EnglishLanguage
First Post
The Wizard can leave spell slots open to prepare later, and at level 5 he can lower the mid-day preparation time to 1 minute, so he can still be ready for a locked door should he need to be at a moment's notice.
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- Thread starter ForeverSlayer
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Wicht
Hero
Didn't we already have this conversation?
And 6 seconds still beats 60 seconds, assuming the wizard has chosen to devote one of his feats to that rather than to item creation or some other goal .
Hussar
Legend
I'd think the number of times you aren't in a hurry when faced by a locked door compared to the number of times that you are is a pretty wide margin. Of course, let's see the rogue get through the wall when no door exists at all.
Ahnehnois
First Post
A rogue who really wants to get through a wall won't have much trouble with time, if we're allowing time.
That aside, it is always mind-boggling to me that people talk about characters being powerful and then discuss it in terms of them being gimped. If I had a wizard player who wanted to craft a bunch of scrolls and leave spells unmemorized just in case, I'm planning for a party that's down a character, not up one. That's the sort of thing that would lead me to gently make some suggestions to the player about learning the rules more in-depth.
That aside, it is always mind-boggling to me that people talk about characters being powerful and then discuss it in terms of them being gimped. If I had a wizard player who wanted to craft a bunch of scrolls and leave spells unmemorized just in case, I'm planning for a party that's down a character, not up one. That's the sort of thing that would lead me to gently make some suggestions to the player about learning the rules more in-depth.
EnglishLanguage
First Post
If the Rogue can't get past a solid brick wall in 1 minute and 6 seconds, he's already doing it slower than the Wizard(1 minute to prepare the spell, 6 seconds to cast it)
And leaving spell slots open is something smart Wizard players do(because people who don't know the rules in-depth typcailly aren't aware you can leave spell slots open to fill in later), because it lets you fill some slots with general purpose spells(like Grease, Glitterdust, other win spells), then fill the rest in when you either need them(like getting past a wall) or when you have a better idea of what sort of things you'll be dealing with.
And leaving spell slots open is something smart Wizard players do(because people who don't know the rules in-depth typcailly aren't aware you can leave spell slots open to fill in later), because it lets you fill some slots with general purpose spells(like Grease, Glitterdust, other win spells), then fill the rest in when you either need them(like getting past a wall) or when you have a better idea of what sort of things you'll be dealing with.
Ahnehnois
First Post
To me, there's two meaningful tests. One, can you do it right now, which most characters probably fail (and a rogue might well be able to succeed through magic items). Two, can you do it given an indefinite amount of time (which anyone can). The in-between scenario (where you have a few minutes but not more than that) doesn't seem like a big niche in my mind. What circumstances would cause that? Certainly not worth wasting a high-level spell slot on.
Depending on the wall, a 10th level fighter or barbarian may very well be able to smash a hole in it inside of a minute (you're certainly high enough level for an adamantine weapon that ignores hardness). A rogue can wander around searching for secret doors or head back to town for some teleportation boots or a scroll of Passwall. Heck, if you port forward a warlock, you can burn through a wall without wasting a spell slot. There are tons of situational factors, but in most circumstances, the spellcaster's options aren't really going to overshadow anyone else's. And in those situations where they do, well, that's why it's worthwhile playing one.
AFAIC, leaving slots open is a rule which, like crafting and certain other segments of the world, no one is aware of precisely because it was not intended for player use and thus was hidden in fine print in the magic chapter and rarely discussed. Those elements are more to represent what the court wizard or magic shop owner does, the NPC who isn't under the same constraints as an adventurer.
For someone facing life or death with as few spell slots as the wizard, leaving a slot untapped is potentially suicidal. Get in a battle, and you might run out of useful spells, at which point you're a glorified commoner. A sensible wizard will memorize the best spell he can (probably not Passwall unless he knew this scenario was coming), or save it until he actually needs it, and wait a few minutes while someone whose resources aren't limited takes care of eminently solvable problems like locked doors and walls without them.
Wicht
Hero
So I asked my daughter, who is the wizard player in our group (when I don't mandate she play something else for variety) whether she thinks it useful for an adventuring wizard to leave spell slots open.
Her answer was that 1) if you want to do that, you should be playing a sorcerer, 2) when you need a spell, you tend to need it right then, and 3) she prefers trying to guess which spells she is going to need beforehand
Her answer was that 1) if you want to do that, you should be playing a sorcerer, 2) when you need a spell, you tend to need it right then, and 3) she prefers trying to guess which spells she is going to need beforehand
EnglishLanguage
First Post
Again, if a Wizard dies because the spell slots he did fill in weren't enough to last one encounter, then he already failed and deserved to die for being dumb.
EnglishLanguage
First Post
1. Sorcerers get less known spells than Wizards.
2. Hence why you only leave some spell slots open(I'd probably leave about 1/4th of my spell slots open at most).
3. Which is fine, but leaving some open and then taking 1 minute to fill it in later when you need it ensures you'll have it.
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