[3.5] Spellhoarding Template

[MagnusExultatio]

The "Wizard Casting" special quality has the sentence "A spellhoarding dragon prepares and casts spells as a wizard, not sorcerer."

I'm a DM, and DMing for a sorcerer with spellhoarding (don't ask why). I interpret it as changing the sorcerer's casting mechanic from spontaneous to prepared with no other changes, whereas the player interprets it as switching the sorcerer's spells known and spells per day with the wizard's spells known and spells per day.

What I'm asking is who's right, and who's wrong, or if we're both wrong what's the correct working of this SQ?

[dextercorvia]

If you change the preparation, then they need to use a spellbook (or equivalent), and there is no limit to the spells that any character can write in a spellbook except for time, skill, and money. Wizards may prepare any spell they have scribed in their spellbook that is of a level they can cast. Q.E.D.

[MagnusExultatio]

If you change the preparation, then they need to use a spellbook (or equivalent), and there is no limit to the spells that any character can write in a spellbook except for time, skill, and money. Wizards may prepare any spell they have scribed in their spellbook that is of a level they can cast. Q.E.D.

While technically helpful, this doesn't answer my question, or at least as far as I can see.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Just for reference, the Spellhoarding template is in Dragon magazine issue 313.

Note that the template's description is in the context of a true dragon with a racial Sorcerer spellcasting ability, not a character with Sorcerer levels. The true dragon spellcasting racial ability is described as follows:

Spells
A dragon knows and casts arcane spells as a sorcerer of the level indicated in its variety description, gaining bonus spells for a high Charisma score. Some dragons can also cast spells from the cleric list or cleric domain lists as arcane spells.
The Spellhoarding template would exchange, "knows and casts arcane spells as a sorcerer of the indicated level," with, "prepares and casts spells as a wizard of the indicated level," as well as replacing the section about using Charisma for bonus spells with using Intelligence for bonus spells and save DCs.

I see it as replacing the Sorcerer "Spells" class feature with the Wizard "Spells" class feature if the individual has Sorcerer levels, which would include all mechanics of spellcasting including the spells/day. This seems to be the most widely accepted interpretation of the template's effect, that whatever level of Sorcerer spellcasting the dragon would have had gets replaced by Wizard spellcasting ability of equal level.

[Coidzor]

Generally, this is taken to mean that he needs something to prepare his spells from, either his scales as the template or a spell book and he gains spells at every odd level rather than every even level after level 2.

So, basically, he's a Wizard with Sorcerer proficiencies and class skills and no bonus feats. Or, just switch out the part of the table that covers spellcasting for each of them & treat the Sorcerer as a wizard in terms of using and mastering spell books.

Kind of a gyp unless he was able to take things that increased his effective sorcerer level, so that he's actually casting as a level X +2-3 wizard. Like the infamous Spellhoarding Loredrake Dragonwrought Kobold Sorcerer X with the relevant draconic rite of passage that casts as a wizard of his sorcerer level + 3.

[deuxhero]

Spellhoarding means that instead of having X effective sorcerer levels for casting, it has X effective wizard levels.

[faceroll]

Note that spellhoarding lets you sacrifice gems to inscribe your scales with magical tattoos. In effect, your hide becomes your spell book. You can also counterspell spells and add them to your spellhoard, and without any limitation on what can be countered & added (like holy sword or level 1 arcane eye from trapsmith).

[dextercorvia]

While technically helpful, this doesn't answer my question, or at least as far as I can see.

I'll restate my earlier post. He prepares like a wizard. Wizards prepare any spell they can cast that they wrote in their spellbook. Any character can write spells in a spellbook. Therefore, as spell hoarding sorcerer can prepare any spell they have written in their spellbook, he is no longer bound by the sorcerer's spells known table.