UA - Anycaster?

[Baptor]

Someone on the boards mentioned WotC made up some kind of caster who could learn and cast any spell but had few other features. I can't find this class on the site. Does anyone know where it is or can link it?

[ZX6Rob]

Back in the 3rd Edition days, there was a type of psionic character class called the Erudite, which had a variant released called the Spell-to-Power Erudite. This version of the class had an ability whereby it could convert spells into psionic powers. By careful reading of the rules, it was determined that the class was technically capable of learning any spell at all via this process. With enough gold, scrolls, and patience, the Spell-to-Power Erudite could eventually learn every spell in the game. That sounds the most like what you're describing.

In 5th edition, there is nothing like the Erudite so far, and it appears from what we've seen of the Mystic class released via Unearthed Arcana that psionics in this edition will be going in a different direction this time around. The closest we have to something like that now is the Bard's Magical Secrets ability, which lets him pick a handful of spells from any other full caster's list.

That said, there's a lot of homebrew classes floating around the internet, and I'm sure someone's put something together that gets to pick from any list it wants -- kind of a lawless land out there when it comes to that stuff.

[Quintessence]

Someone on the boards mentioned WotC made up some kind of caster who could learn and cast any spell but had few other features. I can't find this class on the site. Does anyone know where it is or can link it?

In the 3.5 book Unearthed Arcana, there was a class called "generic caster" who had a tiny spell list but could pull from any casting class.

[Baptor]

OK I must have misunderstood. I thought there was a 5e version in an Unearthed Arcana or something. Thanks!

[Quintessence]

OK I must have misunderstood. I thought there was a 5e version in an Unearthed Arcana or something. Thanks!

I'm pretty sure it was my post that you saw, my bad for not being clearer that it was a 3.5 book and not talking about the monthly article.

[VariSami]

Just as a bit more trivia, Green Ronin Press also had a 3rd party class called the 'Spellmaster' in their Advanced Player's Manual for 3.5. The schtick of the class was being able to learn essentially any spell (I think 6th level or lower) by observing it and succeeding in a Spellcraft (skill for identifying magical details) check.

[T.G. Oskar]

Just as a bit more trivia, Green Ronin Press also had a 3rd party class called the 'Spellmaster' in their Advanced Player's Manual for 3.5. The schtick of the class was being able to learn essentially any spell (I think 6th level or lower) by observing it and succeeding in a Spellcraft (skill for identifying magical details) check.

In other words, a Final Fantasy Blue Mage, except no unique spells? There's a handful of (Sp) monster abilities that are unique enough to be translated into spells, after all. Thematically it could also fit the Spell Compendium spells that reflect the attacks of monsters.

That said - the Lore Bard already fits the idea of an "Anycaster", though it's spontaneous rather than prepared. Magical Secrets allows you to do so already, and since Lore Bard gives you an extra Magical Secrets as a subclass feature, you can have one spell of each level from any other class. Give it the ability to have a "spellbook" and let you replace the Magical Secrets "slots" each day and you'd have a definite Anycaster (and a pretty broken class overall, since you could choose several spells to complement what you already have, in addition to all of the Bard's goodies).