Silly question about spellcasters

[Bulldoghk]

Hi I have a question about spell casting. I am new and tried to find a search function but did not see one so I apologize if this was answered already.

I don't usually play spell casters and I had a question about how spells work. I want to make sure I'm not cheating myself or the game. How do you figure out how many D a given spell actually gets based on level.

What I mean is for example The Orb spells from Spell Compendium say you get 1D8 per two caster levels. I would take that to mean as a fifth level caster I would get 3D8. But the spell is second level, does that at all factor in?

Do you start counting from the level the spell becomes available? Like for the above example would I only get 1D8 since I got the spell at 4th level as a warmage?

Scorching ray also fits into this category for me. I've asked people I play with and I've gotten answers on both sides of the fence. Any help as to what is correct would be appreciated.

 

[Starbuck_II]

Hi I have a question about spell casting. I am new and tried to find a search function but did not see one so I apologize if this was answered already.

I don't usually play spell casters and I had a question about how spells work. I want to make sure I'm not cheating myself or the game. How do you figure out how many D a given spell actually gets based on level.

What I mean is for example The Orb spells from Spell Compendium say you get 1D8 per two caster levels. I would take that to mean as a fifth level caster I would get 3D8. But the spell is second level, does that at all factor in?

Do you start counting from the level the spell becomes available? Like for the above example would I only get 1D8 since I got the spell at 4th level as a warmage?

Scorching ray also fits into this category for me. I've asked people I play with and I've gotten answers on both sides of the fence. Any help as to what is correct would be appreciated.

Nope. You start counting from your caster level.

This is why Fireball does a minimum 5d6. The earliest a Wizard can cast Fireball is 5th level (Fireball is a 3rd level spell).

Scorching Ray is special. Reread the desicription: 4d6 at level 3 (earliest cast a 2nd level spell), but 7th and 11th level you get an additional ray.

 

[Bulldoghk]

Thanks I thought that was the case, I appreciate the response

 

[Hypersmurf]

What I mean is for example The Orb spells from Spell Compendium say you get 1D8 per two caster levels. I would take that to mean as a fifth level caster I would get 3D8.

If the spell says "1d8 per two caster levels", then at 5th level, you deal 2d8 damage. You don't have a third "two caster levels" in hand until you're 6th level. Effectively, take your level, divide by two, and round down.

If it says "1d8, plus 1d8 per two caster levels after first" (similar to the wording for how many Magic Missiles you get), then at 5th level you deal 3d8... you have two "two caster levels" after first, so you deal 1d8, plus two more 1d8s.

-Hyp.