Herpes Cineplex
First Post
I generally stuck to "favorite" spells. Every day's spell rack was essentially the same, unless I had some kind of advance notice that a different layout would be needed.
For something to become a favorite, it tended to be more useful than its peers (like, say, Magic Missile once you get to higher levels) and generally straightforward in its applications (Fireball or Mage Armor or Dispel Magic). It either protected me, hurt the bad guys, or enhanced a party member's stats, abilities, or mobility. There are a lot of highly specialized spells out there, and I hardly ever memorized or used any of them.
Sometimes I'd leave a slot unmemorized in case I wanted the chance to fill in a gap later on in the day, but mostly I stuck to the classics. For spells which could only be used for very specific or emergency applications (Knock, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Shield), I tended to keep a scroll or two around instead. After all, you can never really be sure when you're going to run into a locked door that the rogue can't defeat, but you don't want to waste one of those insanely useful 2nd-level spell slots on Knock unless you know you're going to use it. I dumped a lot of cash and a fair number of xps into making (or buying) at least one or two scrolls for nearly every weirdo spell in my book, just so I could have them available. It saved our party's asses more than a few times.
I also coveted (and eventually made) pearls of power, so I could squeak a little more use out of the few spells I could memorize. If you have Craft Wands, that helps a lot, too. Load up on wands of spells you use a lot that aren't terribly level-dependent in their effects, and it really opens up your memorized spell slots for more interesting selections.
But at some point, you have to make peace with the idea that sometimes you just have to say "I can do that tomorrow, but not today." It used to happen in our game all the time when it came time to use heavy-duty divination spells (Scry, Identify, Locate Object, etc.) or do rapid, full-party transport (Teleport). If it has to be done today and you don't have the perfect spell memorized or on a scroll, then you just have to resign yourself to the idea that you can't solve everything alone and hope that the rest of the party can come up with a workable alternative.
--
that is, after all, one of the reasons you're hanging around with them
ryan
For something to become a favorite, it tended to be more useful than its peers (like, say, Magic Missile once you get to higher levels) and generally straightforward in its applications (Fireball or Mage Armor or Dispel Magic). It either protected me, hurt the bad guys, or enhanced a party member's stats, abilities, or mobility. There are a lot of highly specialized spells out there, and I hardly ever memorized or used any of them.
Sometimes I'd leave a slot unmemorized in case I wanted the chance to fill in a gap later on in the day, but mostly I stuck to the classics. For spells which could only be used for very specific or emergency applications (Knock, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Shield), I tended to keep a scroll or two around instead. After all, you can never really be sure when you're going to run into a locked door that the rogue can't defeat, but you don't want to waste one of those insanely useful 2nd-level spell slots on Knock unless you know you're going to use it. I dumped a lot of cash and a fair number of xps into making (or buying) at least one or two scrolls for nearly every weirdo spell in my book, just so I could have them available. It saved our party's asses more than a few times.
I also coveted (and eventually made) pearls of power, so I could squeak a little more use out of the few spells I could memorize. If you have Craft Wands, that helps a lot, too. Load up on wands of spells you use a lot that aren't terribly level-dependent in their effects, and it really opens up your memorized spell slots for more interesting selections.
But at some point, you have to make peace with the idea that sometimes you just have to say "I can do that tomorrow, but not today." It used to happen in our game all the time when it came time to use heavy-duty divination spells (Scry, Identify, Locate Object, etc.) or do rapid, full-party transport (Teleport). If it has to be done today and you don't have the perfect spell memorized or on a scroll, then you just have to resign yourself to the idea that you can't solve everything alone and hope that the rest of the party can come up with a workable alternative.
--
that is, after all, one of the reasons you're hanging around with them
ryan
