me thats how they have been playing it than hey..... all the more fun for me – mind you I still am limited to how many spells I cast/d.

This is a long running game of 2 years almost and its been very enjoyable. Its just generally a house rule to make things simpler I think. I joined in the game just a few months ago.

 

[wayne62682]

My DM does something similar.. Wizards still have to memorize the spell, but once memorized can cast it as many times as they have slots; they don't "forget" it after casting it. I think it is a great rule. You still need to pick what you have for the day, but you don't need to waste 3 slots on the same spell.

Unrelated, but he also allows all spellcasters to spontaneously Metamagic spells if you have the appropriate Metamagic feat (and spontaneous casters don't have the full-round limitation), AND if the metamagic-ked version is higher than what you could normally cast, you can expend additional slots to pay the difference. (e.g. I can cast a Maximized Fireball [6th level equiv] by using two 3rd level slots, or one 3rd and three 1st, or any combination totalling 6 levels of spell slots). His reasoning is that otherwise, there are certain spells you could never apply metamagic to.

 

[Vorput]

Soo... umm... why would anyone play a sorcerer?

If the DM and players and enjoying it, then fine... but I'd hate it. Part of the allure of wizards is taking guesses on what spells you'll need during the day- and then sometimes creative thinking to use a spell for something completely different than you originally planned. It's a class designed for people to think ahead.

Moreover, tack this ability on to a Wizard's scribe scroll ability and I think you'll overbalance things in the game... wizards/sorcerers are already one of the more powerful higher level character... I'm not sure giving them more abilities is a great idea.

Just my two cents.

Vorp

 

[Hypersmurf]

I had a DM who had a similar rule for divine casters.

It was fun at low levels - orisons like Resistance and Guidance (that nobody ever prepares) actually got cast. My druid prevented a TPK by casting two Soften Earth and Stone spells... what low-level druid prepares two SE&Ss?

But around 5th or 6th level, the DM said to us "Hmm... this is starting to feel unbalanced. What do you say we go back to preparation?"

And we were cool with that.

But up through the second level spells, it made for an enjoyable game. I'd almost consider doing that in a future game I DM - ruling that 3rd level and up spells need to be prepared, but 0, 1st, and 2nd level spells can be cast spontaneously. Sure, it shorts the sorcerer. And I'd give that some thought if I implemented the rule.

-Hyp.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

My group does something similar. It actually works fairly well. Sorcerors still get picked because of their greater number of spells per day and they cant get their spellbook taken away, and less prep time in the morning(Wizards still have to take an hour).

 

[Malum]

the 2e cleric was pretty weak so we did the same, allowing them to freely select from their spells. HOWEVER the 3.5 Wizard is not handicapped if anything they have the most powerfull selection of spells to furthering that is not only stepping on the toes of Sorcerers but also creating a further unbalance between spellcasters and none spellcasters.

 

[atomn]

When my group first started playing 2nd Ed. we didn't make clerics and wizards choose their spells ahead of time (because we were impatient high schoolers who didn't read the rules carefully enough). I really enjoyed playing that way because it let the spellcasters use those odd spells that no one would regularly take. It made for some neat, creative solutions to challenges where otherwise the challenge would have been met with the usual lightning bolt while the cleric waited to use his cure wounds.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Soo... umm... why would anyone play a sorcerer?

Vorp

From what I understand, he stated that spontaneous casters (like the Sorcerer) do not have to spend a full round casting a metamagicked version of the spell, but Wizards still would. That's the advantage.