Do you ever try to justify poor spell selection in-game?

[Luccan]

A common suggestion to reduce tiers somewhat is to avoid choosing the best spells. This is probably easiest to justify with classes like Sorcerer, whose spellcasting comes from some kind of connection to magic itself or is granted by a deity, in the case of Favored Soul. You get what spells you get because your character didn't really choose spellcasting in the first place. But what about other classes? Wizards, Clerics, Druids, Wu Jen, Archivists, and Spirit Shamans have larger lists and either learn magic through study, leading to enough understanding to occasionally figure out new spells without assistance (leveling), or have connection to divinity that grants them new spells each day. Do you ever try to justify why these characters would choose worse spells and if so, how?

[Ellrin]

A common suggestion to reduce tiers somewhat is to avoid choosing the best spells. This is probably easiest to justify with classes like Sorcerer, whose spellcasting comes from some kind of connection to magic itself or is granted by a deity, in the case of Favored Soul. You get what spells you get because your character didn't really choose spellcasting in the first place. But what about other classes? Wizards, Clerics, Druids, Wu Jen, Archivists, and Spirit Shamans have larger lists and either learn magic through study, leading to enough understanding to occasionally figure out new spells without assistance (leveling), or have connection to divinity that grants them new spells each day. Do you ever try to justify why these characters would choose worse spells and if so, how?

I haven't actually played a lot of prepared casters, but most characters aren't TO blobs in actual games. They aren't all-knowing, no matter how much research or praying they do, and may simply not know about certain spells. They have biases, preferences, and niche interests like anyone else, and may opt to learn or use certain spells in place of more widely applicable or simply better ones. They may have an antipathy for an entire school of magic, or maybe just towards one particularly mean teacher who first taught them about a specific spell.

Characters are, in short, dumb, no matter how smart or wise they might be.

[denthor]

Yes I do

Answer it is what I want to cast.

If someone doesn't like it they can purchase the spell they want me to cast. I then get the chance to tell them everytime I could cast the spell and they say no.

When you start a character from 1st level you get some bizarre choices. Which leads to more flavors of roleplaying.

[Footman]

Well it depends on the Character. Yes you are a Cleric, or a Druid, you got this Powers, but your God/Natur didn't really give you a Handbook how to use them right? Even with great Wisdom, a Character still needs Experience, so the Spell selection also improves with Lvl up, because the Character gets more expierenced.

Personality could also play a role. Wizards for example have a lot of Spells, which serve lazy People. So your Wizard could pick a lot of comfortable everyday Spells, simply because it's convenient for everyday Stuff. If you cast one or two Battle Field control Spells, and your Pawns (Fighter, Cleric, Rogue), handle the Rest, why not use the other Spells to make your Life more comfortable.

Also maybe your Wizard prefers some Typ of Magic, maybe he believes Nercomancy is the pinnacle of all Magic Art, and because of this manly casts necromancy Spells. It really depends on the Character. Not every Magic User is a realistic Chessmaster, who always looks for the most optimal Solution.

[bekeleven]

How I choose my spells:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDvlqjsVoAAsasN.jpg

[Hackulator]

I think more justification is required for the character who has the absolute perfect spell list than the character without it. D&D source books are not available to read in-character. There's a reason pretty much no canon character that has ever had stats published for it is anywhere near the level of optimization people talk about on this board.

[Guizonde]

0- useful spam. create water, detect magic... whatever, it's unlimited. never prestidigitation, because i'm lactose intolerant like that.

1-more niche but useful spam. detect evil, cure light wounds, eternal flame... it's always handy.

2-meh, same but more potent.

3- and here i choose things that make my dm angry. searing light (because it's technically a frikkin' laser beam that routinely destroys specters and make vampires flee at the mere mention of the name), black tentacles, things that are a pain to be on the receiving end of. bonus points if i can use the spell in unexpected ways (casting black tentacles on a ceiling to bypass a chasm comes to mind). it's my bread and butter for a lethal joke selection.

4- "what looney tunes cartoons could be made out of this?" is it lethal/ funny/ entertaining/ coming out of left field? if the answer is yes to any, it's a guaranteed pick. i mean, whoever thought that "exploding seeds" would not be turned into a lethal joke? that thing doles out 5d8 damages for a radiant servant, iirc. give the seeds to your rogue and make her shady sands that into a mook's backpocket. if you're feeling insultingly merciful, shady sands a tube of ointment, too.

... i've never played a caster long enough to cast spells beyond, unfortunately. you can be sure that things that run the gamut from disintegration to becoming ethereal will be on there for the sheer humiliation damage i can deal on whatever the dm throws at me. that hellknight is a lot less intimidating when he's got his full plate but his undershorts are in full view of everyone.

is it optimized to give the lich a wedgie? probably not. is it worth it? indubitably. still, it requires too much bookkeeping for my tastes and i prefer half-casters anyway. that, and whenever i giggle at spells, my dms balk, so i don't have much incentive when i know the answer will be "no".

[Afgncaap5]

I don't know if I "justify them", but I tend to have a reason for them. Generally, if I want a certain "kind" of caster, it just doesn't work. D&D makes it really hard to make, say, a pyromancer, unless you go out of your way to either ignore your theme sometimes, or *willfully ignore* the better options at other times. I... generally go with the latter.

SoP has mitigated this a bit, but when I play vancian, I wind up ignoring a lot of the "awesome" spells for the sake of characterization.

[KillianHawkeye]

The only time that I can remember consciously deciding to not prepare my best spells was when I chose to stop using Evard's black tentacles. Besides the fact that the sheer time it takes to process several individual grapples in a single turn is ridonkulous, I also felt that it made the battles too easy. I mean, I know that making things easy is the Wizard's job, but I want my DM to have fun, too.

But no, I didn't bother to come up with an in-character reason for that decision. I suppose I could say that my character just doesn't like it, but I really never thought justifying it beyond the actual OOC reasons was necessary.

[noce]

Playing a necropolitan air goblin cleric of Zoser (air, sand) in a desert campaign, and I refuse to prepare any cold or water based spell.
This includes shivering touch and create water. The party would use both, but as an aspirant dry lich he just doesn't want to deal with cold and water.

[BearonVonMu]

I pick whatever spells that I think would fit that caster. Whatever spells would enhance that caster's favorite schick.
If they are a sorcerer, I will gleefully pick obscure third-party spells since they don't even know what their magic can and cannot do.
If they are a learned caster, I will tend to do so much less, since they had to be taught their spells... reserving strange and obscure spells for ones they researched and wrote themselves. My wizards tend to research "Mage Armor, the Abjuration" fairly early in their careers.


<snip> give the seeds to your rogue and make her shady sands that into a mook's backpocket. if you're feeling insultingly merciful, shady sands a tube of ointment, too.<snip>

Kudos for referencing the shady sands shuffle. I like how you made it a verb.

[Psyren]

I personally think it's more the GM's responsibility to restrict you from the uber spells (or use nerfed versions) than it is your responsibility to self-regulate by avoiding them.

You DO have the responsibility, however, of not overshadowing everyone else at the table's fun, regardless of what spells you may or may not have.

[the_david]

I played a Spheres of Power Shifter who was possessed by an Erinyes. She had most of the powers of an Erinyes, but she just wasn't that effective. I've learned from my lessons and now I'm far more capable of exploiting the Spheres of Power. So in game experience it wasn't very satisfying, but I did learn a thing or two.