When I’ve attempted to make a wizard character on this site, it doesn’t set a limit on how many spells I can learn. I know I can only prepare some of them at a given time, but is there a certain number that one is supposed to know at a given level? If so, why doesn’t the site automatically set the limit? If I’m supposed to learn all of them, why not have them automatically set as learned? How is the learning mechanic supposed to work at all? Sorry that I know so very little, and thank you for your help.
At level one, you get 6 spells. Every time you gain levels, you gain 2 extra spells, in addition to some that you may copy from scrolls and such (this is dependent on the game).
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
You start with 6 spells, and learn 2 every time you level up.
That means that at level 20 you have 44 spells.
But wait, there's more.
Any time you find a wizard spell written in a book or a scroll, and it's of a level you can cast, you can add it to your spellbook for some time and gold.
If you're not at that level yet, drop it into your pack until you are.
So, if your DM drops spell scrolls like confetti, you can potentially have every Wizard spell in the game (except cantrips, although the UA allows you to swap those too).
When I’ve attempted to make a wizard character on this site, it doesn’t set a limit on how many spells I can learn. I know I can only prepare some of them at a given time, but is there a certain number that one is supposed to know at a given level? If so, why doesn’t the site automatically set the limit? If I’m supposed to learn all of them, why not have them automatically set as learned? How is the learning mechanic supposed to work at all? Sorry that I know so very little, and thank you for your help.
Even though there is no limit in how many spells you can learn. There is a limit in how many spells you can add into a single spellbook. By raw a spellbook is has 100 pages, which each spell uses a number of pages equal to the spells level. So for a level 1 wizard starting with 6 1st-level spells, you would have a spellbook with 6/100 pages used.
Though with talking with your DM they might allow you to add additional pages into your spellbook or allow you to buy multiple spellbooks. So there are ways around this "limit" just got to know how to do it.
Multiple spellbooks is totally legal. Nothing at all in RAW or RAI prevents it.
Most Wizards slowly over time get 'too many spells'. Spells they are simply not going to memorize ever again.
Key examples of this are the 1st level attack spells. By the time you are 5th level, they are worthless unless you upcast them and not that good even when you do upcast them. And it gets worse every level after that.
Take Chromatic Orb for example, a popular choice because of the ability to choose the damage type, doing 3d8 +1/d8 per upcast. Great at low levels when you have almost no spells, so you want the flexibility to switch it out. But by the time you are 5th, chances are you got at least five different attack spells so the changing the element does not mean much. So you can upcast to 3rd, doing 5d8 with a single to hit. Or you can cast Scorching Ray, upcast to 3rd, getting 4 rays each doing 2d6, for total damage of 8d6. You can spread it out among 4 goblins or concentrate on one, with average damage being 28 > 22.5
P.S. The spells you end up always using are the ones that when you upcast you do something DIFFERENT than merely more damage. Got to love the duration increasing or bonus victim spells.
Even though there is no limit in how many spells you can learn. There is a limit in how many spells you can add into a single spellbook. By raw a spellbook is has 100 pages, which each spell uses a number of pages equal to the spells level. So for a level 1 wizard starting with 6 1st-level spells, you would have a spellbook with 6/100 pages used.
This is incorrect for 5th Edition. There are no rules on how many pages a spell takes up. There were in previous editions, but not in 5th. The ruling was dliberately omitted for flexibility. Players should consult with the DM about this.
Even though there is no limit in how many spells you can learn. There is a limit in how many spells you can add into a single spellbook. By raw a spellbook is has 100 pages, which each spell uses a number of pages equal to the spells level. So for a level 1 wizard starting with 6 1st-level spells, you would have a spellbook with 6/100 pages used.
This is incorrect for 5th Edition. There are no rules on how many pages a spell takes up. There were in previous editions, but not in 5th. The ruling was dliberately omitted for flexibility. Players should consult with the DM about this.
Okay, I just double checked you're right, there isn't a set rule for how many pages spells use, but a spellbook does have 100 pages by raw. What I was referring to was a very common house rule that a lot of groups go with and my group adopted when we started, thus why I thought it was an official one.
Yeah, nope. I have never heard of that except from you and one other person. Not as common as you think.
