Advice on spell choice (1e)

[neco]

So an old family friend of my family has gotten us into playing DnD for the first time for everyone but the DM and we are currently running The Keep on the Borderlands. Due to some house rules our DM likes to play with when you lvl up you gain points to spend on spells equal to your new lvl, and a spell costs points equal to its lvl ie fireball would cost 3 points.

My character is an elf cleric(yes i know that is not possible but our DM wanted me to play it so he worked it out) and he leveled up at the end of last session to lvl 3 and the DM gave me some time to consider my spell choice, and now please bear with me because here is where it probably gets really confusing. Once again due to house rules My character can pick from both Magic User and Cleric Spells and the way he plays Clerics is they pick a spell when they lvl and that is the one they have, no picking spells each day.

Currently at our magic disposal is me with light, detect magic, magic missile, and cure light wounds. Our Magic User has magic missile, sleep, haste and found a tome and learned fireball. Our other Cleric has cure light wounds, bless and striking. Through a weird turn of events one of our fighters obtained a magic sword that shoots unlimited flaming balls of oil (don't ask). So with all of this information, what would you helpful people recommend I choose for my spell(s)?

[hamlet]

Err . . . eh?

Huh?

Sorry, the house rules seem very complicated.

But anywho, what level are you at? I presume you still have to be of a sufficient level to cast certain spells? 5th to actually cast a fireball?

At 1st level, you should probably look into spells like Bless and Protection From Evil. At 2nd level, you should really jump at Hold Person. Third, your golden spell is Prayer. These are straight from the Priest spell listings.

[neco]

Ha-ha, thats what I was afraid of, yes we are playing by some very weird rules, to hopefully clarify a little, I am 3rd lvl, and by the rules we are playing can choose from 3 1st lvl spells, a 2nd and a 1st lvl spell or a 3rd lvl spell. These spells can come from either the Cleric or Magic User lists and I can mix and match from both lists. Also you only need to be lvl 3 to cast fireball with his rules.

[Fhaolan]

Unfortunately, it sounds like he's got a rather extensive set of houserules that is completely replacing large chunks of the original 1e ruleset. Because of that, he may also be modifying enough of the rest of the system for any advise I can give to be... irrelevant and potentially misleading.

[hamlet]

Unfortunately, it sounds like he's got a rather extensive set of houserules that is completely replacing large chunks of the original 1e ruleset. Because of that, he may also be modifying enough of the rest of the system for any advise I can give to be... irrelevant and potentially misleading.

What he said, though I still stand by my opinion that the Prayer spell is a very good option for a combat oriented group if it's remained largely the same. Plusses to your hit, damage, and saves, and corresponding minuses to theirs. All in all, a win win spell.

[LibraryOgre]

While I agree that houserules may invalidate this, I'd look into defensive magics; your party seems to have very few of those. Since spamming Magic Missiles is easy, Shield is a great defensive spell; however, to be a bit metagamey, there's not much that can throw magic missiles at you.

You might also consider Enlarge... there are several monsters in the Caves that you may find yourself wishing people were a bit larger to deal with. Conversely, Reduce is a good idea for bringing people down to size.

[hamlet]

Yes, Enlarge is a good spell. Especially when you hit higher levels and have a good sturdy meat shield to support. Nothing like +80% damage to really ruin the bad guys' day.

[neco]

Thanks for the advice guys, will defiantly keep those in mind

[Caliphbubba]

most of my experiance is with Wizards in 1st/2nd ed. so I'll recommend some good low level wizard spells: (some of these might be 2nd, we've always played a unholy combination of 1st/2nd so I forget sometimes which spells come in where)

Web might be a good choice. (2nd level wizard)

Invisability last 24 hours(or till first attack) in 1st ed, doesn't it? Might be good. (2nd level wizard)

Blindness .... I have just always like it :-) (2nd level wizard)

Fly might be good tactically, depending on what you're fighting. (3rd level wizard)

Knock could be important cuz it doesn't look like you have a rogue-y type character. (2nd level wizard)

Color Spray can be devestating at those levels. (1st level wizard)

If it were me I'd probably opt to get 1 1st level and 1 2nd level just for added diversity, and that a lot of 3rd level spells are level dependant so will sort of suck if you get them now.

