Prepared Spells is a mechanic left over from previous editions of D&D that is at odds with Wizard spellbooks, redundant with spell slots, and really only serves to weaken the Wizard class. I know that Wizards have it a lot better now in 5e than they did in earlier versions of the game, but they could still be so much more if Wizards of the Coast hadn't tried to keep this crap mechanic in the game.
In previous editions, spellcaster classes, were very strict about when you could learn spells, how many you could prepare, and how much effort it took to cast them. Before 5e, most classes had to prepare individual spells each day, and if they wanted to use the same spell more than once, they had to prepare it in advance. Still, each class had its own strong identity baked into their core mechanics and designs. Sorcerers couldn't learn very many spells, but could cast far more spells per day than anyone else. In 3.5, instead of preparing spells they used roughly the same spell slot system everyone uses in 5e. Bards have always been balanced around having a spell list focused on utility and healing instead of damage. Clerics and Druids had to prepare their spells in advance, but had access to their entire spell lists from the start. And Wizards were always the opposite of Sorcerers, naturally learning a huge variety of spells, potentially learning every spell in the game if they tried hard enough, but only being able to prepare a few each day.
With the old system, where not having to guess exactly how many times you were going to use a certain spell in one day was the luxury instead of the rule, this system worked. Kinda. It was still frustrating to prepare a bunch of fireballs because you think you're going to fight a frost troll, only to get blindsided by a demon that resists fire damage instead. Sucks to be you, jackass! You should have known your DM was gonna throw a twist in at the final boss! Bet you wish you'd prepared something useful, huh?
So in 5e they gave everyone spell slots instead. Spells are now tracked by their level instead of individually. It works great in my opinion. Magic is a whole lot more versatile now, players can customize their characters to fit any theme and still be functional in different situations, and DMs don't have to worry that their player might switch out a spell that you designed the next encounter around because they weren't getting enough use out of it before. The classes each have their own variations on the system to make them all stand out individually, so the sense of identity is still there. The Wizard, however, seems to be the exception.
The Wizard class in 5e seems to be defined only by how bland and vanilla it is compared to the other classes. Wizards have no special skills baked into their kits besides Arcane Recovery at level 1, Spell Mastery at level 18 and Signature Spells at level 20. Arcane Recovery is super boring, only serving to make short rest a bit better, so you don't really get anything cool as Wizard until level 18. Other classes are constantly getting new abilities to work with, new powers, new skills, new stuff. Magic classes get abilities less often than martial classes, but they still get new tricks that give them their own unique flavor. Clerics can turn and destroy undead, Druids can turn into animals, and Warlocks get powerup after powerup.
Wizard subclasses are boring too. Most of them are just slight power boosts and bonuses when using a specific type of magic, which is just incentivising players to limit themselves. There have been a decent number of extra Arcane Traditions released post PHB that add some variety, so I guess WotC realized this issue, but I've personally felt some of these subclasses, such as School of War Magic, to be relatively underpowered. Meanwhile, looking at other classes, Sorcerers can play Skyrim in D&D with Draconic Bloodline, literally become darkness with Shadow Magic, be Thor Odinson with Storm Sorcery, or just say "F*** it all, let's see what happens" with Wild Magic. Bards are in a weird spot, since College of Lore is so good it crowds out their other options. But, hey, adding versatility to one of your class's core mechanics and letting you pick extra spells from other classes with almost no restrictions is a helluva lot more interesting than "the gold and time you must spend to copy a Evocation spell into your spellbook is halved." Then we have Warlock. Between subclasses, evocations, and pact boons, Warlock can do literally anything. Seriously. I have personally used Warlock to play as a stoner who smoked fairy-blessed mushrooms to get so high he could use magic, an angel sent by his god to reassemble the Bible, and Judge Doom. The best part is, I played all of them with theme taking precedent over strength, and all of them were still viable. Wizard wishes it had that kind of roleplay potential.
So Wizard has the most worst class abilities and arguably the most boring subclasses, what's left? The same thing that drew people to become Wizards throughout history: magic. Wizards learn so many freaking spells, gaining 2 at every level-up. With enough time and resources, a Wizard can learn just about every arcane spell in the game. The Wizard spell list is massive as well, including favorites like Fireball as well as some exclusives like Power Word: Kill and the incredible Wish spell. The Wizard's Spellbook is at the heart of their vast knowledge, and it's a genuinely cool tool. When other classes find a spell scroll in a dungeon, they just say "Neat! I can save this and use it when I need it!" But when a Wizard finds that same scroll, he can walk back to town, spend some money, and learn that spell to use as many times as he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants.
Given enough time, and with a few good dungeon runs under your belt, your Wizard can become your party's greatest asset, having the answer to almost every problem. From broken equipment to hordes of enemies to falling off a cliff, the only thing holding you back is your own frailty. You can do anything, but you can't do everything. You can only cast a few spells before resting, and each spell slot is much more precious to you than any other class could know. And if the enemy gets past your allies and manages to hit you, well, there's not much you can do to defend yourself in that case. Your body is built for late nights in the library, not substituting for a training dummy. You need the support of your team. But if they can keep you safe and handle some of the lesser problems, there's no obstacle you can't look at and smile because you have the exact spell to get past it.
Except no. Screw that. It doesn't matter that you know dozens upon dozens of spells and spent hundreds of platinum collecting them all into your spellbook. Because you can only prepare 1 spell for every Wizard level you have plus your Intelligence modifier. And there's no way to circumvent that. Not counting Spell Mastery/Signature Spell/magic items, that means that a maxed out level 20 Wizard who has spent millions of platinum to learn every spell component in the game and gather every rare component he needs can only have a maximum of 25 different spells that he knows across all 9 spell levels. That's the endgame you're working toward as Wizard. Even if you never spend the time and money to copy spells into your spellbook, you get 6 spells at level 1 and learn 2 every time you level up, so at level 20 you are guaranteed 34 spells known.
Remember how Wizard was always the class that could cast any spell but only a few per day? Remember how Sorcerer was always the class that had little spell variety but made up for it by the sheer number of times they could use their spells? Well guess what? They combined the two, so now you get the worst of both worlds! With prepared spells, you get both extremely limited spell variety AND no more than four 1st level spell slots, all for the low low price of your entire class identity!
