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2010-09-07, 08:13 AM (ISO 8601)
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Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
If a Wizard with the Collegiate Wizard feat takes a level in a full casting PrC, how many new spells does he get? My answer is 4. If this is indeed a house rule as Curmudgeon maintains, could someone please point out the error in my logic? The discussion from the RAW Q&A thread is quoted in the spoiler at the bottom.
Assume for this discussion that "spells known" when talking about a Wizard means the spells in the Wizard's spellbook. I realize some people may disagree with this, but that's a separate argument that's beside the point here.
Magic McCaster is a level 7 Wizard with the Collegiate Wizard feat. He takes a level in Loremaster. How many new spells does he get in his spellbook? Well, let's take a look at Loremaster's text:
the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class
Ok, it says "as if." Thus, I need to construct a hypothetical and whatever the hypothetical comes up with is what I get.
Hypothetical McCaster is a level 7 Wizard with the Collegiate Wizard feat, identical to Magic McCaster, but he's taking an 8th level of Wizard instead. He gets 4 new spells thanks to Collegiate Wizard.
Ok, we've got what would happen with Wizard. If Magic McCaster took a level in Wizard, he'd get 4 new spells known. Loremaster grants Magic McCaster spells known as if he did gain a level in Wizard, so he gets 4 new spells known.
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2010-09-07, 08:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Your interpretation is correct, barring PrCs that fail to advance spells known.
If it advances it as if you were a wizard, you get the exact same number as if you had taken a level of wizard. Simple enough.
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2010-09-07, 08:25 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Your interpretation is incorrect. Wizards do not have a "Spells Known" table, and do not benefit from PrCs that advance Spells Known. Rather, their spell learning is tied directly into the Spellbook itself, which no Core PrC explicitly advances.
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2010-09-07, 08:28 AM (ISO 8601)
Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Curmudgeon is correct. RAW specifically states that the benefit of the feat applies to Wizard levels, not Loremaster or any other PrC.
It is a reasonable house-rule, and from what I've seen, a standard interpretation, to apply such things as you suggest, but when discussing RAW, the letter of the rule text is the only thing that matters.
There is nothing wrong with your logic at all, except that it does not apply to RAW.
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2010-09-07, 08:29 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
It's really quite simple. Does Collegiate Wizard say ""each time you gain a level of Wizard spellcasting"? No. It says "each time you gain a Wizard level". Any other class that advances Wizard spellcasting provides a spellcasting benefit, but it doesn't meet the specific stipulation of Collegiate Wizard and thus you get no benefit from the feat. There's no "interpretation" required, because it's very either-or. Wizard level = yes; anything else = no.
While adding such a benefit is an interesting house rule, it has no foundation in RAW.
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2010-09-07, 08:30 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
As I said in the original post, that's a separate argument from the dispute here. Please assume for this discussion that "spells known" and "spells in a Wizard's personal spellbook" are synonymous, whether or not you think that is actually the case.
Also, the wording of Master Specialist's Expanded Spellbook class feature rather strongly implies that advancing spells known does normally advance a Wizard's spellbook.
Please point out the exact line or phrase that is not RAW.
Loremaster advances spells known "as if you had gained a level of Wizard". How does that not include Collegiate Wizard's benefit?Last edited by Douglas; 2010-09-07 at 08:34 AM.
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2010-09-07, 08:42 AM (ISO 8601)
Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
You are making the assumption that advancing spellcasting is the same as advancing a class level. It is not. As to a point contained within your discussion, the RAW is actually that a PrC that advances spellcasting does not grant the two free spells per level that taking a Wizard level would, although it is generally accepted as RAI that this applies to "spells known", and I've never seen anyone actually rule according to RAW on this point.
Loremaster advances spells known "as if you had gained a level of Wizard". How does that not include Collegiate Wizard's benefit?
RAI might be different, and there is nothing at all wrong with your interpretation of the rule -- which is likely the most common view, and, frankly, makes for more sense than RAW. But it's still not RAW. RAW can often not make sense because it doesn't always address how rules interact with each other.
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2010-09-07, 09:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Loremaster does not say "advance spellcasting by 1 level", it says "advance spells per day and spells known as if you had gained a Wizard level". That seems quite thoroughly explicit to me that, for the purpose of spells per day and spells known, Loremaster's advancement is indeed exactly the same as a Wizard level in every way. If that is true, and I see no other way to interpret the Loremaster advancement text, then it would necessarily include the modifier from Collegiate Wizard for spells known.
Last edited by Douglas; 2010-09-07 at 09:13 AM.
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2010-09-07, 09:25 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Maybe you don't understand what you said in the bolded part.
Is Collegiate Wizard a spell? No. As Loremaster counts as a wizard for the purpose of spells per day and spells known (and caster level), he doesn't count as a wizard for the purpose of feats. So, for the purpose of Collegiate Wizard, that tells you that when you gain a level of wizard you get to add more spells to your spellbook, is Loremaster a Wizard? No, Loremaster is not a wizard as far as the text of Collegiate Wizard is concerned.
