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View Full Version : A wizard that can only cast each spell once?



Inyssius Tor
2008-12-30, 02:12 AM
Okay, so there was a thread about the Factotum a couple of minutes ago, and Jeek said this:
The Factotum casting is extremely limited, each spell may be cast only once per day.

The intent is that the Factotum comes up with different solutions to every problem they face.

Now, that's a pretty cool idea, so I got to thinking: would it be unbalanced (either way) if a wizard could take spells from every spell list--as long as he could only use each of them once? There are a lot of spells floating around the splatbooks, so I think it could be theoretically possible (even if he is reduced to hitting things upside the head with tenser's floating disk after he hits fifth level).

Conceptually... maybe he's working off of this monstrous tome of spells, each of which he casts as a scroll?

Malacode
2008-12-30, 02:31 AM
Could you imagine keeping track of this? Making sure you listed every spell you could find in every sourcebook and dragon magazine, along with their effects, only to be able to cast it ONCE? Ohgoodgod, I'd hate to play this. Balance wise, it might be ok, but jeez.... If you enjoy paperwork, this class would be for you.

Prometheus
2008-12-30, 02:51 AM
Perhaps instead a wizard can only cast each spell once over *insert period of time here*? Actually, come to think of it, they already did that for a much shorter period of time (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/rechargeMagic.htm). All you'd have to do is scale those rules to account for the fact that there are many ways to cast many different spell effects.

mabriss lethe
2008-12-30, 03:15 AM
yeeeah. That sounds like a logistical nightmare.

jcsw
2008-12-30, 03:44 AM
Once? Do you mean "once a day", or "Once, ever"?

Inyssius Tor
2008-12-30, 03:52 AM
Once? Do you mean "once a day", or "Once, ever"?

Once, ever. Sure, a little logistical nightmare-y, but it helps that this guy would definitely be an online character; I'd really only need to mark off each spell I cast and then check that list when I prepare spells. (Yay, the search function!)

Looking at it again, I really don't think I'd ever run out of spells I could cast; There are forty-two published zeroth-level spells, for crying out loud (and that's not counting anything in Dragon)!

Tempest Fennac
2008-12-30, 03:55 AM
I guess it depends on how often you use spells; I'd use Haste a lot, but I'd never bother with a lot of Evocation spells, so I'd consider that Wizard to be really weak. When it runs out of spells, it would just be a Commoner with good Will saves, right?

Malacode
2008-12-30, 04:27 AM
Perhaps there'd be some kind of uber-UMD class feature and maybe an SLA or two thrown in for good measure. That takes a little of the suckiness of having cast all your spells away

Michaelos
2008-12-30, 07:44 AM
Being able to cast each spell once would make Reserve Feats very handy.

jcsw
2008-12-30, 07:48 AM
I'd assume, then, that the spell scribing costs would be eliminated.

Malacode
2008-12-30, 08:10 AM
Hmm... All spells on his spell list? He can cast off any scroll, use any wand, divine, arcane, sorcerer, bard, assasin, anything. Abuseable, anyone?

Bayar
2008-12-30, 08:37 AM
Perhaps there'd be some kind of uber-UMD class feature and maybe an SLA or two thrown in for good measure. That takes a little of the suckiness of having cast all your spells away

Play an artificier ?

MickJay
2008-12-30, 08:54 AM
I'm guessing "cast each spell once" would cover using items as well, so one shot from wand of fireballs=never using a fireball spell in any form again, otherwise it would defeat the whole concept of this "hardcore" factotum. The character would become less and less able to do things as he, well, does them (after some time he would become a commoner with good save rolls, as Fennac noticed), perhaps with a few weird spells left which he had no opportunity to use yet.

Personally, I would find playing such character frustrating - starting out with maxed out power and slowly losing it over time, rather than working from scratch ang getting more versatile. If treated as a one-shot character ("I'll play it and enjoy the power until I'll run out of all the good spells, then make a new one"), it would be extremly cheesy.

Inyssius Tor
2008-12-30, 04:01 PM
I'm guessing "cast each spell once" would cover using items as well, so one shot from wand of fireballs=never using a fireball spell in any form again, otherwise it would defeat the whole concept of this "hardcore" factotum. The character would become less and less able to do things as he, well, does them (after some time he would become a commoner with good save rolls, as Fennac noticed), perhaps with a few weird spells left which he had no opportunity to use yet.

Yep, this. It wouldn't be that ridiculous-powerhouse thing, since the wizard would still prepare spells as, well, a wizard; two or three first-level spells a day, and that's it (maybe with the possibility of casting additional spells as scrolls of a much higher level).

I'd think that, using the normal progression, you'd get higher-level spells faster than you'd run out of low-level ones, but I'm not sure about that. What do you think?

chiasaur11
2008-12-30, 04:04 PM
So, like Nico in Runaways?

I can dig it.

Flickerdart
2008-12-30, 04:44 PM
Once, ever sounds a bit harsh. What about the way it was done in older editions? It takes them, say, 8 hours per spell level of study to get a spell back. If you go nova, be prepared to tough it out until the adventure's over and you have a bit of time to recoup. Long-lasting characters will be a lot easier to manage (Hmm, did I cast Magic Missile 3 years ago or not?) and high-level abusable spells still get the shaft, since it takes days just to get one back.

Shpadoinkle
2008-12-30, 09:06 PM
Yeah.... that sounds just awful.

BRC
2008-12-30, 09:07 PM
So, like Nico in Runaways?

I can dig it.
Yeah, but Nico's spell list is the dictionary.

AmberVael
2008-12-30, 09:20 PM
It's a harsh system, and might not be an amazingly good system for DnD, but it is a pretty nifty concept that I've thought of using myself.
One of the major things you'd have to rely on is the ability to craft new spells.