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<blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 6506355" data-attributes="member: 23484">This is an interesting discussion, with some well-argued posts. FAMILIARS:Since the best arguments have already been made, I pull together what seems to me to be an unassailable case:This is true, and it's part of the reason that the form of the creature to be used is the one in the back of the PHB, and not the one in the MM sidebar.CANTRIPS:I am for free choice.Yes. -- the wording is designed to avoid confusion, and we are making things unclear without need. One route is to compare the wording of the Ritual Caster feat, which is very clear on how deliberate the writers have been when they want to restrict things to a single class.For the linguistic argument -- -- a fuller answer is below, but what is written is correct, and it should be singular (warning: grammar ahead).[sblock=About steeldragons' linguistic case]The possessive plural of class is (as said) &quot;classes' &quot; and the plural of list is &quot;lists&quot;. This is not in doubt, but it is irrelevant to the question at hand. If &quot;class&quot; were plural, then &quot;list&quot; should be too. Again, no argument.The ambiguity concerns the use of &quot;any&quot; when placed before (singular) class.Any is a determiner (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_determiners" target="_blank">wikipedia</a>), specifically one that can be used in negative sentences or to help enumerate.1. Negative. &quot;There aren't any mandolins at the zoo.&quot; is correct; &quot;There isn't any mandolin...&quot; is not. The sentence has &quot;negative polarity&quot; (<a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/CELS-Negation.pdf" target="_blank">linguistic encyclopedia entry</a>). That's not the case here. Rather,2. Enumeration. The enumerative function works exactly the same way that the word &quot;every&quot; does (see &quot;possible polarity&quot; in the link above). Of course, they couldn't write &quot;...from every class's spell list&quot; because that's not what is meant -- while every list is available, players can choose from any list, no matter which (Note: not &quot;any lists&quot;.)If part of speech doesn't grab you, there's the results of lexicography. The first meaning in the OED notes that it can be singular or plural:Singular: &quot;a ---, some ---, no matter which, or what&quot;. Plural: &quot;some ---, no matter which , of what kind, or how many: a. Used primarily in interrog[ative], hypothet[ical], and conduit[ional] contexts, ... b With a preceding negative....none of the primary uses of the plural are applicable here, and &quot;class's spell list&quot; is, as pointed out, singular: is there any meaning there that makes this clear?&nbsp; (again: thought there is more than one, we use the singular naturally). Yes.&quot;from any class's list [no matter which]&quot; is exactly what is being said in the text, and it is exactly what is meant.I hope this helps.[/sblock]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Kobold Stew, post: 6506355, member: 23484"] This is an interesting discussion, with some well-argued posts. FAMILIARS: Since the best arguments have already been made, I pull together what seems to me to be an unassailable case: This is true, and it's part of the reason that the form of the creature to be used is the one in the back of the PHB, and not the one in the MM sidebar. CANTRIPS: I am for free choice. Yes. -- the wording is designed to avoid confusion, and we are making things unclear without need. One route is to compare the wording of the Ritual Caster feat, which is very clear on how deliberate the writers have been when they want to restrict things to a single class. For the linguistic argument -- -- a fuller answer is below, but what is written is correct, and it should be singular (warning: grammar ahead). [sblock=About steeldragons' linguistic case] The possessive plural of class is (as said) "classes' " and the plural of list is "lists". This is not in doubt, but it is irrelevant to the question at hand. If "class" were plural, then "list" should be too. Again, no argument. The ambiguity concerns the use of "any" when placed before (singular) class. Any is a determiner ([URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_determiners"]wikipedia[/URL]), specifically one that can be used in negative sentences or to help enumerate. 1. Negative. "There aren't any mandolins at the zoo." is correct; "There isn't any mandolin..." is not. The sentence has "negative polarity" ([URL="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/CELS-Negation.pdf"]linguistic encyclopedia entry[/URL]). That's not the case here. Rather, 2. Enumeration. The enumerative function works exactly the same way that the word "every" does (see "possible polarity" in the link above). Of course, they couldn't write "...from every class's spell list" because that's not what is meant -- while every list is available, players can choose from any list, no matter which (Note: not "any lists".) If part of speech doesn't grab you, there's the results of lexicography. The first meaning in the OED notes that it can be singular or plural: Singular: "a ---, some ---, no matter which, or what". Plural: "some ---, no matter which , of what kind, or how many: a. Used primarily in interrog[ative], hypothet[ical], and conduit[ional] contexts, ... b With a preceding negative.... none of the primary uses of the plural are applicable here, and "class's spell list" is, as pointed out, singular: is there any meaning there that makes this clear? (again: thought there is more than one, we use the singular naturally). Yes. "from any class's list [no matter which]" is exactly what is being said in the text, and it is exactly what is meant. I hope this helps. [/sblock] [/QUOTE]

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