Also, rather silly. Not going to matter at low levels and not very fair to the wizard at higher levels. They are ALL about getting all the spells. Sorcerors and Warlocks trade away that ability to get all the cool stuff, why are you punishing the Wizard by Nerfing the main reason they became a Wizard in the first place. Hey, I know you wanted to learn all the spells, but tough shit I am now going to punish you for learning all the spells.
Yeah, nope. I have never heard of that except from you and one other person. Not as common as you think.
Also, rather silly. Not going to matter at low levels and not very fair to the wizard at higher levels. They are ALL about getting all the spells. Sorcerors and Warlocks trade away that ability to get all the cool stuff, why are you punishing the Wizard by Nerfing the main reason they became a Wizard in the first place. Hey, I know you wanted to learn all the spells, but tough shit I am now going to punish you for learning all the spells.
In their defense, while it is a homebrew rule in 5th, it wasn't. In 3.5 edition they did have to put spells into the book with 1st level spells and higher taking 1 page per spell level.
I can't honestly remember if they had it this way in 4th or not. But yeah. They did away with it in 5th to streamline it, make it more flexible, and because spell prep and casting worked differently in 3.5 : wizards were more limited in what spells they could cast.
When I’ve attempted to make a wizard character on this site, it doesn’t set a limit on how many spells I can learn. I know I can only prepare some of them at a given time, but is there a certain number that one is supposed to know at a given level? If so, why doesn’t the site automatically set the limit? If I’m supposed to learn all of them, why not have them automatically set as learned? How is the learning mechanic supposed to work at all? Sorry that I know so very little, and thank you for your help.
DDB site doesn’t limit how many spells you select for your spell book for the reasons listed above. You start with 6 spells at 1st level but if you find spells or scrolls while you are still 1st level (or beyond) you can add them to your spell book on the site without it imposing a limit.
You start with 6 spells, and learn 2 every time you level up.
That means that at level 20 you have 44 spells.
But wait, there's more.
Any time you find a wizard spell written in a book or a scroll, and it's of a level you can cast, you can add it to your spellbook for some time and gold.
If you're not at that level yet, drop it into your pack until you are.
So, if your DM drops spell scrolls like confetti, you can potentially have every Wizard spell in the game (except cantrips, although the UA allows you to swap those too).
Good news on that last part about cantrips, Tasha’s Caldron now allows you to swap one cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard cantrip list after you finish a long rest.
You start with 6 spells, and learn 2 every time you level up.
That means that at level 20 you have 44 spells.
But wait, there's more.
Any time you find a wizard spell written in a book or a scroll, and it's of a level you can cast, you can add it to your spellbook for some time and gold.
If you're not at that level yet, drop it into your pack until you are.
So, if your DM drops spell scrolls like confetti, you can potentially have every Wizard spell in the game (except cantrips, although the UA allows you to swap those too).
Good news on that last part about cantrips, Tasha’s Caldron now allows you to swap one cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard cantrip list after you finish a long rest.
But, I still don't see the point about the reason the cantrips are spells not written in the spellbook. Or are they ??? Because if there are spellbooks for spells lvl 1 and so on, and spellbooks for rituals, then why not spellbooks for cantrips ???
You start with 6 spells, and learn 2 every time you level up.
That means that at level 20 you have 44 spells.
But wait, there's more.
Any time you find a wizard spell written in a book or a scroll, and it's of a level you can cast, you can add it to your spellbook for some time and gold.
If you're not at that level yet, drop it into your pack until you are.
So, if your DM drops spell scrolls like confetti, you can potentially have every Wizard spell in the game (except cantrips, although the UA allows you to swap those too).
Good news on that last part about cantrips, Tasha’s Caldron now allows you to swap one cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard cantrip list after you finish a long rest.
But, I still don't see the point about the reason the cantrips are spells not written in the spellbook. Or are they ??? Because if there are spellbooks for spells lvl 1 and so on, and spellbooks for rituals, then why not spellbooks for cantrips ???
Cantrips are different spells and can't be prepared the same way. You don't scribe them into the spellbook - which is designed to help you prepare spells for the day - since you don't prepare cantrips.
You can certainly say as a RP aspect that the formula for cantrips is in the book, but only as RP flavour.
You start with 6 spells, and learn 2 every time you level up.
That means that at level 20 you have 44 spells.
But wait, there's more.