See what I'm saying here? Wizard could really have a slow-scaling Swiss army knife identity going for it if it didn't have to worry about 80% of it's spell list being useless. If anything, their old identity of "power to solve every situation, but must pick and choose when to use limited spell slots" has been taken by Warlock. At level 20, Warlocks know 19 spells total. That's not as many as Wizards can know, and not even as many as they can prepare, but keep in mind that the 15 known from pact magic are cast at 5th level spell slots. Wizards only get 3 level 5 spell slots at max level, but Warlocks get 4, and with Eldritch Master at level 20, they get all of them back after just 1 minute of concentration. So that's 4 slots plus 4 restored slots plus the other 4 spells from Mystic Arcanum, all cast at level 5 or above. That's at least comparable to Wizards, and it doesn't even take Pact Magic, Pact Boons, or Eldritch Invocations into account. And as I mentioned earlier, Warlocks offer significantly more roleplaying potential than Wizards in 5e. In my mind there's little doubt: Warlocks have picked up the identity that Wizards lost.
So what can be done to help Wizards? It's like the title of this post says: get rid of the prepared spells mechanic. If Wizards could use pull all the spells out of their spellbooks at will, without having to predict ahead of time that they'll need it more than all the other spells they've labored over, they could fill that Swiss Army Knife role that I mentioned earlier. Obviously they've been balanced around having to prepare spells, but the solution to that problem seems pretty obvious: reduce their spell slots. If Wizards had their available spell slots cut in half, but were free to use their spellbooks without restriction, it would reassert them as the class with all the answers but none of the stamina. They would once again be the opposites of Sorcerers. They would even distinguish themselves from Warlocks by having more than 4 slots to spare, leaving them able to use some for minor utility. Slashing their spell slots would also leave room in their level-ups to add extra abilities focusing on learning/casting new spells or cheating out extra spell uses. It would give Wizards more flavor than they have now (none) and, again distinguish them more from Warlocks, who use their class features and abilities almost exclusively to gain raw power.
I know I'm probably going to get a lot of angry "um, actually..." responses from angry Wizard mains for this. Hell, I probably won't get any responses at all. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody reads this thread and it get's lost in the mess of all the other dndbeyond forums, and it turns out I wasted 2 hours writing this for nothing (btw, WTF?! I spent 2 HOURS on this post?!). But whatever. This is a topic I noticed playing Wizard and couldn't un-notice, and didn't see anyone else talking about it anywhere, so I felt like I should at least see if anyone else on planet earth agrees with me. And if so, hey, maybe someone will try a homebrew campaign with my suggestion of no-preparing-but-halved-slots. Maybe WotC will even see this and consider it for 6e. But, hey. Whatever. I said it and now I'm going to bed.
I got to the end of all this and realized I never mentioned Ritual spells. They barely help. They take 10 minutes to cast, can't be boosted, and there's only like 10 of them. Screw them.
Edit: a lot of the comments have been saying that my proposed changes would make Wizards super overpowered, an I have 3 things to say to that.
Firstly, yeah, that's kind of the point. Wizards have almost no special abilities compared to other spellcasters, and the core one that they do get comes with a huge drawback. It might be the case that Wizards just seem weaker but aren't actually weaker, but then, having a class that looks weaker to begin with isn't a good thing.
Secondly, I don't expect that my exact proposed changes would end up being perfectly balanced. There would definitely need to be a lot of playtesting and tweaking done to keep Wizard in line with the other casters. Maybe cut more than half of their spell slots. Maybe have more spells with material components that can't be circumvented by an arcane focus. Maybe make the process of adding spells to your spellbook more difficult. That sort of stuff. All I know is, if a class could cast any spell in the game at will, but only once per day, and the class got nothing else besides that, it would undoubtedly be the weakest class in the game. So that tells me there is a point on the balance scale where my proposal isn't overpowered.
Thirdly, and most importantly, I really don't think that it would be all that busted to begin with. Think about it. Wizards wouldn't be gaining any power, just versatility. Wizards were always supposed to be the versatile caster class, anyway. They're supposed to be the ones with the answers, but not the raw power. They wouldn't be gaining metamagic, or evocations, or anything crazy like that. They would still be using the same spells, but now they would also be able to viably pick up super specific spells like Knock or Create Water. The balance would come from the opportunity cost. They would have to stop and think "Oh man, I know I could use Spider Climb to get up this cliff to the treasure, but if there's a monster guarding it, I'll only have one slot left for Magic Missile. Is it worth it?"
I can see why you think what you think, but wizards, like every class, have limitless roleplay potential.
I've played a character with the wizard class who was abandoned on the streets, but was adopted by a kind wizard and tutored under him. But invaders from another city attacked, and his instructor was killed by the enemy, while he looked on helplessly. After that, he took up abjuration magic, so that he could save others since he couldn't save his tutor.
I've also played a wizard who had a completely different backstory. The campaign was set in Medieval England. My character was the son of a lord of mediocre stature. As a boy, my character was dexterous, but not strong. He was sparring with his father, when he tripped and stumbled into a lit brazier. But he was unharmed, and the flame extinguished as soon as he touched it. The next day, strangers came and demanded to his father that they hand over their son. When his father refused, they killed his parents and burned down his house. He barely escaped, and was rescued by a member of a pro-magic organization that had been watching him for some time. After that, he took up evocation magic so he can bring his parents' murderer to justice.
As you can see, wizards can still have very different and complex backstories in 5e.
Even if a wizard never gained any spells beyond the two learned each time they level, a wizard that didn't need to prepare spells and could instead cast anything in their spell book that they had a spell slot of the appropriate level for would be insanely OP.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Prepared Spells is a mechanic left over from previous editions of D&D that is at odds with Wizard spellbooks, redundant with spell slots, and really only serves to weaken the Wizard class. I know that Wizards have it a lot better now in 5e than they did in earlier versions of the game, but they could still be so much more if Wizards of the Coast hadn't tried to keep this crap mechanic in the game.
In previous editions, spellcaster classes, were very strict about when you could learn spells, how many you could prepare, and how much effort it took to cast them. Before 5e, most classes had to prepare individual spells each day, and if they wanted to use the same spell more than once, they had to prepare it in advance. Still, each class had its own strong identity baked into their core mechanics and designs. Sorcerers couldn't learn very many spells, but could cast far more spells per day than anyone else. In 3.5, instead of preparing spells they used roughly the same spell slot system everyone uses in 5e. Bards have always been balanced around having a spell list focused on utility and healing instead of damage. Clerics and Druids had to prepare their spells in advance, but had access to their entire spell lists from the start. And Wizards were always the opposite of Sorcerers, naturally learning a huge variety of spells, potentially learning every spell in the game if they tried hard enough, but only being able to prepare a few each day.