As Collegiate Wizard doesn't say that every time you advance your wizard spellcasting you gain the benefit of the feat, you have to actually advance as a wizard, to get what it offers.
Your interpretation is not RAW, it's merely a very reasonable houserule.A wise monk trains both mind and body, but a smart monk is actually a swordsage.
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2010-09-07, 09:26 AM (ISO 8601)
Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
"advance spells per day and spells known as if you had gained a Wizard level" -- "as if" still does not mean you gained the actual class level. The feat is keyed specifically to the class.
I do not disagree at all with your interpretation making sense. But it is not RAW, and you're trying to make it RAW by reading into it what is not there and twisting the wording to match your interpretation.
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2010-09-07, 09:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
1) Advancing Wizard would get 4 new spells.
2) Advancing Loremaster gets new spells as if advancing Wizard.
3) Thus, Loremaster gets 4 new spells.
I don't think anyone's disputing point 1. Point 2 is a restatement of Loremaster's text. Point 1 and point 2 in combination logically result in point 3. How the number in point 1 is produced is irrelevant to this logic. The fact that 2 of it comes from a feat specific to the Wizard class doesn't matter. What matters is that it's what you'd get for a level of Wizard, and Loremaster copies that for its advancement.
Where is the break in logic that prevents points 1 and 2 from producing point 3?
You are correct that "as if" does not mean you gained the actual class level, but how does this morph into meaning that the benefits specifically called out as the ones you do get can be different?
"As if" in this text does not mean "copy the Wizard class", it means "add a level of Wizard and copy everything in these categories that gets triggered by that".Last edited by Douglas; 2010-09-07 at 09:50 AM.
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2010-09-07, 09:55 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
At the point where you assume a Loremaster counts as a wizard for the purpose of feats that require taking a level as a wizard.
The feat is clear that it does not refer to advancing your wizard spellcasting, but wizard level. By RAW, the feat does not count Loremaster as a wizard because it is not a wizard. It's a different class.
On page 58-59 you can see how you are supposed to advance levels. When you reach step 8, Spells, you see that you have a feat that lets you add new spells when you take a wizard level. You check and see that you have taken a level in a class that is not "wizard" but "loremaster" and so you do not gain the feat's benefit.A wise monk trains both mind and body, but a smart monk is actually a swordsage.
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2010-09-07, 10:24 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
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2010-09-07, 10:28 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
You are not getting the benefit of feats as if you were taking a level of wizard.
A wise monk trains both mind and body, but a smart monk is actually a swordsage.
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2010-09-07, 10:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
But I am getting spells known as if I were a Wizard. That includes all things that affect spells known - class features, skill tricks (if any somehow applied), feats, and all, but only for their effects on spells known specifically.
Last edited by Douglas; 2010-09-07 at 10:32 AM.
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2010-09-07, 10:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
The feat explicitly modifies what the wizard gets. Loremaster says that you get the same spells as if you had taken wizard. Ergo, you get the modified number.
I really don't see why this is a point of contention.
Note that not all PrCs are as thoughtful as Loremaster in specifying this.
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2010-09-07, 10:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
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2010-09-07, 10:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Er, the rule is right there in the Loremaster text and the meaning of the English words it uses. "As if" means you copy the thing referenced plus anything and everything based on it*. If a Wizard would gain 4 new spells but I only gain 2, then regardless of the reason for the difference it is most definitely true that I am not gaining new spells as if I were a Wizard. If I were gaining new spells as if I were a Wizard, I'd have the same number - 4.
* More formally, it means you construct a hypothetical while pretending that the "as if" clause is absolutely true in every regard, then copy the relevant parts of the hypothetical. Loremaster gains new spells "as if Wizard"? Level up a copy of your character in Wizard. Note the copy's spells known. You gain the spells noted.Last edited by Douglas; 2010-09-07 at 10:43 AM.
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2010-09-07, 11:02 AM (ISO 8601)
Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
No, a Wizard would only gain two spells. The Collegiate Wizard feat then grants the character an additional two spells when he takes a level in Wizard. These are not the same thing, and cannot simply be treated as stacking.
Additionally, the Loremaster does not receive even the two spells per level that a Wizard does, because it is not technically a "spells known", but instead part of a class feature that is not addressed by Loremaster, and therefore is not advance.
By RAW, that is. As noted several times, the non-RAW interpretation to allow the PrC to grant the spells in the first place, and to additionally allow the spells from Collegiate Wizard makes a great deal of sense, and I would certainly want to play it that way myself.
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2010-09-07, 11:20 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
I can totally see where you got this logic from, it is quite sound. Technically, though, a wizard "knows" all the spells in their spellbook, by RAW.
Originally Posted by PHB p. 57
Originally Posted by DMG p. 191
The logic then follows that:
Collegiate Wizard grants new spells known when taking a level in Wizard.
