Celebrim
Legend
I've played 1e, 2e, and 3e and I'm certain that the list of spells I've seen cast is vastly shorter than the list of spells I haven't seen cast.
In any edition there are go to spells. Another player was asking me advice in selecting a spell just last night, and he was intrigued by a relatively obscure spell with a cool but highly specialize usage, and I told him the boring but true thing that I would have told any new player - "if you only know a limited number of spells you want to choose the ones that you are going to use pretty much every day and not the ones that will be useful only once or twice in a campaign if ever."
Just looking at the 3e SRD, a few spells I've NEVER seen cast in any edition:
1st: Hold Portal, Erase
2nd: Obscure Object, Locate Object, Touch of Idiocy, Misdirection, "Phantom Trap", Deafness
3rd: Nondetection, Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Deep Slumber, Illusionary Script, Ray of Exhaustion, Keen Edge
4th: Dimensional Anchor, Minor Creation, Detect Scrying, Locate Creature, Crushing Despair, Lesser Geas, Hallucinary Terrain, Rainbow Pattern, Shadow Conjuration, Contagion, Mass Enlarge Person, "Mnemonic Enhancer", Mass Reduce Person
5th: Break Enchantment, "Mage's Private Sanctum", "Mage's Faithful Hound", Major Creation, Contact Other Plane, Prying Eyes, Telepathic Bond, Mind Fog, Symbol (Sleep), Interposing Hand, False Vision, Mirage Arcana, Seeming, Shadow Evocation, Blight Plants, Symbol (Pain), Animal Growth, Fabricate
Because I usually don't play at high level and have rarely done so over the course of 30 years of play, at this point it gets a lot easier even limiting myself to the SRD to just list the few spells I have seen cast.
For example, of 6th level spells I've ONLY seen disintegrate, stone to flesh, chain lightning, greater dispel magic, true seeing and eyebite. And I've not seen them cast but have encountered permanent illusion and programmed illusion. But that would be it for 6th level spells.
For 7th level spells I've ONLY seen finger of death, "greater teleport", and reverse gravity. And I've not seen them cast but have encountered simulacrums.
I can't ever remember seeing an 8th level or 9th level spell cast.
Things have changed levels, names, and effects over the years so some of these when cast could have been of a lower level.
In any edition there are go to spells. Another player was asking me advice in selecting a spell just last night, and he was intrigued by a relatively obscure spell with a cool but highly specialize usage, and I told him the boring but true thing that I would have told any new player - "if you only know a limited number of spells you want to choose the ones that you are going to use pretty much every day and not the ones that will be useful only once or twice in a campaign if ever."
Just looking at the 3e SRD, a few spells I've NEVER seen cast in any edition:
1st: Hold Portal, Erase
2nd: Obscure Object, Locate Object, Touch of Idiocy, Misdirection, "Phantom Trap", Deafness
3rd: Nondetection, Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Deep Slumber, Illusionary Script, Ray of Exhaustion, Keen Edge
4th: Dimensional Anchor, Minor Creation, Detect Scrying, Locate Creature, Crushing Despair, Lesser Geas, Hallucinary Terrain, Rainbow Pattern, Shadow Conjuration, Contagion, Mass Enlarge Person, "Mnemonic Enhancer", Mass Reduce Person
5th: Break Enchantment, "Mage's Private Sanctum", "Mage's Faithful Hound", Major Creation, Contact Other Plane, Prying Eyes, Telepathic Bond, Mind Fog, Symbol (Sleep), Interposing Hand, False Vision, Mirage Arcana, Seeming, Shadow Evocation, Blight Plants, Symbol (Pain), Animal Growth, Fabricate
Because I usually don't play at high level and have rarely done so over the course of 30 years of play, at this point it gets a lot easier even limiting myself to the SRD to just list the few spells I have seen cast.
For example, of 6th level spells I've ONLY seen disintegrate, stone to flesh, chain lightning, greater dispel magic, true seeing and eyebite. And I've not seen them cast but have encountered permanent illusion and programmed illusion. But that would be it for 6th level spells.
For 7th level spells I've ONLY seen finger of death, "greater teleport", and reverse gravity. And I've not seen them cast but have encountered simulacrums.
I can't ever remember seeing an 8th level or 9th level spell cast.
Things have changed levels, names, and effects over the years so some of these when cast could have been of a lower level.