With the old system, where not having to guess exactly how many times you were going to use a certain spell in one day was the luxury instead of the rule, this system worked. Kinda. It was still frustrating to prepare a bunch of fireballs because you think you're going to fight a frost troll, only to get blindsided by a demon that resists fire damage instead. Sucks to be you, jackass! You should have known your DM was gonna throw a twist in at the final boss! Bet you wish you'd prepared something useful, huh?
So in 5e they gave everyone spell slots instead. Spells are now tracked by their level instead of individually. It works great in my opinion. Magic is a whole lot more versatile now, players can customize their characters to fit any theme and still be functional in different situations, and DMs don't have to worry that their player might switch out a spell that you designed the next encounter around because they weren't getting enough use out of it before. The classes each have their own variations on the system to make them all stand out individually, so the sense of identity is still there. The Wizard, however, seems to be the exception.
The Wizard class in 5e seems to be defined only by how bland and vanilla it is compared to the other classes. Wizards have no special skills baked into their kits besides Arcane Recovery at level 1, Spell Mastery at level 18 and Signature Spells at level 20. Arcane Recovery is super boring, only serving to make short rest a bit better, so you don't really get anything cool as Wizard until level 18. Other classes are constantly getting new abilities to work with, new powers, new skills, new stuff. Magic classes get abilities less often than martial classes, but they still get new tricks that give them their own unique flavor. Clerics can turn and destroy undead, Druids can turn into animals, and Warlocks get powerup after powerup.
Wizard subclasses are boring too. Most of them are just slight power boosts and bonuses when using a specific type of magic, which is just incentivising players to limit themselves. There have been a decent number of extra Arcane Traditions released post PHB that add some variety, so I guess WotC realized this issue, but I've personally felt some of these subclasses, such as School of War Magic, to be relatively underpowered. Meanwhile, looking at other classes, Sorcerers can play Skyrim in D&D with Draconic Bloodline, literally become darkness with Shadow Magic, be Thor Odinson with Storm Sorcery, or just say "F*** it all, let's see what happens" with Wild Magic. Bards are in a weird spot, since College of Lore is so good it crowds out their other options. But, hey, adding versatility to one of your class's core mechanics and letting you pick extra spells from other classes with almost no restrictions is a helluva lot more interesting than "the gold and time you must spend to copy a Evocation spell into your spellbook is halved." Then we have Warlock. Between subclasses, evocations, and pact boons, Warlock can do literally anything. Seriously. I have personally used Warlock to play as a stoner who smoked fairy-blessed mushrooms to get so high he could use magic, an angel sent by his god to reassemble the Bible, and Judge Doom. The best part is, I played all of them with theme taking precedent over strength, and all of them were still viable. Wizard wishes it had that kind of roleplay potential.
So Wizard has the most worst class abilities and arguably the most boring subclasses, what's left? The same thing that drew people to become Wizards throughout history: magic. Wizards learn so many freaking spells, gaining 2 at every level-up. With enough time and resources, a Wizard can learn just about every arcane spell in the game. The Wizard spell list is massive as well, including favorites like Fireball as well as some exclusives like Power Word: Kill and the incredible Wish spell. The Wizard's Spellbook is at the heart of their vast knowledge, and it's a genuinely cool tool. When other classes find a spell scroll in a dungeon, they just say "Neat! I can save this and use it when I need it!" But when a Wizard finds that same scroll, he can walk back to town, spend some money, and learn that spell to use as many times as he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants.
Given enough time, and with a few good dungeon runs under your belt, your Wizard can become your party's greatest asset, having the answer to almost every problem. From broken equipment to hordes of enemies to falling off a cliff, the only thing holding you back is your own frailty. You can do anything, but you can't do everything. You can only cast a few spells before resting, and each spell slot is much more precious to you than any other class could know. And if the enemy gets past your allies and manages to hit you, well, there's not much you can do to defend yourself in that case. Your body is built for late nights in the library, not substituting for a training dummy. You need the support of your team. But if they can keep you safe and handle some of the lesser problems, there's no obstacle you can't look at and smile because you have the exact spell to get past it.
Except no. Screw that. It doesn't matter that you know dozens upon dozens of spells and spent hundreds of platinum collecting them all into your spellbook. Because you can only prepare 1 spell for every Wizard level you have plus your Intelligence modifier. And there's no way to circumvent that. Not counting Spell Mastery/Signature Spell/magic items, that means that a maxed out level 20 Wizard who has spent millions of platinum to learn every spell component in the game and gather every rare component he needs can only have a maximum of 25 different spells that he knows across all 9 spell levels. That's the endgame you're working toward as Wizard. Even if you never spend the time and money to copy spells into your spellbook, you get 6 spells at level 1 and learn 2 every time you level up, so at level 20 you are guaranteed 34 spells known.
Remember how Wizard was always the class that could cast any spell but only a few per day? Remember how Sorcerer was always the class that had little spell variety but made up for it by the sheer number of times they could use their spells? Well guess what? They combined the two, so now you get the worst of both worlds! With prepared spells, you get both extremely limited spell variety AND no more than four 1st level spell slots, all for the low low price of your entire class identity!
See what I'm saying here? Wizard could really have a slow-scaling Swiss army knife identity going for it if it didn't have to worry about 80% of it's spell list being useless. If anything, their old identity of "power to solve every situation, but must pick and choose when to use limited spell slots" has been taken by Warlock. At level 20, Warlocks know 19 spells total. That's not as many as Wizards can know, and not even as many as they can prepare, but keep in mind that the 15 known from pact magic are cast at 5th level spell slots. Wizards only get 3 level 5 spell slots at max level, but Warlocks get 4, and with Eldritch Master at level 20, they get all of them back after just 1 minute of concentration. So that's 4 slots plus 4 restored slots plus the other 4 spells from Mystic Arcanum, all cast at level 5 or above. That's at least comparable to Wizards, and it doesn't even take Pact Magic, Pact Boons, or Eldritch Invocations into account. And as I mentioned earlier, Warlocks offer significantly more roleplaying potential than Wizards in 5e. In my mind there's little doubt: Warlocks have picked up the identity that Wizards lost.
So what can be done to help Wizards? It's like the title of this post says: get rid of the prepared spells mechanic. If Wizards could use pull all the spells out of their spellbooks at will, without having to predict ahead of time that they'll need it more than all the other spells they've labored over, they could fill that Swiss Army Knife role that I mentioned earlier. Obviously they've been balanced around having to prepare spells, but the solution to that problem seems pretty obvious: reduce their spell slots. If Wizards had their available spell slots cut in half, but were free to use their spellbooks without restriction, it would reassert them as the class with all the answers but none of the stamina. They would once again be the opposites of Sorcerers. They would even distinguish themselves from Warlocks by having more than 4 slots to spare, leaving them able to use some for minor utility. Slashing their spell slots would also leave room in their level-ups to add extra abilities focusing on learning/casting new spells or cheating out extra spell uses. It would give Wizards more flavor than they have now (none) and, again distinguish them more from Warlocks, who use their class features and abilities almost exclusively to gain raw power.
