Hi all! I'm pre-planning some things for my very first DM'ing experience. It's still plenty far off, but I like to get a jump. One aspect of spellcasting that I find annoying is the preparation of spells. I plan to eliminate the need for prepartion in my campaign, but I wanted to know if anyone thinks that's breaking the game. As it stands, Rangers, Sorcerors and Warlocks don't need to prepare. And I don't think it's that big a deal if the restriction is dropped for everyone.
Having access to all your spells doesn't grant you extra slots, so you still need to be smart in how you use them. But you're now rewarded for accumulating knowledge, since the more spells you've learned (I suppose this mostly applies to wizards) the more tools you have in your toolbox. As yes, I know clerics get access to all spells of their respective level, but I don't like the idea that a character whose power flows from a deity (ostensibly via prayer) should be limited by preparation.
"Sorry mate, I can't heal you because I didn't prepare that spell, therefore my deity won't answer my request."
Anyway, does giving a spellcaster access to all their spells while still being restricted by slots cause an imbalance in game play?
One aspect of spellcasting that I find annoying is the preparation of spells.
Good. It's supposed to chafe. That means you're making hard, interesting choices.
As it stands, Rangers, Sorcerors and Warlocks don't need to prepare. And I don't think it's that big a deal if the restriction is dropped for everyone.
That's because Rangers, Sorcerers and Warlocks intentionally have a limited selection of spells they have to stick to instead of swapping them out at will.
I plan to eliminate the need for prepartion in my campaign, but I wanted to know if anyone thinks that's breaking the game.
You're going to make Wizards, Druids, Clerics, and Paladins considerably overpowered relative to other spellcasters, unless you also change other classes to have full access to their entire spell list, which just breaks things even more.
"Sorry mate, I can't heal you because I didn't prepare that spell, therefore my deity won't answer my request."
That's not how clerics work. The whole asking-your-deity thing happens during spell preparation, so in reality the conversation would be "Sorry mate, I can't heal you because I didn't have the foresight to ask my deity for healing spells this morning."
Anyway, does giving a spellcaster access to all their spells while still being restricted by slots cause an imbalance in game play?
The D&D design team already playtested this. It turns out, being able to do all the things gets boring pretty quickly after the initial dopamine rush. Spellcasters always have the right tool for every job while non-spellcasters are left in the dust when it comes to utility.
also allowing classes access to all their spells creates a problem with newer players, as now they feel like they need to be aware and understand 20 odd spells per spell level. Having a Druid, cleric or wizard pick the spells they want for that day makes its an interesting choice for the player. And remember there are also rituals that you don’t need to prepare or use spell slots for to cast, if you have the time, and clerics gain access to several spells that are also always prepared depending on their domain.
So having a 1st level bard who has 6 options for spells (2 cantrips, and 4 known spells), your wizard friend has 9 ish (3 cantrips, 3-4 prepared spells, and two rituals let’s say comprehend languages and detect magic). That is already a wealth of information to digest for some players especially newer ones (now considering that created wizards have 9 spells known it means that a first level wizard must be keenly aware of lol their options), so functionally at first level a wizard has access to all of their spells in their spell book if they choose them wisely. The problem with “free” preparation are for classes like clerics and druids, since they have access to all the spells on their table that’s a ton of information to parse. It will slow down the game tremendously as the 0layers options are expanded 5 fold.
hope I didn’t waffle to long. And the end of the day it is your game and if you and your players want to get free casting do what you want to, change any of the rules as you see fit, the most important thing to remember is to have fun.
Hi all! I'm pre-planning some things for my very first DM'ing experience. It's still plenty far off, but I like to get a jump. One aspect of spellcasting that I find annoying is the preparation of spells. I plan to eliminate the need for prepartion in my campaign, but I wanted to know if anyone thinks that's breaking the game. As it stands, Rangers, Sorcerors and Warlocks don't need to prepare. And I don't think it's that big a deal if the restriction is dropped for everyone.
Having access to all your spells doesn't grant you extra slots, so you still need to be smart in how you use them. But you're now rewarded for accumulating knowledge, since the more spells you've learned (I suppose this mostly applies to wizards) the more tools you have in your toolbox. As yes, I know clerics get access to all spells of their respective level, but I don't like the idea that a character whose power flows from a deity (ostensibly via prayer) should be limited by preparation.
"Sorry mate, I can't heal you because I didn't prepare that spell, therefore my deity won't answer my request."
Anyway, does giving a spellcaster access to all their spells while still being restricted by slots cause an imbalance in game play?
Good. It's supposed to chafe. That means you're making hard, interesting choices.
That's because Rangers, Sorcerers and Warlocks intentionally have a limited selection of spells they have to stick to instead of swapping them out at will.
You're going to make Wizards, Druids, Clerics, and Paladins considerably overpowered relative to other spellcasters, unless you also change other classes to have full access to their entire spell list, which just breaks things even more.
That's not how clerics work. The whole asking-your-deity thing happens during spell preparation, so in reality the conversation would be "Sorry mate, I can't heal you because I didn't have the foresight to ask my deity for healing spells this morning."
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Thanks for the feedback!
also allowing classes access to all their spells creates a problem with newer players, as now they feel like they need to be aware and understand 20 odd spells per spell level. Having a Druid, cleric or wizard pick the spells they want for that day makes its an interesting choice for the player. And remember there are also rituals that you don’t need to prepare or use spell slots for to cast, if you have the time, and clerics gain access to several spells that are also always prepared depending on their domain.
So having a 1st level bard who has 6 options for spells (2 cantrips, and 4 known spells), your wizard friend has 9 ish (3 cantrips, 3-4 prepared spells, and two rituals let’s say comprehend languages and detect magic). That is already a wealth of information to digest for some players especially newer ones (now considering that created wizards have 9 spells known it means that a first level wizard must be keenly aware of lol their options), so functionally at first level a wizard has access to all of their spells in their spell book if they choose them wisely. The problem with “free” preparation are for classes like clerics and druids, since they have access to all the spells on their table that’s a ton of information to parse. It will slow down the game tremendously as the 0layers options are expanded 5 fold.
hope I didn’t waffle to long. And the end of the day it is your game and if you and your players want to get free casting do what you want to, change any of the rules as you see fit, the most important thing to remember is to have fun.
You didn’t waffle. Those are good points. Thanks!