BAB and spells per turn

[Zhepna]

Hi,

1) when I check the BAB of a wizard (edition 3.5), it says +6/+1

Our DM told us that it means I could now cast a second spell per turn and will be able to cast more spells per day as the second number (the +1 at the moment) increase. Is it true? If it's the case, is it only swift casting time spell or I can use standard casting time spells?

2) My build is
Elf Wizard 3/War Weaver 5/Incantatrix 3/Spellguard of Silverymoon 4/Legacy Champion 5

it's my first high lvl char and I wanted to make sure I build the character the right way.
I used BAB and class skills of wizard for 3 lvl, then I used the information for war weaver for 5 lvl, etc.

Now I'm lvl 13 and my BAB is only 5 and if I compare with a pure wizard with no prestige classe, he could have +6/+1, giving him 2 spell per turn according to my dm.

Is it how it work?

[CountAile]

Errr... No, BAB has nothing to do with spells per turn. BAB only reflects the amount of times you can whiff with your staff at someone. Now, if you had a spell like Blades of Fire from Spell Compendium, you could activate it as a Swift action, and then have two swings with it at your enemy according to your Attack Bonus.

Otherwise, you always get Standard Action, Move Action and Swift Action, with Standard and Swift being usable for spellcasting, and some spells (like Summon Monster) requiring Full-Round Action (Standard Action, Move Action and concentration until the beginning of your next turn). Most spells utilize Standard, and aside from action economy shenanigans, you're usually limited to one Standard Action spell per round.

The in-game reason for that is that each spell requires something to activate - magical words, or gestures, or material components, or at least reciting the formulas in your head, and it takes time.

Some metamagic and spells (Spell Matrix spell, Twin Spell Metamagic, for example) DO allow you to cast more than that in a round, but as a general rule - nope.

[Shadowquad]

it's my first high lvl char and I wanted to make sure I build the character the right way.
I used BAB and class skills of wizard for 3 lvl, then I used the information for war weaver for 5 lvl, etc.


It seems to me that you got that part right. At level 13 your BaB should indeed be +5, when the single class wizard should have +6/+1.

However, your DM is wrong about a higher BaB meaning you casting more spells per round. For simplification, it only affects the Full Attack action, which is a complex action that does not allow you to cast spells in general. So you could be able to swing your quarterstaff twice, but no double casting for you, alas. The most common way to cast twice per round is the Quicken Spell feat.

[ExLibrisMortis]

High base attack bonus grants additional "attacks on a full attack", not spells nor actions. There are a few spells that do let you make multiple attacks (like chill touch), and you can full attack with those, but that's still just one casting of the spell.

[Yogibear41]

What do you mean my 16 bab gish can't cast 4 spells per round? Heresy I say.

[Dr_Dinosaur]

I mean, if it took a Full-Round action like Full Attacking and you removed Quicken Spell as a feat, would that really be a bad houserule? Pure Wizards get lots of strong spells and sooner, but a bit of combat training and martial discipline allow one to fire more off in combat.

[Zhepna]

Thanks for the info.

[Elkad]

If you took -5 to your caster level (including what spells you could cast) on the second spell, I could see a workable version of that. Still a large power jump though.

[Andezzar]

I mean, if it took a Full-Round action like Full Attacking and you removed Quicken Spell as a feat, would that really be a bad houserule? Pure Wizards get lots of strong spells and sooner, but a bit of combat training and martial discipline allow one to fire more off in combat.It would only make wizards even stronger and they already outclass the mundanes by leagues.

Now think about a cleric. They have this little spell called Divine Power.... No multiclassing is needed to get four spells/round with that houserule.