Pathfinder 1E Wizard gaining a level

[Light Knight]

According to the rules..when a wizard gains a level:

" At each new wizard level, he gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that he can cast (based on his new wizard level) for his spellbook."

Does this mean that the spell "appears" in his spell book, or he gets 2 free ones he can learn without rolling, but he still needs to scribe it?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

It means the wizard was slowly scribing the new spells over the time it took to gain the level. They take up space in the spellbook but does not cost money. No roll is needed either.

 

[Light Knight]

so if gaining a new spell level...he is scribing a spell in his spell book he is incapable of normally?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

so if gaining a new spell level...he is scribing a spell in his spell book he is incapable of normally?

It's basically spell research, but the wizard is only recreating a previously existing spell. A 4th-level wizard, moving to 5th-level, could make both of his new spells 3rd-level spells. He couldn't cast (or even fully scribe them) before because he lacked the skill until now. Of course, he can't scribe a 4th-level spell into his spellbook yet.

In game terms, gain two new spells from your class list of up to the highest spell level you can cast. You have to "pay" the spellbook space cost, but nothing more.

 

[Light Knight]

So no time for clarification? Even though technically he couldn't scribe them till he hit 5th?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

So no time for clarification? Even though technically he couldn't scribe them till he hit 5th?

I don't know what you mean by the first statement. For the second, technically he could not scribe the spell, it's just a flavor text explanation for why he suddenly has a new spell. In flavor terms, he had this half-written Fireball spell for the last week or decade (however long it took him to gain a level). One morning, he woke up to a level-up fanfare and finished the last sentence of the spell.

 

[Light Knight]

sorry was missing some punctuation and probably some grammar.....

So to clarify, there is no time once you "DING" for those spells to be available. I hit 5th level, and instead of waiting 3 hours, I can instantly prepare the fireball spell.

 

[Sammael]

Yes. The spells appear in the spellbook immediately after you gain the level.

 

[dnoonan]

The way I always explained it to my players was that wizards spend some of their spell prep time working on spells they can't cast yet. When you hit 5th level, you aren't casting fireball for the first time. You're casting fireball correctly for the first time.

I had one player who ran with that idea and, once or twice a fight, would announce at the end of his turn, "...and then I cast cone of cold. But it fizzles." Didn't cost him any actions, and it was fun to imagine him furiously trying to cast spells he couldn't quite get the hang of yet.

David Noonan
DM at large

 

[Ahnehnois]

It does seem a bit mind-bending, but then, so is the concept of leveling up to begin with. Is there one discrete moment in time at which your character transitions from being completely unable to cast X level spells to being able to cast them perfectly and without error?

Frankly, it's best not to think about such things.