Wizard Death and Spellbooks

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Here's the sitch:

8th level wizard levels up to 9th.
He gains two free spells to add to his spellbook.
He is then tragically killed.
The cleric raises him.
He is now an 8th level wizard again.

Question: What happens to his two free spells? Obviously they don't disappear from his spellbook. Does he lose some mental/magical link to them, or do they remain available for him to use?

Now through additional adventuring, he levels up to 9th again.
Does he get another two new spells? Not a bad perk for getting killed...

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Does he lose some mental/magical link to them, or do they remain available for him to use?

I would say the latter. If he is still able to cast the spells at 8th level, then he can cast them.

Now through additional adventuring, he levels up to 9th again.

nah.. I don't think so. Unless the dm is taking the two away, then the bonus won't be gained twice.

SD

 

[Mordane76]

If my memory serves me, when one loses a level, one loses all benefits of gaining that level. One of those benefits is a wizard's two free spells. Obviously, the definition of those spells includes a passage indicating they stem from ongoing research. Still, by dying, he would lose access to some spell slots, and possibly the ability to cast a higher level of spells.


I'd say, for ease of book-keeping and maintaining balance, a wizard should "lose access" to those spells. Perhaps they simply fade from his spellbook, or their words become useless to the wizard. Now, when he levels, if they faded, he can rewrite them or choose new ones. If you go with the uselessness, perhaps they become useful again once he regains the level.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

When you lose a level, you lose all the abilities that are associated with said level. Since, like Mordane said, that the new spells are the result of an ongoing magical research, i'd rule that the wizard would keep the spells and the possibility of casting them. The spells haven't disappeared from his book. Dying is not like going back in time, IMO.

Of course, when the wizard would level again, he would not gaing 2 more spells.

Maitre D

 

[Kershek]

Let's say the wizard had taken a fighter level last before his death. So, his fighter level gets removed. Then, he decides to take a wizard level to replace the fighter level he lost.

Does he get two free spells even though he only had to get half a level?

 

[DiFier]

I think that the wizard would gain 2 new free spells when he went up to 9th a 2nd time. the 2 he gained the first time are not accessible to him unless he uses the forgotten realms rule for mastering a spell book. in this case his own. I might suggest a bonus to the spellcraft roll cause he did write the spells in there himself but that was a more powerful version of himself and his 8th level charachter would not understand what he wrote as a 9th level charachter.

 

[Kershek]

I think that the wizard would gain 2 new free spells when he went up to 9th a 2nd time. the 2 he gained the first time are not accessible to him unless he uses the forgotten realms rule for mastering a spell book. in this case his own. I might suggest a bonus to the spellcraft roll cause he did write the spells in there himself but that was a more powerful version of himself and his 8th level charachter would not understand what he wrote as a 9th level charachter.

So, basically, you're saying that he keeps the original spells and then gets a reward for dying by getting two more. After all, it should be simple for a wizard to take 10 and understand the spells he wrote previously.

Maybe he'll wait until he just reaches the next level so he can die again. That way, he'll only lose half a level but get two more free spells when he catches back up.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

So, basically, you're saying that he keeps the original spells and then gets a reward for dying by getting two more. After all, it should be simple for a wizard to take 10 and understand the spells he wrote previously.

Maybe he'll wait until he just reaches the next level so he can die again. That way, he'll only lose half a level but get two more free spells when he catches back up.

Your [sarcasm][/sarcasm] tags seems to be missing.

I cannot quite see how by the furthest stretch of the human imagination "exchanging" ~5000-10000xp for 2000gp worth of spells is a winning tactic. Obviously you have never played a character who can craft magic items.

 

[magnas_veritas]

When you lose a level, you lose all the abilities that are associated with said level. Since, like Mordane said, that the new spells are the result of an ongoing magical research, i'd rule that the wizard would keep the spells and the possibility of casting them. The spells haven't disappeared from his book. Dying is not like going back in time, IMO.

Of course, when the wizard would level again, he would not gaing 2 more spells.

Maitre D

I'd simplify it. Since being raised makes you lose your HD, your base attack, your saves, skills, any feats gained, and any class abilities, I'd state that the spells disappeared. Gaining knowledge of two spells/level is a class ability for the wizard is the same as a bonus feat for the fighter or the sorcerer gaining spells based on their class, and you're not going to let the sorc remember a spell he gained before dying, are you?

Remember, occasionally you have to throw out real-world logic in gaming.

Brad

 

[GuardianLurker]

Or (house rule), you can completely divorce the "life-draining" mechanics (to include item creation) from the "gaining experience mechanics", tracking them separately.

To see how I mean, you can follow this link:
http://patriot.net/~glurker/Olerra/HouseRules/Adventuring.html#LEL