[LibraryOgre]

One thing I'll add... unless he's fiddled with damage, there's a LOT of economy here in going with a lot of low-level spells, rather than high-level spells. You can cast 4 3rd level spells for the same price as 3 4th level spells... or 12 1st level spells.

In fact, except for speed purposes, higher-level healing spells are woefully inefficient. A 1st level CLW costs 1 point to heal 1d8. 4th level CSW wounds heals 3d8 for 4 points.

[neco]

How silly of me, I forgot to add that my character started out with a ring of invisibility as his starting elf magic item (yes I know i got pretty lucky there, and as a whole our whole party has gotten pretty lucky and is turning out to be pretty unorthodox and OP). I had looked at web, and now that i think about it, it has some nice synergy with the fighters flaming oil ball sword as well as a perfect surprise move if i creep up on a group while invisible:smallbiggrin:.

Caliphbubba, how many opponents does blindness hit? I don't have access to the info on it, and already have the capabilities to blind a target using the light spell. Also i am pretty sure that color spray is 2e, I don't remember reading about that one.

[Caliphbubba]

Caliphbubba, how many opponents does blindness hit? I don't have access to the info on it, and already have the capabilities to blind a target using the light spell. Also i am pretty sure that color spray is 2e, I don't remember reading about that one.

Blindness is single target. same as the Light Trick, but it permanent. I don't remember which save it targets, but I think it's Spells. I'd probably just use the light trick if the DM is letting you do that.

Another spell that is in the same vein is Silence 15' Radius denying enemy spell casters from casting is pretty good. (2nd level cleric spell I think)

Yeah sorry about the Color Spray thing, couldn't remember if it was 1st or 2nd ed.

[neco]

Yeah sorry about the Color Spray thing, couldn't remember if it was 1st or 2nd ed.

Don't worry about it, these things can get quite confusing:smalltongue:
Silence does seem like another valuable choice, god knows it would have been extremely helpful had the Harpies we encountered managed to get any where near us, it works on all sound I presume? Also can it be cast on an object and the radius move with the object like some other spells? Meaning that it could be used to make sneaking a bit easier.

[Caliphbubba]

Don't worry about it, these things can get quite confusing:smalltongue:
Silence does seem like another valuable choice, god knows it would have been extremely helpful had the Harpies we encountered managed to get any where near us, it works on all sound I presume? Also can it be cast on an object and the radius move with the object like some other spells? Meaning that it could be used to make sneaking a bit easier.

Yeah as far as I can remember Silence is castable on people, locations, or objects. and it for sure works for helping sneak around, but I forget what the duration is.

[neco]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, just one last question. Is there a free online resource that has 1e spell lists and the like, I have looked for one but no success.

[hamlet]

OSRIC is about as close as you can get, though the spells are not exact.

Better to pay the $10 or so, probably less, that it would cost you to actually buy a copy of the PHB.

[Premier]

Piece of advice: it might be tempting to get tanked up on utility or even offensive spells with these houserules, but do remember that you're a Cleric. It's impossible to overestimate the importance of and potential need for those Cure Light Wounds-es.

[Toofey]

Silence, and enlarge/shrink

[neco]

So I decided to go with Web and charm person for some versatility worked pretty good against the drove of hobgoblins we faced in the cave with the portcullis at the entrance. Twas a hard fight and we had to use ever spell to survive, then got ambushed by 8 shadows on the was back to our campsite. Our magic user died and became a shadow :(, but I did manage to get a bit of him before he did.

So my next spell related question is does 1e have the resurrection spell where you only need a bit of the body to raise them?

[Caliphbubba]

So my next spell related question is does 1e have the resurrection spell where you only need a bit of the body to raise them?

Don't know if you've found the answer to this or not yet, But I believe that it does have such a spell. It's a 7th level Clerical Spell, so it's unlikely you'll be able to cast it anytime soon. Your poor magic-user buddy is probably screwed without help from some DM intervention.