I know I'm probably going to get a lot of angry "um, actually..." responses from angry Wizard mains for this. Hell, I probably won't get any responses at all. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody reads this thread and it get's lost in the mess of all the other dndbeyond forums, and it turns out I wasted 2 hours writing this for nothing (btw, WTF?! I spent 2 HOURS on this post?!). But whatever. This is a topic I noticed playing Wizard and couldn't un-notice, and didn't see anyone else talking about it anywhere, so I felt like I should at least see if anyone else on planet earth agrees with me. And if so, hey, maybe someone will try a homebrew campaign with my suggestion of no-preparing-but-halved-slots. Maybe WotC will even see this and consider it for 6e. But, hey. Whatever. I said it and now I'm going to bed.
I got to the end of all this and realized I never mentioned Ritual spells. They barely help. They take 10 minutes to cast, can't be boosted, and there's only like 10 of them. Screw them.
Wall of Text critted for lots lol, Wizards really need to prepare spells as they do have the largest selection of spells and they could actually know everyone if they didn't have to prepare no one would be any other caster.
I play a Cleric and have the full spell list selection option. I don't think the problem is really a Wizard thing, it's the Prepared Spell List. So many of my spells go unused as they are niche or have some other very situationally dependent qualities. That just doesn't allow some of them to be prepared over go to Bread and Butter spells. There should be a, "I need to use this spell", mechanic.
I would be happy to be allowed to cast said emergency spell at the cost of 2 spell slots that are 1 level higher than the spell actually being cast, as the price for some flexibility.
My vote: None of the Above. I would select that “Prepared Spell Slots” used to be a problem, but the way it works now is absolutely fine by me.
Seconded.
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Having to prepare spells just adds another element to gameplay. As a wizard, you have potentially the largest spell selection in the game, but you're right, you can't prepare any significant percentage of them at once, so what's the point?
As someone who's main stat is INT, you wanna lean into it and do your research. Don't just prepare one spell list and try to catch all situations. Try and anticipate what spells you're going to need, try and find out what specifically you're going to be up against and tailor a spell list to the situation. Fighting one big mega-boss? Visit your local in-game library and try and find out if that kind of creature has any weaknesses. Not the case? Focus on single-target damage and a variety of spell saves. Fighting large amounts of little enemies? Prepare control spells, aoe's, etc. Wilderness exploration? Prepare your Divination spells in case you get lost, Fly, longstrider, jump, other travel spells, etc. It's just all about anticipating what spells you'll need.
Preparing spells is integral to the wizard. When they get powerful they can create scrolls for the unusual and very situational spells that they might need.
I agree and disagree with some of the points in the OP. Prepared spells are important to the wizard, and the fact that they prepare them from their spell book is an unfortunate limit, IMO. The grass is always greener on the other side, as Sorcerers aren't happy either, and neither are warlocks. They do get more roleplay potential baked into their classes and subclasses, but that just makes the Wizard more open for playstyle.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
I am currently playing a wizard and it clear you have no idea what you are talking about.
Breakdown of what you claimed, ignoring the fluff:
You talked about the Wizard's defining non-subclass feature is RITUAL MAGIC without understanding them at all. Look at the spells, they are not combat spells, they are Utility spells. As such you do not need to cast them quickly, 10 minutes is fine. Every wizard should get and routinely use: 1(Detect Magic, Identify, Alarm, Comprehend Language, Find Familiar,), 2(Sky Write), 3(Leomund's Tiny Hut, Water Breathing), 5( Rary's Telepathic Bond, Contact Other Planes). The ability to ALWAYS have these spells available with just a little time is fairly powerful. Those are the 10 spells the wizard needs, there are another 8 there that are only OK.
The Wizard Subclass abilities are HUGE. The three best subclass abilities in the game you can get from 2 levels of wizard; Portent, Chronal Shift, and Arcane Ward
Wizard spells are generally better than other spell lists. You missed this ability entirely. Yes, the other classes can compete - but only in a specific area. The Druid is better at Nature, but not out of it. The Wizard has most of the best spells (with a few notable exceptions such as Faerie Fire) from ALL the classes.
The Wizard has ways to get around the 1 Wizard level + int modifier, you seem to not be aware of. One level of Bard or Artificer gives you about 4 extra first level spells. Yeah, they are from another list, but there is enough overlap and they are good spells. You give up a little bit, but Effectively you have freed up 4 spell known for higher level casting.
The main advantage of the wizard with the huge spell list is not instant versatility but PREPARED versatility. That is, the wizard prepares specifically for what they need. In a city? Memorize Charm Person. In a cave? Memorize Shape Stone. In a forest? Memorize Control Weather. In the mountains? Memorize Feather fall
The wizard is a Swiss army knife but it takes intelligence and PREP TIME to use it. If you are looking for a single set of spells to always memorize, you will never enjoy playing a wizard.
Any idiot that thinks a Warlock can compete with a Wizard has not played a one on one combat. For example you think that 5th level spell slots mean anything. They don't, not when a Wizard can COUNTERSPELL all the Warlock crap till the Warlock is out of slots. And Mystic Arcanum are significantly LESS powerfull than a wizard spell slot.restored slots plus the other 4 spells from Mystic Arcanum, all cast at level 5 or above. That's at least comparable to Wizards, and it doesn't even take Pact Magic, Pact Boons, or Eldritch Invocations into account. And as I mentioned earlier, Warlocks offer significantly more roleplaying potential than Wizards in 5e. In my mind there's little doubt: Warlocks have picked up the identity that Wizards lost.
Basically what is going on here is that you have no idea how to play a Wizard. You do not understand how to use it's many many powers For example thinking that Ritual spells are useless because they do not have a lot of them. As for taking ten minutes to cast, they are all out of combat spells, so it does not matter how long it takes.
Wizards are already overpowered. The fact you think you need to increase their power means either a) You have no idea how to play one, or b) you have no desire to do the things the wizards are clearly very very good at.
Whine whine, blah blah, I can't have my cake and eat it. It's so unfair! #writes a 4 page essay on why he thinks he is correct and the entirety of D&D from it's very outset until present day is wrong.