Any time you find a wizard spell written in a book or a scroll, and it's of a level you can cast, you can add it to your spellbook for some time and gold.
If you're not at that level yet, drop it into your pack until you are.
So, if your DM drops spell scrolls like confetti, you can potentially have every Wizard spell in the game (except cantrips, although the UA allows you to swap those too).
Good news on that last part about cantrips, Tasha’s Caldron now allows you to swap one cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard cantrip list after you finish a long rest.
But, I still don't see the point about the reason the cantrips are spells not written in the spellbook. Or are they ??? Because if there are spellbooks for spells lvl 1 and so on, and spellbooks for rituals, then why not spellbooks for cantrips ???
Cantrips are different spells and can't be prepared the same way. You don't scribe them into the spellbook - which is designed to help you prepare spells for the day - since you don't prepare cantrips.
You can certainly say as a RP aspect that the formula for cantrips is in the book, but only as RP flavour.
At least WotC should implement a spellbook for those cantrips or, how can any class earn those cantrips automaticly ??? Can it be possible a Magic Tower or library ( biblioteque ) could contain books of cantrips ???
"Should" is a strong word. I disagree that they "should" do anything.
They leave it up to you to decide where and how your character learned these. It's your character's backstory. From a mentor? From a school? On their own? From a book they found? All possible and yours to determine.
Cantrips are basically spells that you're so used to casting that you barely remember that they had a formulation. You've cast fire bolt, or used prestidigitation, so many times that they're ingrained into your memory. They were probably the first spells you ever learned. You don't really need a spellbook for them.
As others have noted Tasha’s now has a wizard extension allowing you to record cantrip formulas in your spellbooks and switch out cantrips after a long rest. 3e/3.5e had the pages limitations for spellbooks. Typically once you established some sort of base (around level 10) you hid your full set of spellbooks there and carried a “travel” set with you that contained your most commonly used spells since you lost spells from memory once cast. Now (5e) you don’t lose them so a “travel” book would probably hold the rarely used and ritual spells so you have them available if/when needed.
At level one, you get 6 spells. Every time you gain levels, you gain 2 extra spells, in addition to some that you may copy from scrolls and such (this is dependent on the game).
The 6 spells are referencing those in your spellbook? Where do the 2 extra spells per level come from? What's the reference for this? sounds great :D
When I’ve attempted to make a wizard character on this site, it doesn’t set a limit on how many spells I can learn. I know I can only prepare some of them at a given time, but is there a certain number that one is supposed to know at a given level? If so, why doesn’t the site automatically set the limit? If I’m supposed to learn all of them, why not have them automatically set as learned? How is the learning mechanic supposed to work at all? Sorry that I know so very little, and thank you for your help.
At level one, you get 6 spells. Every time you gain levels, you gain 2 extra spells, in addition to some that you may copy from scrolls and such (this is dependent on the game).
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
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You start with 6 spells, and learn 2 every time you level up.
That means that at level 20 you have 44 spells.
But wait, there's more.
Any time you find a wizard spell written in a book or a scroll, and it's of a level you can cast, you can add it to your spellbook for some time and gold.
If you're not at that level yet, drop it into your pack until you are.
So, if your DM drops spell scrolls like confetti, you can potentially have every Wizard spell in the game (except cantrips, although the UA allows you to swap those too).
All of the spellcasting rules for the Wizard can be found here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/wizard#Spellcasting-410
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Even though there is no limit in how many spells you can learn. There is a limit in how many spells you can add into a single spellbook. By raw a spellbook is has 100 pages, which each spell uses a number of pages equal to the spells level. So for a level 1 wizard starting with 6 1st-level spells, you would have a spellbook with 6/100 pages used.
Though with talking with your DM they might allow you to add additional pages into your spellbook or allow you to buy multiple spellbooks. So there are ways around this "limit" just got to know how to do it.
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Multiple spellbooks is totally legal. Nothing at all in RAW or RAI prevents it.
Most Wizards slowly over time get 'too many spells'. Spells they are simply not going to memorize ever again.
Key examples of this are the 1st level attack spells. By the time you are 5th level, they are worthless unless you upcast them and not that good even when you do upcast them. And it gets worse every level after that.
