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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Which Spell Lists Should a Spell Go Onto?
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<blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 7353568" data-attributes="member: 6796566"><p>When making a new spell, or converting a spell from AD&D or 2nd Edition, I often find myself unsure about who should be able to cast it. I haven't been able to work out any coherent guidelines or consistent rules for deciding what spell lists to include them on, or been able to understand the choices made in the official 5e books.</p><p></p><p>For example, why does <em>Leomund's Tiny Hut</em> appear on the bard spell list, but <em>Bigby's Hand</em> doesn't? Why are neither of those on the warlock spell list? In 5e, wizards, sorcerers, bards, and warlocks are all arcane casters, right? How should someone reasonably go about deciding what class can cast a new spell, other than saying "that feels right, I guess" and shrugging?</p><p></p><p>The DMG has almost nothing to say about it, suggesting only that the spell should "fit with the identity of the class," so don't give healing spells to wizards or sorcerers because it would "step on the cleric's turf." (Page 283.) It doesn't seem to be stepping on the wizard's turf, however, to let a bard or a sorcerer cast <em>teleportation circle</em>, so why can't a warlock cast it?</p><p></p><p>Take, for example, <em>Tenser's Hunting Hawk</em>. This is a 2nd level transmutation spell from the "old school" days, that empowers an arrow to become a hawk when fired from a bow. The hawk harries your target until the spell runs out or the hawk is killed. Cool enough, and it obviously has to go on the Wizard list because it was created by a Greyhawk wizard. It seems to fit with the identity of the ranger class, so should it be added to the ranger's spell list? Is there any reason at all why a bard shouldn't be able to cast it, too? What about a sorcerer?</p><p></p><p>Warlocks are the least predictable. Their spell list overlaps with divine casters as much as arcane casters, and they have a lot of unique spells too.</p><p></p><p>Does anyone have a system for making sense of it?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="epithet, post: 7353568, member: 6796566"] When making a new spell, or converting a spell from AD&D or 2nd Edition, I often find myself unsure about who should be able to cast it. I haven't been able to work out any coherent guidelines or consistent rules for deciding what spell lists to include them on, or been able to understand the choices made in the official 5e books. For example, why does [I]Leomund's Tiny Hut[/I] appear on the bard spell list, but [I]Bigby's Hand[/I] doesn't? Why are neither of those on the warlock spell list? In 5e, wizards, sorcerers, bards, and warlocks are all arcane casters, right? How should someone reasonably go about deciding what class can cast a new spell, other than saying "that feels right, I guess" and shrugging? The DMG has almost nothing to say about it, suggesting only that the spell should "fit with the identity of the class," so don't give healing spells to wizards or sorcerers because it would "step on the cleric's turf." (Page 283.) It doesn't seem to be stepping on the wizard's turf, however, to let a bard or a sorcerer cast [I]teleportation circle[/I], so why can't a warlock cast it? Take, for example, [I]Tenser's Hunting Hawk[/I]. This is a 2nd level transmutation spell from the "old school" days, that empowers an arrow to become a hawk when fired from a bow. The hawk harries your target until the spell runs out or the hawk is killed. Cool enough, and it obviously has to go on the Wizard list because it was created by a Greyhawk wizard. It seems to fit with the identity of the ranger class, so should it be added to the ranger's spell list? Is there any reason at all why a bard shouldn't be able to cast it, too? What about a sorcerer? Warlocks are the least predictable. Their spell list overlaps with divine casters as much as arcane casters, and they have a lot of unique spells too. Does anyone have a system for making sense of it? [/QUOTE]
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