While I could certainly see Wizards getting to prepare more spells from their spellbook as they reach higher levels, the mechanic of preparing some form what they know is an important balance point in the class.
I also feel like there should be some way to cast a spell they know, but is not prepared, using their Spellbook as a focus for that casting. Limit uses per Long Rest, and have a chance the page(s) burns out of their spellbook on use.
As someone who's main stat is INT, you wanna lean into it and do your research. Don't just prepare one spell list and try to catch all situations. Try and anticipate what spells you're going to need, try and find out what specifically you're going to be up against and tailor a spell list to the situation. Fighting one big mega-boss? Visit your local in-game library and try and find out if that kind of creature has any weaknesses. Not the case? Focus on single-target damage and a variety of spell saves. Fighting large amounts of little enemies? Prepare control spells, aoe's, etc. Wilderness exploration? Prepare your Divination spells in case you get lost, Fly, longstrider, jump, other travel spells, etc. It's just all about anticipating what spells you'll need.
I just recently started playing a wizard as my usual group has a guy that pretty much always takes that slot. To me, this aspect is huge. You actually benefit from trying to play smart and be prepared for what's coming. I think this is a great RP opportunity and kind of nudges you into being the guy who wants to research the enemy before charging out to face it.
There's another issue here that is completely meta and not about wizards at all but still a really good reason for the limit to exist. The wizard spell list is huge once you're a couple tiers in. For many players, having the freedom to cast anything every turn would mean every turn takes 15 minutes as they pore over their spell list. I already see this with clerics and druids trying to pick out their prepared spells for the day. Opening that up every turn is just going to wreck the pacing of encounters. Yes, you might know every spell and be able to come up with your tactics immediately, but others cannot and 5e was designed to be accessible and facilitate quick, punchy play. Limiting spell options to prevent this while still allowing for a lot of flexibility is a tough line to walk and honestly I think they handled it pretty well.
That'd be incredibly broken. EVERY class in the game is limited to some extent by how much of their spell list they can access at a given time. In fact, I would argue that Wizards are LESS limited in that regard, since they can use ritual spells they don't have prepared so long as they ritual cast them (and honestly, why would they burn a slot?). So, no, wizards can't just have access to a number of spells equal to their level plus their caster modifier, they have that PLUS any rituals they know. Whenever I play Cleric, I nearly always prepare a ritual spell or two (Detect Magic, Augury, Purify Water was good during Tomb of Annihilation). For Wizard, that's unnecessary.
Plus, Wizards already have a way to gain access to other spells in their spellbook even when they aren't prepared: scribe a scroll during downtime. 25 gp for a 1st level scroll or 250 for a 2nd level scroll covers quite a few utility spells. Obviously, this will depend heavily on how much wealth/downtime your campaign lets you have. But Sorcerers and Warlocks will struggle to do this, since if they switch to a spell they'd like to have a scroll of "just in case", they can't switch back until the next level up.
I halfway agree with this. Removing the preparation barrier altogether would make the wizard too strong, but only getting to prepare 1 more measly spell per level? That doesn't even keep pace with your two free spells per level.... let alone other spells you find and spend precious gold to copy, only for them to rarely see use, if ever, because the preparation limit is so strangling.
People say "oh you have that big list of spells to prepare for exactly what the DM is throwing at you next"... it isn't that simple in practice. A lot of times you have no idea what will happen next, and even if you do have some idea, preparing an unusual list of spells for it ends up blowing up in your face as often as panning out nicely.
When playing a wizard I find I'm just preparing the same balanced list each day- you got your familiar, mage armor, shield, magic missiles, a handful of various damage and CC spells targeting different saves and resistances, a battlefield control spell or 2 like web, a mobility spell or 2 like misty step, and finally a few utility spells.
Why not just play a sorcerer? That's how a sorcerer plays, and you get significantly better class abilities and features.
People say "oh you have that big list of spells to prepare for exactly what the DM is throwing at you next"... it isn't that simple in practice. A lot of times you have no idea what will happen next, and even if you do have some idea, preparing an unusual list of spells for it ends up blowing up in your face as often as panning out nicely.
Yeah, I was thinking this several posts back as well. I don't have a DM that let's us know that much about upcoming encounters for a post like this:
Having to prepare spells just adds another element to gameplay. As a wizard, you have potentially the largest spell selection in the game, but you're right, you can't prepare any significant percentage of them at once, so what's the point?
As someone who's main stat is INT, you wanna lean into it and do your research. Don't just prepare one spell list and try to catch all situations. Try and anticipate what spells you're going to need, try and find out what specifically you're going to be up against and tailor a spell list to the situation. Fighting one big mega-boss? Visit your local in-game library and try and find out if that kind of creature has any weaknesses. Not the case? Focus on single-target damage and a variety of spell saves. Fighting large amounts of little enemies? Prepare control spells, aoe's, etc. Wilderness exploration? Prepare your Divination spells in case you get lost, Fly, longstrider, jump, other travel spells, etc. It's just all about anticipating what spells you'll need.
to apply reliably or often enough to beat the "Standard go to Spell list" that I'm sure most people develop to "catch all situations".
a) The need to choose carefully in advance which spells you believe would be most useful that day or
b) Not having to choose, but having a lot fewer spells to choose from when you want to cast one of them.
If (a), play a wizard. If (b), play a sorcerer, warlock or bard.
Also pay attention to where you are and where you expect to be going. Investigate targets. Ask questions and avoid going in blindly. Wizard players should actually play their intelligent characters like their characters have intelligence rather than simply playing characters that have a high number beside 'Int' on a piece of paper.
What we are saying is that (a) ends up being a moot point because you have absolutely no idea what will happen on many given days and even attempting to guess goes badly as often as it goes well, so most days you just default to the same balanced list of spells.
Problem is, why play wizard then? Just play sorcerer or bard and build a balanced repertoire of spells and enjoy the significantly more powerful class features.
a) The need to choose carefully in advance which spells you believe would be most useful that day or
b) Not having to choose, but having a lot fewer spells to choose from when you want to cast one of them.
If (a), play a wizard. If (b), play a sorcerer, warlock or bard.
Also pay attention to where you are and where you expect to be going. Investigate targets. Ask questions and avoid going in blindly. Wizard players should actually play their intelligent characters like their characters have intelligence rather than simply playing characters that have a high number beside 'Int' on a piece of paper.
What we are saying is that (a) ends up being a moot point because you have absolutely no idea what will happen on many given days and even attempting to guess goes badly as often as it goes well, so most days you just default to the same balanced list of spells.
