l find it weird that a all powerful spell caster,capable of Raiseing long dead armys or wishing new landmasses into existence is incapable of casting more then 4 1st level spells without upcasting. l was thinking of houseruleing a higher limit for 1st (and second,but no higher) slot limit,but l want the advice of more experienced dms before makeing a desision,hence this thread.

PS the polls (and this question)are based on the Wizard spell table,so advice for other magic classes is welcome

EDIT:ok,so after makeing this,l have learned more about the wizard class and other magic classes,and have come to a understanding that l was wrong.

If you want more than 4 first level spell slots, use Arcane Recovery to recover more first level spell slots. In general high level casters do not need a power increase, so I'd be pretty wary of giving them more slots without removing some other feature in exchange.

They already have more slots.  (Except for Warlock).

You just upcast the spells.

A third level wizard can cast six 1st level spells.  Two of those spell slots are special slots that can instead be used to cast 2nd level spells.

Quote from Mog_Dracov >>

They already have more slots.  (Except for Warlock).

You just upcast the spells.

A third level wizard can cast six 1st level spells.  Two of those spell slots are special slots that can instead be used to cast 2nd level spells.

 

 but then you cant cast those higher level spells. thats a huge waste!

PS i forgot about Arcane recovery. that makes the lack of 1st lv slots a bit less egregious.

Well, yeah, if you want to be efficient with your spellcasting, you're probably gonna use some of those higher-level spells instead! But, well, you certainly COULD use higher-level spellslots for lower-level spells, if for whatever reason you particularly wanted to use

Spellcasters power up a lot as they go up in level anyway, I don't see a reason they need even more power.

The spell slots are meant to be a limitation. If you could just spam lvl 1 like a cantrip [by having a much higher number of slots] you'd lose some of the fun and tension around managing your spells... 

Indeed it is the cantrips that they are supposed to use in an endless fashion.

The 1st level spells are more powerful than cantrips, and thus should be more limited.

Quote from GaspodeWD >>

The spell slots are meant to be a limitation. If you could just spam lvl 1 like a cantrip [by having a much higher number of slots] you'd lose some of the fun and tension around managing your spells... 

Quote from Farling >>

Indeed it is the cantrips that they are supposed to use in an endless fashion.

The 1st level spells are more powerful than cantrips, and thus should be more limited.

 l agree that they shouldn't be unlimited. my point was that 4 lv 1 slots is very little. at least let lv 20 wizards have 8-10 lv 1s! (but again,with some of the late level skills i didn't know about,this is less of/not a issue.

By Level 20, factoring Arcane Recovery and not factoring subclass features a Wizard can cast a maximum of :

29 spells using spell slots (22 spell slots, Arcane Recovery to gain back all 1st and 2nd level slots).

5 cantrips which can be infinitely cast

A 1st level spell which can be infinitely cast.

A 2nd level spell which can be infinitely cast.

2x 3rd level spells which can be cast without spell slots once each, every short or long rest.

Their spellcasting ranging from minor but convenient effects (prestidigitation) to altering all of reality (wish).

--

They're fine as it is. They can already cast more than any other class in D&D 5E. I see no reason to make them cast even more.

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

By Level 20, factoring Arcane Recovery and not factoring subclass features a Wizard can cast a maximum of :

29 spells using spell slots (22 spell slots, Arcane Recovery to gain back all 1st and 2nd level slots).

5 cantrips which can be infinitely cast

A 1st level spell which can be infinitely cast.

A 2nd level spell which can be infinitely cast.

2x 3rd level spells which can be cast without spell slots once each, every short or long rest.

Their spellcasting ranging from minor but convenient effects (prestidigitation) to altering all of reality (wish).

--

They're fine as it is. They can already cast more than any other class in D&D 5E. I see no reason to make them cast even more.

 all fair points. this thread was made because of a lack of understanding on my part.

Ritual Caster would raise that even further, but I'm sure you were thinking of "in a combat situation."

You also may have rings, scrolls, potions that act like spells (invisibility) and stuff like that.

I'm going to have to read the Arcane Recovery Feat.  I never saw that one before.  What book is it in?  I only have the Core 3 and Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers.

Quote from MusicScout >>

Ritual Caster would raise that even further, but I'm sure you were thinking of "in a combat situation."

You also may have rings, scrolls, potions that act like spells (invisibility) and stuff like that.

I'm going to have to read the Arcane Recovery Feat.  I never saw that one before.  What book is it in?  I only have the Core 3 and Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers.

 
Arcane Recovery is a base, 1st level, feature of the Wizard. It can be seen in the Wizard class in Basic Rules and PHB.

Arcane Recovery

You have learned to regain some of your magical energy by studying your spellbook. Once per day when you finish a short rest, you can choose expended spell slots to recover. The spell slots can have a combined level that is equal to or less than half your wizard level (rounded up), and none of the slots can be 6th level or higher.

For example, if you’re a 4th-level wizard, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level spell slots.

I feel like Sorcerers should grow to 6 1st level slots by 20, but I wouldn't generalize that to all casters.

OK Thanks.  I thought it was a feat I had not heard of.