[3.5] Magewright Casting Prerequisite Question

[HaikenEdge]

From the Magewright spells section:


Spells: A magewright casts arcane spells. He is limited to a certain number of spells of each spell level per day, according to his class level. Like a wizard, he prepares his spells ahead of time each day. Unlike wizards, magewrights do not keep spellbooks (see Spell Mastery, below) and cannot learn spells they find in spellbooks or on scrolls. The DC for a saving throw against a magewright's spell is 10 + spell level + the magewright's Int modifier. When a magewright gets 0 spells of a given level (see the class table), he gains only the bonus spells for that spell level that he would be entitled to based on his Intelligence score.

Contrast this against the section on spellcasting in the Wizard entry (emphasis mine):


Spells: A wizard casts arcane spells (the same type of spells available to sorcerers and bards), which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list (page 192). A wizard must choose and prepare her spells ahead of time (see below).

To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the wizard must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Int 10 for 0-level spells, Int 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a wizard's spell is 10 + the spell level + the wizard's Intelligence modifier.

*snip*

From this difference of description, can it be inferred the Magewright is a class able to cast spells even if their relevant ability score (Int) isn't above 10? If yes, is the Magewright the only spellcasting class to be able to do so?

[Stegyre]

I think not. The minimum ability requirement is a general rule. See, for example, the table here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#abilitiesAndSpellcasters).

If Magewright were going to make an exception to that general rule, it should do so explicitly. One should not infer an exception from silence.

[Chronos]

If it's a general rule, then what ability score does the magewright require? It isn't necessarily Int: There exist classes that use different scores for their spellcasting.

[HaikenEdge]

Plus, it's not as though a Magewright learns spells the normal way (as directly part of leveling up); rather, they only learn spells via Spell Mastery, which they gain whenever they gain a new spell level.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Magewrights prepare spells the same as a wizards do and therefore inherit the underlined clause without it needing to be explicitly spelled out in the magewright's description.

[HaikenEdge]

Magewrights prepare spells the same as a wizards do and therefore inherit the underlined clause without it needing to be explicitly spelled out in the magewright's description.

How exactly does a magewright prepare spells like a wizard, when, unlike a wizard, a magewright has no spellbook (and technically learns spells via Spell Mastery, a class feature and not the feat)? If anything, the sentence, "Like a wizard, he prepares his spells ahead of time each day." seems to specify how the magewright is like a wizard: a magewright prepares ahead of time each day.

[Kelb_Panthera]

How exactly does a magewright prepare spells like a wizard, when, unlike a wizard, a magewright has no spellbook (and technically learns spells via Spell Mastery, a class feature and not the feat)? If anything, the sentence, "Like a wizard, he prepares his spells ahead of time each day." seems to specify how the magewright is like a wizard: a magewright prepares ahead of time each day.

The same way a wizard with the spell mastery feat does; from memory. The spell mastery class feature of the magewright references the spell mastery feat directly. They're the same thing.

[HaikenEdge]

Except they're not, since this is the text of Spell Mastery (emphasis mine):


Each time you take this feat, choose a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier that you already know. From that point on, you can prepare these spells without referring to a spellbook.

If the class feature was exactly like Spell Mastery, then the Magewright would never learn any spells, because a magewright knows now spells without Spell Mastery.

[Stegyre]

The variance is rather explicitly spelled out in the class description: each time the magewright learns a new level of spells, they learn int-mod new spells, selected from the magewright spell list. They don't need - and cannot use - spell books, scrolls, or other sources of spells.

Bonus spell slots are granted based on intelligence. The class description makes no reference to any other ability wrt spell casting. How would you ever infer that any other ability might be used?? This really is not a close question.

[Chronos]

How would you infer that any ability at all is used?

[Kelb_Panthera]

Except they're not, since this is the text of Spell Mastery (emphasis mine):



If the class feature was exactly like Spell Mastery, then the Magewright would never learn any spells, because a magewright knows now spells without Spell Mastery.

I didn't say it was exactly like spell mastery. I said they prepare the spells they know the same way a wizard with spell mastery prepares any spells he has spell mastery for.

The spell mastery feature explicitly says he learns a number of spells equal to his intelligence modifier at each level up.

Because he prepares them like a wizard with the spell mastery feat, he must have an intelligence score equal to 10, plus the level of the spell, just like a wizard.