Spellcasting levels - am I missing something?

[Maxymiuk]

I'll confess here to somehow misunderstanding a large chunk of D&D knowledge, especially as pertaining to various caster PrC's, and from my viewpoint is that it's because the RAW does a poor job of explaining it. Namely:

How do spellcasting levels gained through a PrC actually work?

To specify, let's take the Mystic Theurge.

Xavier is a 4cleric/4wizard and decides to go Mystic Theurge next level. As he does so, he gains a +1 to both his arcane and divine spellcasting class. Therefore, as per the description of this class ability...

He gains a 3rd level wizard spell slot (plus any from ability bonuses).
He gains a 3rd level cleric spell slot (plus any from ability bonuses).
He casts arcane spells as a 5th level wizard.
He casts divine spells as a 5th level cleric.
He does not gain the bonus metamagic feat.
He does not gain the 2 new spells, as per the wizard class feature.
His familiar does not gain a natural armor and Intelligence adjustment, nor does it gain Speak with master.
His Turn Undead ability does not improve.

So far that's all clear. However what I'm confused on is...

Does he gain access to 3rd level cleric spells?
Does he gain access to 3rd level cleric domain spells?
If he were a sorcerer/cleric, would he learn any new arcane spells?

If the answer to any, or all of these questions is "No," then what is the point of this class, or in fact any PrC that adds spellcasting class levels that is not based off of the wizard who can learn his spells from scrolls?

Thank you for your replies.

[Fronko]

From my understanding, it is "yes" to all three questions.

However, I have been corrected ruleswise before, so you MAY want someone else confirm this.

EDIT: Rereading the cleric domain spell part, I am not so sure any more. I would still tend towards a yes though, if only for simplicity reasons... ?

[MrNexx]

He does gain access to new spell levels and learn new sorcerer spells. Essentially, classes that add +1 to existing spellcasting level progress you up the "spells per day" and "spells known" just as if you added a level in those classes.

[Ramza00]

Yes to all three, and to my understanding the wizard also gets the 2 spells added to his spellbook. You don't get this in Neverwinter Nights, but you get this in 3.5

[MrNexx]

Actually, wizards do not get 2 spells added to their spellbook; this is a function of the "Spellbook" class feature, not their "Spells" class feature.

And, I can see the source of Maxymuk's confusion. I just checked 3 different versions of the SRD. According to all of them, only the Archmage and the Loremaster specifically add to Spells Known. None of the other classes which add spellcaster levels do. Given such a discrepancy, and 3.x's specificity, it's not unreasonable to assume that the others don't... even though, divorced from 3.x's specificity, it seems unreasonable to assume that they do.

[squishycube]

IIRC this is a known error in most spellcasting PrCs. Common sense would be to increase spellcasting as if you gained a level in the spellcasting class you previously belonged to.

[MrNexx]

As I said.

[ImperiousLeader]

Does he gain access to 3rd level cleric spells?
Does he gain access to 3rd level cleric domain spells?
If he were a sorcerer/cleric, would he learn any new arcane spells?

As others have said, yes to all three.

I feel I should add another don't: If your domain ability is based on cleric level, it does not improve. So a cleric with the Death domain still has only a 4d6 death touch ability, mystic theurge or any other clerical prestige class does not improve those abilities.

[Fax Celestis]

As others have said, yes to all three.

I feel I should add another don't: If your domain ability is based on cleric level, it does not improve. So a cleric with the Death domain still has only a 4d6 death touch ability, mystic theurge or any other clerical prestige class does not improve those abilities.

...unless the class has an ability that states something like "this class stacks with cleric levels for the purposes of turn undead attempts per day and domain powers."