Loremaster gains new spells known as if taking a level in Wizard.
Therefore, whenever you level in Loremaster and gain new spells, Loremaster = Wizard for purposes of learning new spells. Thus, collegiate wizard applies to the spells learned for Loremasters.
To break it down in the simplest terms:
Collegiate Wizard + Wizard = 4 new spells known
Loremaster + spells known = Wizard
Therefore, Collegiate Wizard + Loremaster = 4 new spells known
The text in Loremaster allows for the class to be interchangeable with Wizard in the cases noted (spells/day, spells known, etc.).Last edited by BeholderSlayer; 2010-09-07 at 11:22 AM.
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2010-09-07, 11:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
True but they lack a Spells Known table, and the spells per level are instead granted by the Spellbook feature rather than their spellcasting itself (like most of the other classes). So a PrC advancing spells known without making a specific reference to the feature (like the Master Specialist apparently does) doesn't apply to the wizard.
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2010-09-07, 11:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
I don't follow why this is categorically true. The Master Specialist entry states:
Originally Posted by Complete Mage p. 70
As a side example, the Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil gains:
Originally Posted by Complete Arcane, p. 44
You can't have it the way the dissenters describe without this being the case.
The Master Specialist entry specifically states the wizard class because it is a "wizard only" PrC, as non-wizards cannot use the wizard's specialist class feature.
Edit: sorry, confused the OP and the dissentersLast edited by BeholderSlayer; 2010-09-07 at 11:40 AM.
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2010-09-07, 11:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
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2010-09-07, 11:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
This interpretation is nonsensical, as this ability would then do nothing at all.
Is it not more logical to assume that spells in a spellbook are considered as spells known?
And as for the table argument, that's silly. Text trumps table. Plus, there's the obvious lack of a need for a table when it will always say "any number of spells".Last edited by Tyndmyr; 2010-09-07 at 11:54 AM.
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2010-09-07, 11:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
Interestingly enough, they are considered spells known, as shown by one of my quotes in post #20.
Also, following the same logic you would not gain Caster Levels or Spells known from something like 98% of casting PrC's (as I said in post #22) due to the lack of referencing Caster Levels or spellbooks in the spellcasting entry of nearly every PrC published except Master Specialist.Last edited by BeholderSlayer; 2010-09-07 at 11:58 AM.
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2010-09-07, 12:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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2010-09-07, 12:14 PM (ISO 8601)
Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
You can assume anything you want, but once you leave the actual letter of the rule, you are no longer discussing RAW. Pointing out that the written rule does not make sense unless you make certain assumptions still doesn't make the answer you arrive at a RAW answer.
I repeat again that I have no problem with douglas' interpretation -- in fact I agree with it and would use the same interpretation in any game I was DM for -- but it simply isn't RAW. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, as RAW contains some real doozies and the generally-accepted RAI tends to work much better.
When you consider the mounds of text that encompass all of 3.5, it's not surprising it isn't cross-checked thoroughly for consistency and correctness. It takes the wide review base of the internet to ask all of the right questions to point out the flaws. But the printed rule is still the printed rule, unless it is superseded by some other rule or errata.
Because of this, we have nonsensical rules (most of which are simple oversights or typos) such as:
- You can drown a dying character to bring him/her back to 0 hp.
- Making a single ranged attack provokes an AoO, but making a full ranged attack doesn't
- Swordsages get x6 skill points at 1st level
- And so on.
So to answer a question further upthread, if the Loremaster doesn't say it increases caster level, then by RAW, it doesn't. But that's silly, so no one plays that way. Still doesn't change what RAW is, however.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have several documents to review and likely update based on this discussion.
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2010-09-07, 12:20 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
OK, the way I see it, RAW is ambiguous on whether or not Wizards gain their 2 free spells added to their spellbook when taking a PrC level. On the one hand, it's a part of spellcasting and indicates how many spells they know, and therefore could be covered by the "spells known" clause of the spellcasting sections of PrCs.
On the other hand, Wizards do not have a "Spells Known" table, and from that perspective, the PrC does not give those two spells.
If the two spells the Wizard gains for free are included in PrC spellcasting, then the extra two from Collegiate Wizard are also included. PrCs are "as if you gained a level of Wizard" for "spells known", and with Collegiate Wizard your spells known/level is 4 instead of 2.
If PrCs don't give the 2, then obviously they don't give the 4.
But I don't think it's even remotely justifiable, by RAW, for PrCs to give only 2 if you have Collegiate Wizard.
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2010-09-07, 12:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
The reason they don't have a "Spells Known" table is because the number of spells they know is arbitrary, not defined. By RAW, a wizard knows all the spells in her spellbook. When you add to spells known, you add them to your spellbook since that constitutes your pool of spells known.
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2010-09-07, 12:57 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Collegiate Wizard and full casting PrCs
I agree with that reading, yes. But others don't.