Problem is, why play wizard then? Just play sorcerer or bard and build a balanced repertoire of spells and enjoy the significantly more powerful class features.
Back in older editions, a Wizard didn’t have to prepare their spell list for the day and then get to pick and choose what they cast. Back then, any Spellcaster had to prepare each individual spell slot with a specific spell for the day. If a Player wanted to be able to cast Magic Missile twice that day, the Player had to prepare two 1st-level slots with Magic Missile. There were no Cantrips nor Ritual spells back then either. As players, we had to plan very carefully for what we expected to face each coming day.
If we could play D&D that way for all those years, playing this way now is totally doable. In fact, this is like “easy mode” compared to a 2e Arcane Magic User (there were no Wizards backs then) or an AD&D2e Wizard. Maybe it’s simply because I have those older editions to compare to, but my very first thought after picking up the 5e PHB was “Man, Wizards have it so much easier these days!”
Prepared Spells is a mechanic left over from previous editions of D&D that is at odds with Wizard spellbooks, redundant with spell slots, and really only serves to weaken the Wizard class. I know that Wizards have it a lot better now in 5e than they did in earlier versions of the game, but they could still be so much more if Wizards of the Coast hadn't tried to keep this crap mechanic in the game.
In previous editions, spellcaster classes, were very strict about when you could learn spells, how many you could prepare, and how much effort it took to cast them. Before 5e, most classes had to prepare individual spells each day, and if they wanted to use the same spell more than once, they had to prepare it in advance. Still, each class had its own strong identity baked into their core mechanics and designs. Sorcerers couldn't learn very many spells, but could cast far more spells per day than anyone else. In 3.5, instead of preparing spells they used roughly the same spell slot system everyone uses in 5e. Bards have always been balanced around having a spell list focused on utility and healing instead of damage. Clerics and Druids had to prepare their spells in advance, but had access to their entire spell lists from the start. And Wizards were always the opposite of Sorcerers, naturally learning a huge variety of spells, potentially learning every spell in the game if they tried hard enough, but only being able to prepare a few each day.
With the old system, where not having to guess exactly how many times you were going to use a certain spell in one day was the luxury instead of the rule, this system worked. Kinda. It was still frustrating to prepare a bunch of fireballs because you think you're going to fight a frost troll, only to get blindsided by a demon that resists fire damage instead. Sucks to be you, jackass! You should have known your DM was gonna throw a twist in at the final boss! Bet you wish you'd prepared something useful, huh?
So in 5e they gave everyone spell slots instead. Spells are now tracked by their level instead of individually. It works great in my opinion. Magic is a whole lot more versatile now, players can customize their characters to fit any theme and still be functional in different situations, and DMs don't have to worry that their player might switch out a spell that you designed the next encounter around because they weren't getting enough use out of it before. The classes each have their own variations on the system to make them all stand out individually, so the sense of identity is still there. The Wizard, however, seems to be the exception.
The Wizard class in 5e seems to be defined only by how bland and vanilla it is compared to the other classes. Wizards have no special skills baked into their kits besides Arcane Recovery at level 1, Spell Mastery at level 18 and Signature Spells at level 20. Arcane Recovery is super boring, only serving to make short rest a bit better, so you don't really get anything cool as Wizard until level 18. Other classes are constantly getting new abilities to work with, new powers, new skills, new stuff. Magic classes get abilities less often than martial classes, but they still get new tricks that give them their own unique flavor. Clerics can turn and destroy undead, Druids can turn into animals, and Warlocks get powerup after powerup.
Wizard subclasses are boring too. Most of them are just slight power boosts and bonuses when using a specific type of magic, which is just incentivising players to limit themselves. There have been a decent number of extra Arcane Traditions released post PHB that add some variety, so I guess WotC realized this issue, but I've personally felt some of these subclasses, such as School of War Magic, to be relatively underpowered. Meanwhile, looking at other classes, Sorcerers can play Skyrim in D&D with Draconic Bloodline, literally become darkness with Shadow Magic, be Thor Odinson with Storm Sorcery, or just say "F*** it all, let's see what happens" with Wild Magic. Bards are in a weird spot, since College of Lore is so good it crowds out their other options. But, hey, adding versatility to one of your class's core mechanics and letting you pick extra spells from other classes with almost no restrictions is a helluva lot more interesting than "the gold and time you must spend to copy a Evocation spell into your spellbook is halved." Then we have Warlock. Between subclasses, evocations, and pact boons, Warlock can do literally anything. Seriously. I have personally used Warlock to play as a stoner who smoked fairy-blessed mushrooms to get so high he could use magic, an angel sent by his god to reassemble the Bible, and Judge Doom. The best part is, I played all of them with theme taking precedent over strength, and all of them were still viable. Wizard wishes it had that kind of roleplay potential.
So Wizard has the most worst class abilities and arguably the most boring subclasses, what's left? The same thing that drew people to become Wizards throughout history: magic. Wizards learn so many freaking spells, gaining 2 at every level-up. With enough time and resources, a Wizard can learn just about every arcane spell in the game. The Wizard spell list is massive as well, including favorites like Fireball as well as some exclusives like Power Word: Kill and the incredible Wish spell. The Wizard's Spellbook is at the heart of their vast knowledge, and it's a genuinely cool tool. When other classes find a spell scroll in a dungeon, they just say "Neat! I can save this and use it when I need it!" But when a Wizard finds that same scroll, he can walk back to town, spend some money, and learn that spell to use as many times as he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants.
Given enough time, and with a few good dungeon runs under your belt, your Wizard can become your party's greatest asset, having the answer to almost every problem. From broken equipment to hordes of enemies to falling off a cliff, the only thing holding you back is your own frailty. You can do anything, but you can't do everything. You can only cast a few spells before resting, and each spell slot is much more precious to you than any other class could know. And if the enemy gets past your allies and manages to hit you, well, there's not much you can do to defend yourself in that case. Your body is built for late nights in the library, not substituting for a training dummy. You need the support of your team. But if they can keep you safe and handle some of the lesser problems, there's no obstacle you can't look at and smile because you have the exact spell to get past it.
Except no. Screw that. It doesn't matter that you know dozens upon dozens of spells and spent hundreds of platinum collecting them all into your spellbook. Because you can only prepare 1 spell for every Wizard level you have plus your Intelligence modifier. And there's no way to circumvent that. Not counting Spell Mastery/Signature Spell/magic items, that means that a maxed out level 20 Wizard who has spent millions of platinum to learn every spell component in the game and gather every rare component he needs can only have a maximum of 25 different spells that he knows across all 9 spell levels. That's the endgame you're working toward as Wizard. Even if you never spend the time and money to copy spells into your spellbook, you get 6 spells at level 1 and learn 2 every time you level up, so at level 20 you are guaranteed 34 spells known.
