D&D General Why are spells grouped into "levels"?

[Undrave]

Why do spells have "levels"? Why couldn't we have used ANY other term for them?

I have new players get confused about "I'm a 3rd level Wizard, why can't I cast 3rd level spells?"

Sure, this isn't really a big deal - but it would have been entirely avoidable.

Simple fix: Call them Spell Echelons (or just about any other term like "Rank", "Stratum", etc).

Agreed.

Also, the spell list should be my Spell Level and not alphabetical. It would be way easier to pick your spells.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Agreed.

Also, the spell list should be my Spell Level and not alphabetical. It would be way easier to pick your spells.

disagree. Alphabetical makes reference much quicker.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Agreed.

Also, the spell list should be my Spell Level and not alphabetical. It would be way easier to pick your spells.

Agreed.

Also, the spell list should be by class, as well as by spell level. And it should be in the AD&D Player's Handbook.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I've never heard of anyone being confused by this.

I've literally seen, with my own eyes, people be confused by this. Or find the language difficult. And these aren't "stupid people", before any mean-spirited sneering starts!

It's particularly a problem because it doesn't feel right for RP-discussions of spells.

 

[Big Bucky]

Wait til they find out they can be 6th level casting a 4th level at 5th level.

 

[Harzel]

It also made more sense RP-wise and let you actually discuss spell levels with NPCs without it feeling really weird and meta.

So, wait. You think that changing the term makes it less meta to talk about the concept in-character?

 

[Harzel]

I've never heard of anyone being confused by this.

Oh, yeah. Every new player I've seen needs this clarified. The confusion isn't permanent, but it definitely makes people do a double-take.

 

[RangerWickett]

I personally would be cool with a system that completely chucks D&D style spellcasting in favor of something a bit more like, say, Avatar: The Last Airbender. You have some knacks, and as you gain experience you are able to pull off more complex tricks with that knack.

Way back when, I made a system for D&D 3.5 inspired by the magic of the Talislanta RPG, where you can try to cast any spell, but if you go beyond your limits it'll cause a mishap. The gist was that you assembled spells by adding up MP components - range, duration, spell effect - to get the MP total. If the MP total was higher than your level, you had a good chance of failing to cast it.

 

[Harzel]

Why do spells have "levels"? Why couldn't we have used ANY other term for them?

I have new players get confused about "I'm a 3rd level Wizard, why can't I cast 3rd level spells?"

Sure, this isn't really a big deal - but it would have been entirely avoidable.

Simple fix: Call them Spell Echelons (or just about any other term like "Rank", "Stratum", etc).

Eh, it's a traditional part of the game. Like you said, it isn't a really big deal. People are perfectly capable of dealing with multiple meanings for the same word. We do it all the time.

 

[billd91]

Also, the spell list should be my Spell Level and not alphabetical. It would be way easier to pick your spells.

Alphabetical makes reference much quicker.

You are both correct. The arrangement of the spells makes different forms of access easier or harder. It just depends on what your information need is.

Putting them in groups by class and level as 1e/2e did makes accessing them easier for players making their spell choices when preparing their spells. This, however, can also lead to repetition as spells are shared by multiple class lists so you either have to repeat the whole description or have a reference for the user to flip to some other class's list for the description (also seen in 1e/2e).

Putting them into an alphabetical list makes accessing them easier if you're looking them up during play when a spell of any class could come zipping by. You also avoid repetition or having to use lookup references described above.

There are good arguments for going either way. But WotC has favored the second approach for 3e and 5e.