Take Chromatic Orb for example, a popular choice because of the ability to choose the damage type, doing 3d8 +1/d8 per upcast. Great at low levels when you have almost no spells, so you want the flexibility to switch it out. But by the time you are 5th, chances are you got at least five different attack spells so the changing the element does not mean much. So you can upcast to 3rd, doing 5d8 with a single to hit. Or you can cast Scorching Ray, upcast to 3rd, getting 4 rays each doing 2d6, for total damage of 8d6. You can spread it out among 4 goblins or concentrate on one, with average damage being 28 > 22.5
P.S. The spells you end up always using are the ones that when you upcast you do something DIFFERENT than merely more damage. Got to love the duration increasing or bonus victim spells.
This is incorrect for 5th Edition. There are no rules on how many pages a spell takes up. There were in previous editions, but not in 5th. The ruling was dliberately omitted for flexibility. Players should consult with the DM about this.
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Okay, I just double checked you're right, there isn't a set rule for how many pages spells use, but a spellbook does have 100 pages by raw. What I was referring to was a very common house rule that a lot of groups go with and my group adopted when we started, thus why I thought it was an official one.
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Yeah, nope. I have never heard of that except from you and one other person. Not as common as you think.
Also, rather silly. Not going to matter at low levels and not very fair to the wizard at higher levels. They are ALL about getting all the spells. Sorcerors and Warlocks trade away that ability to get all the cool stuff, why are you punishing the Wizard by Nerfing the main reason they became a Wizard in the first place. Hey, I know you wanted to learn all the spells, but tough shit I am now going to punish you for learning all the spells.
In their defense, while it is a homebrew rule in 5th, it wasn't. In 3.5 edition they did have to put spells into the book with 1st level spells and higher taking 1 page per spell level.
I can't honestly remember if they had it this way in 4th or not. But yeah. They did away with it in 5th to streamline it, make it more flexible, and because spell prep and casting worked differently in 3.5 : wizards were more limited in what spells they could cast.
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DDB site doesn’t limit how many spells you select for your spell book for the reasons listed above. You start with 6 spells at 1st level but if you find spells or scrolls while you are still 1st level (or beyond) you can add them to your spell book on the site without it imposing a limit.
Good news on that last part about cantrips, Tasha’s Caldron now allows you to swap one cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard cantrip list after you finish a long rest.
But, I still don't see the point about the reason the cantrips are spells not written in the spellbook. Or are they ??? Because if there are spellbooks for spells lvl 1 and so on, and spellbooks for rituals, then why not spellbooks for cantrips ???
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Cantrips are different spells and can't be prepared the same way. You don't scribe them into the spellbook - which is designed to help you prepare spells for the day - since you don't prepare cantrips.
You can certainly say as a RP aspect that the formula for cantrips is in the book, but only as RP flavour.
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At least WotC should implement a spellbook for those cantrips or, how can any class earn those cantrips automaticly ??? Can it be possible a Magic Tower or library ( biblioteque ) could contain books of cantrips ???
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
"Should" is a strong word. I disagree that they "should" do anything.
They leave it up to you to decide where and how your character learned these. It's your character's backstory. From a mentor? From a school? On their own? From a book they found? All possible and yours to determine.
My Homebrew: Races | Subclasses | Backgrounds | Spells | Magic Items | Feats
Need help with Homebrew? Check out this FAQ/Guide thread by IamSposta
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Cantrips are basically spells that you're so used to casting that you barely remember that they had a formulation. You've cast fire bolt, or used prestidigitation, so many times that they're ingrained into your memory. They were probably the first spells you ever learned. You don't really need a spellbook for them.
As others have noted Tasha’s now has a wizard extension allowing you to record cantrip formulas in your spellbooks and switch out cantrips after a long rest.
3e/3.5e had the pages limitations for spellbooks. Typically once you established some sort of base (around level 10) you hid your full set of spellbooks there and carried a “travel” set with you that contained your most commonly used spells since you lost spells from memory once cast. Now (5e) you don’t lose them so a “travel” book would probably hold the rarely used and ritual spells so you have them available if/when needed.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
The 6 spells are referencing those in your spellbook?
Where do the 2 extra spells per level come from?
What's the reference for this?
sounds great :D
The rules don’t say exactly where you get the 2 spells from, but they do say you can add them - they must be of a l vel you can cast.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.