Remember how Wizard was always the class that could cast any spell but only a few per day? Remember how Sorcerer was always the class that had little spell variety but made up for it by the sheer number of times they could use their spells? Well guess what? They combined the two, so now you get the worst of both worlds! With prepared spells, you get both extremely limited spell variety AND no more than four 1st level spell slots, all for the low low price of your entire class identity!
See what I'm saying here? Wizard could really have a slow-scaling Swiss army knife identity going for it if it didn't have to worry about 80% of it's spell list being useless. If anything, their old identity of "power to solve every situation, but must pick and choose when to use limited spell slots" has been taken by Warlock. At level 20, Warlocks know 19 spells total. That's not as many as Wizards can know, and not even as many as they can prepare, but keep in mind that the 15 known from pact magic are cast at 5th level spell slots. Wizards only get 3 level 5 spell slots at max level, but Warlocks get 4, and with Eldritch Master at level 20, they get all of them back after just 1 minute of concentration. So that's 4 slots plus 4 restored slots plus the other 4 spells from Mystic Arcanum, all cast at level 5 or above. That's at least comparable to Wizards, and it doesn't even take Pact Magic, Pact Boons, or Eldritch Invocations into account. And as I mentioned earlier, Warlocks offer significantly more roleplaying potential than Wizards in 5e. In my mind there's little doubt: Warlocks have picked up the identity that Wizards lost.
So what can be done to help Wizards? It's like the title of this post says: get rid of the prepared spells mechanic. If Wizards could use pull all the spells out of their spellbooks at will, without having to predict ahead of time that they'll need it more than all the other spells they've labored over, they could fill that Swiss Army Knife role that I mentioned earlier. Obviously they've been balanced around having to prepare spells, but the solution to that problem seems pretty obvious: reduce their spell slots. If Wizards had their available spell slots cut in half, but were free to use their spellbooks without restriction, it would reassert them as the class with all the answers but none of the stamina. They would once again be the opposites of Sorcerers. They would even distinguish themselves from Warlocks by having more than 4 slots to spare, leaving them able to use some for minor utility. Slashing their spell slots would also leave room in their level-ups to add extra abilities focusing on learning/casting new spells or cheating out extra spell uses. It would give Wizards more flavor than they have now (none) and, again distinguish them more from Warlocks, who use their class features and abilities almost exclusively to gain raw power.
I know I'm probably going to get a lot of angry "um, actually..." responses from angry Wizard mains for this. Hell, I probably won't get any responses at all. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody reads this thread and it get's lost in the mess of all the other dndbeyond forums, and it turns out I wasted 2 hours writing this for nothing (btw, WTF?! I spent 2 HOURS on this post?!). But whatever. This is a topic I noticed playing Wizard and couldn't un-notice, and didn't see anyone else talking about it anywhere, so I felt like I should at least see if anyone else on planet earth agrees with me. And if so, hey, maybe someone will try a homebrew campaign with my suggestion of no-preparing-but-halved-slots. Maybe WotC will even see this and consider it for 6e. But, hey. Whatever. I said it and now I'm going to bed.
I got to the end of all this and realized I never mentioned Ritual spells. They barely help. They take 10 minutes to cast, can't be boosted, and there's only like 10 of them. Screw them.
Edit: a lot of the comments have been saying that my proposed changes would make Wizards super overpowered, an I have 3 things to say to that.
Firstly, yeah, that's kind of the point. Wizards have almost no special abilities compared to other spellcasters, and the core one that they do get comes with a huge drawback. It might be the case that Wizards just seem weaker but aren't actually weaker, but then, having a class that looks weaker to begin with isn't a good thing.
Secondly, I don't expect that my exact proposed changes would end up being perfectly balanced. There would definitely need to be a lot of playtesting and tweaking done to keep Wizard in line with the other casters. Maybe cut more than half of their spell slots. Maybe have more spells with material components that can't be circumvented by an arcane focus. Maybe make the process of adding spells to your spellbook more difficult. That sort of stuff. All I know is, if a class could cast any spell in the game at will, but only once per day, and the class got nothing else besides that, it would undoubtedly be the weakest class in the game. So that tells me there is a point on the balance scale where my proposal isn't overpowered.
Thirdly, and most importantly, I really don't think that it would be all that busted to begin with. Think about it. Wizards wouldn't be gaining any power, just versatility. Wizards were always supposed to be the versatile caster class, anyway. They're supposed to be the ones with the answers, but not the raw power. They wouldn't be gaining metamagic, or evocations, or anything crazy like that. They would still be using the same spells, but now they would also be able to viably pick up super specific spells like Knock or Create Water. The balance would come from the opportunity cost. They would have to stop and think "Oh man, I know I could use Spider Climb to get up this cliff to the treasure, but if there's a monster guarding it, I'll only have one slot left for Magic Missile. Is it worth it?"
why the hell isn't the "edit post" button working?
I can see why you think what you think, but wizards, like every class, have limitless roleplay potential.
I've played a character with the wizard class who was abandoned on the streets, but was adopted by a kind wizard and tutored under him. But invaders from another city attacked, and his instructor was killed by the enemy, while he looked on helplessly. After that, he took up abjuration magic, so that he could save others since he couldn't save his tutor.
I've also played a wizard who had a completely different backstory. The campaign was set in Medieval England. My character was the son of a lord of mediocre stature. As a boy, my character was dexterous, but not strong. He was sparring with his father, when he tripped and stumbled into a lit brazier. But he was unharmed, and the flame extinguished as soon as he touched it. The next day, strangers came and demanded to his father that they hand over their son. When his father refused, they killed his parents and burned down his house. He barely escaped, and was rescued by a member of a pro-magic organization that had been watching him for some time. After that, he took up evocation magic so he can bring his parents' murderer to justice.
As you can see, wizards can still have very different and complex backstories in 5e.
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Even if a wizard never gained any spells beyond the two learned each time they level, a wizard that didn't need to prepare spells and could instead cast anything in their spell book that they had a spell slot of the appropriate level for would be insanely OP.
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"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Wall of Text critted for lots lol, Wizards really need to prepare spells as they do have the largest selection of spells and they could actually know everyone if they didn't have to prepare no one would be any other caster.
