D&D 5E Wizard's new spells

[Blackwarder]

As it stand right now acquiring new spells is too easy.

RAW say that every time a wizard gain a level he automatically learn a number is spells equal to his int modifier, I find it too easy and unrealistic and it remove one of the better tools for controlling the wizard power in relation to the rest of the party from the DM hands (not to mention advanture hooks).

Also copying spells and learning new ones is just an matter of spending time and money, personally I'm not a huge fan of that, my best wizard character was the one in 2nd Ed who failed to learn all the iconic spells (fireball, lightning ball, invisibility etc) and had to do with creative use of other spells.

I think that the section on gaining new spells is one of the best places to use the modularity and optional rules.

1. For those groups who don't wish to bother the current rule is fine.

2. When gaining a new level a character can try and research a new spell of a level he can cast, it require one week per spell level and (spell level)d6 X 10 GP of spell component, at the end of this period the spell is automaticly added to the character spell book.

3. Spells are only acquired by in game actions, finding a magic scroll or a spell book, learning from another magic user etc...

Another optional rule Spell learning chance: each time a character try to learn a new spell it need to roll a d% bellow its Int score X 5, caped at 95% on a failure the character cannot learn this spell. So a wizard with 16 Int have an 80% chance of learning new spells.

And one last optional rule, Number of spell known per spell level: a wizard can only understand a finite number of spells, that number is determined by Int score - 10, so a wizard with Int 15 will be able to learn 5 spells per spell level.

I want this rules to be written down instead of having to house rule them in, mainly because I don't want to have to explain it and argue with new players who only want to use RAW.

What do you guys think?

Warder

 

[Tony Vargas]

I think if you feel like you have to put that many limits on spells to keep them from breaking the game, you need to just go back and apply a nerf hammer to them.

Particularly the old know-spell-% mechanic, which becomes a sort of spell lotto.

 

[Leatherhead]

I think the purpose of the wizard class is to go out and learn all of the spells, possibly making a few up along the way.

If you don't want that kind of thing, don't use wizards, there are plenty of alternatives.

 

[Blackwarder]

My main incentive for those rules is not that spells are breaking the game it because different groups enjoy different flavors of play.

I don't want the rules to be so rigid in that regard, kust like in any other place of the play test I would like to have some optional rules for getting new spells...

Personally, I love the old know-spell-% mechanic and my old group loved the old known-spells-per-level mechanic because it made the action of learning a new spell more strategic on the long term play. We liked it, I know that some folks don't hence optional rules.

Warder

 

[FireLance]

If the DM needs to control the power of wizard PCs relative to the rest of the party, something is already wrong with the game system (IMO).

That said, I can see some interesting ways to limit and/or add variety to the spells in a wizard's spellbook:

1. Spell learning rolls. The wizard needs to roll an Intelligence or Arcana check at level-up to determine which spells he is able to add to his spellbook. As an option, the wizard can re-try a failed check each time he gains a level. If this seems like too much of a "lottery", a hybrid approach may be for the wizard to select one spell and to roll for the rest.

2. Maximum spells known. Ideally, this should be a limit on the total number of spells known and not expressed on a per level basis. If a wizard is able to learn meteor swarm, it makes no sense to me that he cannot learn fireball instead simply because he already knows the maximum number of 3rd-level spells.

3. Spell rarity. Spells could have different levels of rarity which affect how easy it is to acquire them. For example, perhaps a wizard is guaranteed to be able to learn (say) common spells, needs to make an Intelligence check to acquire an uncommon spell, and can only learn a rare spell by in-game actions (and a wizard can only learn a maximum number of rare spells equal to his Intelligence modifier).

 

[Li Shenron]

As it stand right now acquiring new spells is too easy.

...

What do you guys think?

I think I'll still rely on enforcing the idea that first, you need to find a source to learn the spell from.

The number of additional spells learned automatically when levelling up is much higher than in 3ed tho... used to be 2/level, but now it's quite easy for a human wizard with the ridiculous ability score bonuses to get 4-5/level additional spells. It's way too many in principle, although with basically just 1 slot/level the overall power might be still somewhat balanced.

 

[Mattachine]

I used the % chance to know spells mechanic when I DMed AD&D. It was fine and all, until the magic-user blew the % know roll on a key spell, like dispel magic or fly. Then it sucked, terribly.

 

[howandwhy99]

So I think it used to be that you could choose to hunt down magic bearing creatures, especially ones that might have scrolls to improve what spells you knew. Spells are the primary treasure for Magic Users after all. By having a rigorous design of how treasure was distributed according to challenge level across the whole game, the acquiring of better treasure (spells) was a normal part of the game.

Magic Items are now all Bonus Power. They aren't measured into what the game expects for characters. I like that, but I'd point out somewhere in adventure design (I guess Encounter budgeting is this) that enemies have and use magic items too. If you put a lot in the game, make sure you raise the power of the challenges with magic as well.

In terms of boosting the Wizard's spell power I guess we'll likely see magic items that boost the cleric's spell list too - though they are spontaneous casters who prep their daily spell list from an overall one. That's even more powerful than arcane magic. I think we'll see the corresponding document to Spells, Maneuvers, receive a lot of magic items too. That should balance things out for the classes.

 

[darjr]

I REALLY enjoy the whole thing about finding spells during adventuring. I hope this is part of the game and wizards will need to find some.

A rarity to spells sounds good. But maybe to fiddly and falls into the domain of campaign design.

Just take away the automatic access to all new spells (not chance to know spells, I think that's different) and let the DM decide on rarity.

 

[jefgorbach]

IMO the default presumption is magic is relatively commonplace so gaining spells essentially entailed visiting the nearest Major city's Wizard College Library for some quick research. Presumably the resulting entrance exam/sweet-talking mechanically resulting in granting you an allowance equal to your Int-Modifier in free spells.