Spellcasting

[Etl17]

I have generally disliked the 5th edition spellcasting rules. I feel as if spell slots and spell preparation do not click. Does anyone else agree?

[JNAProductions]

I have generally disliked the 5th edition spellcasting rules. I feel as if spell slots and spell preparation do not click. Does anyone else agree?

What do you mean by that?

[Quintessence]

I have generally disliked the 5th edition spellcasting rules. I feel as if spell slots and spell preparation do not click. Does anyone else agree?

What are you talking about? This is basically the same system as 3.5... Unless you came from 4th then I could understand the issue.

[RickAllison]

5e was my introduction to D&D, so I can't look at it from a historical perspective. From my current outlook, I see spell slots as magical power, while spell preparation is knowledge of the magics.

This is why spell slots are fairly uniform across casters, but only the spellcasters with a firm grasp on the source of their power (clerics and deities, Druids and nature, wizards and the weave) can change around those spells. Bards and sorcerers are more free-form, picking up magic at an instinctual level, which is why they have a more committed set of spells.

[DragonSorcererX]

I have generally disliked the 5th edition spellcasting rules. I feel as if spell slots and spell preparation do not click. Does anyone else agree?

Spell Points Variant - DMG page 288.

[Etl17]

What are you talking about? This is basically the same system as 3.5... Unless you came from 4th then I could understand the issue.
First preparing a spell and then instantly having x number of slots available for it, i find has been a bit of a hassle. I prefer to merely have my players prepare the spells they wish to use, preparing them multiple times if necessary.

[fishyfishyfishy]

First preparing a spell and then instantly having x number of slots available for it, i find has been a bit of a hassle. I prefer to merely have my players prepare the spells they wish to use, preparing them multiple times if necessary.

That's more restrictive than necessary and just creates even more upkeep and limits flexibility. That's basically how every other edition besides 4e handled it as well. These points can be positive or negative depending on your perspective. I personally think the system works fine as is.

[RickAllison]

Please don't let this become another edition war thread. If this about brewing up a system like the older ones, the homebrew section is better. If it is a comparison of the two systems in general, it is better suited for the general Roleplaying Games forum.

[Quintessence]

First preparing a spell and then instantly having x number of slots available for it, i find has been a bit of a hassle. I prefer to merely have my players prepare the spells they wish to use, preparing them multiple times if necessary.

I dunno, the flexibility of the "new" system feels like it leads to less homework if you will. You spent less time worrying about how many times you will need X spell and instead can focus on what spells you need in general.

[ClintACK]

First preparing a spell and then instantly having x number of slots available for it, i find has been a bit of a hassle....

Can you give an example of the "hassle" this has caused you?

[JumboWheat01]

I dunno, the flexibility of the "new" system feels like it leads to less homework if you will. You spent less time worrying about how many times you will need X spell and instead can focus on what spells you need in general.

I agree with this. While it does give the shaft to known casters, at least compared to their old 3.5 selves, the ability to choose what you need without having to do any guessing as to HOW many times you need to cast it really opens up a lot of spell work for prepared casters.

I'd rather say "Yes, I'll prepare Protection from Good and Evil today, in case we encounter something that I can use it against." over "Err... how many times will I need to use Protection from Evil? Will we even be encountering any evil enemies, or will we have some good enemies who are on a vendetta? Of course, I'll need enough slots to cast it on everyone. Or should I use a higher level slot on Circle of Protection from Evil? But what if someone needs it later due to being dispelled? I should have some single-target versions on hand..."

[R.Shackleford]

I keep hearing people say that 4e is so drastically different from 3e/5e when it comes to spell casting.

Sorry, but, not really.

The Lv. 1 wizard for example.

You had 2 (or 3) at-will (typically damaging) spells you could cast plus you got some utility cantrips (some at will and some encounter) sounds just like 5e.

You had 1 encounter power per short rest. The 5e wizard can get back spell slots and you essentially have encounter spells.

The wizard had X spells know and could prepare (X - Y) spells per day. Then they could only cast those a specific number of times per day.

It may not have looked like it, but the 4e Wizard was still a vancian caster.

You could expand your spell book in 4e so that you could learn more spells to prepare from.

The 5e Wizard is 4e Wizard but with a different skin (and spells) .

3e, 4e, and 5e are the same game, more or less, just with different looks. 3e was over complicated, 4e was simplified, and 5e was over simplified.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Used to be that the only spellcaster that had spontaneous casting was the sorcerer, now everybody has it. The sorcerer got screwed and every other spellcaster benefited. Spellcasting is a lot easier for them now than it used to be.