I play a Cleric and have the full spell list selection option. I don't think the problem is really a Wizard thing, it's the Prepared Spell List. So many of my spells go unused as they are niche or have some other very situationally dependent qualities. That just doesn't allow some of them to be prepared over go to Bread and Butter spells. There should be a, "I need to use this spell", mechanic.
I would be happy to be allowed to cast said emergency spell at the cost of 2 spell slots that are 1 level higher than the spell actually being cast, as the price for some flexibility.
My vote: None of the Above. I would select that “Prepared Spell Slots” used to be a problem, but the way it works now is absolutely fine by me.
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Seconded.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Having to prepare spells just adds another element to gameplay. As a wizard, you have potentially the largest spell selection in the game, but you're right, you can't prepare any significant percentage of them at once, so what's the point?
As someone who's main stat is INT, you wanna lean into it and do your research. Don't just prepare one spell list and try to catch all situations. Try and anticipate what spells you're going to need, try and find out what specifically you're going to be up against and tailor a spell list to the situation. Fighting one big mega-boss? Visit your local in-game library and try and find out if that kind of creature has any weaknesses. Not the case? Focus on single-target damage and a variety of spell saves. Fighting large amounts of little enemies? Prepare control spells, aoe's, etc. Wilderness exploration? Prepare your Divination spells in case you get lost, Fly, longstrider, jump, other travel spells, etc. It's just all about anticipating what spells you'll need.
Preparing spells is integral to the wizard. When they get powerful they can create scrolls for the unusual and very situational spells that they might need.
I agree and disagree with some of the points in the OP. Prepared spells are important to the wizard, and the fact that they prepare them from their spell book is an unfortunate limit, IMO. The grass is always greener on the other side, as Sorcerers aren't happy either, and neither are warlocks. They do get more roleplay potential baked into their classes and subclasses, but that just makes the Wizard more open for playstyle.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I am currently playing a wizard and it clear you have no idea what you are talking about.
Breakdown of what you claimed, ignoring the fluff:
Now here is someone who knows how to play a wizard properly!
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Whine whine, blah blah, I can't have my cake and eat it. It's so unfair! #writes a 4 page essay on why he thinks he is correct and the entirety of D&D from it's very outset until present day is wrong.
While I could certainly see Wizards getting to prepare more spells from their spellbook as they reach higher levels, the mechanic of preparing some form what they know is an important balance point in the class.
I also feel like there should be some way to cast a spell they know, but is not prepared, using their Spellbook as a focus for that casting. Limit uses per Long Rest, and have a chance the page(s) burns out of their spellbook on use.
I just recently started playing a wizard as my usual group has a guy that pretty much always takes that slot. To me, this aspect is huge. You actually benefit from trying to play smart and be prepared for what's coming. I think this is a great RP opportunity and kind of nudges you into being the guy who wants to research the enemy before charging out to face it.
There's another issue here that is completely meta and not about wizards at all but still a really good reason for the limit to exist. The wizard spell list is huge once you're a couple tiers in. For many players, having the freedom to cast anything every turn would mean every turn takes 15 minutes as they pore over their spell list. I already see this with clerics and druids trying to pick out their prepared spells for the day. Opening that up every turn is just going to wreck the pacing of encounters. Yes, you might know every spell and be able to come up with your tactics immediately, but others cannot and 5e was designed to be accessible and facilitate quick, punchy play. Limiting spell options to prevent this while still allowing for a lot of flexibility is a tough line to walk and honestly I think they handled it pretty well.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
That'd be incredibly broken. EVERY class in the game is limited to some extent by how much of their spell list they can access at a given time. In fact, I would argue that Wizards are LESS limited in that regard, since they can use ritual spells they don't have prepared so long as they ritual cast them (and honestly, why would they burn a slot?). So, no, wizards can't just have access to a number of spells equal to their level plus their caster modifier, they have that PLUS any rituals they know. Whenever I play Cleric, I nearly always prepare a ritual spell or two (Detect Magic, Augury, Purify Water was good during Tomb of Annihilation). For Wizard, that's unnecessary.
Plus, Wizards already have a way to gain access to other spells in their spellbook even when they aren't prepared: scribe a scroll during downtime. 25 gp for a 1st level scroll or 250 for a 2nd level scroll covers quite a few utility spells. Obviously, this will depend heavily on how much wealth/downtime your campaign lets you have. But Sorcerers and Warlocks will struggle to do this, since if they switch to a spell they'd like to have a scroll of "just in case", they can't switch back until the next level up.
I halfway agree with this. Removing the preparation barrier altogether would make the wizard too strong, but only getting to prepare 1 more measly spell per level? That doesn't even keep pace with your two free spells per level.... let alone other spells you find and spend precious gold to copy, only for them to rarely see use, if ever, because the preparation limit is so strangling.
People say "oh you have that big list of spells to prepare for exactly what the DM is throwing at you next"... it isn't that simple in practice. A lot of times you have no idea what will happen next, and even if you do have some idea, preparing an unusual list of spells for it ends up blowing up in your face as often as panning out nicely.
When playing a wizard I find I'm just preparing the same balanced list each day- you got your familiar, mage armor, shield, magic missiles, a handful of various damage and CC spells targeting different saves and resistances, a battlefield control spell or 2 like web, a mobility spell or 2 like misty step, and finally a few utility spells.
Why not just play a sorcerer? That's how a sorcerer plays, and you get significantly better class abilities and features.
Yeah, I was thinking this several posts back as well. I don't have a DM that let's us know that much about upcoming encounters for a post like this:
to apply reliably or often enough to beat the "Standard go to Spell list" that I'm sure most people develop to "catch all situations".
What we are saying is that (a) ends up being a moot point because you have absolutely no idea what will happen on many given days and even attempting to guess goes badly as often as it goes well, so most days you just default to the same balanced list of spells.
Problem is, why play wizard then? Just play sorcerer or bard and build a balanced repertoire of spells and enjoy the significantly more powerful class features.
Back in older editions, a Wizard didn’t have to prepare their spell list for the day and then get to pick and choose what they cast. Back then, any Spellcaster had to prepare each individual spell slot with a specific spell for the day. If a Player wanted to be able to cast Magic Missile twice that day, the Player had to prepare two 1st-level slots with Magic Missile. There were no Cantrips nor Ritual spells back then either. As players, we had to plan very carefully for what we expected to face each coming day.
If we could play D&D that way for all those years, playing this way now is totally doable. In fact, this is like “easy mode” compared to a 2e Arcane Magic User (there were no Wizards backs then) or an AD&D2e Wizard. Maybe it’s simply because I have those older editions to compare to, but my very first thought after picking up the 5e PHB was “Man, Wizards have it so much easier these days!”
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