So what is up with spellcasting in the game? I started the game as a mage since I love magic combat, but It seems that I have to rest every time I cast a spell, and I don't get to rest all the time unless I waste a gold piece at the inn. Can someone explain to me the point and/or the logic behind spellcasting?

Definitely helped. Thanks a bunch.

This game is based on DnD so you don't get a recharging mana pool of magic power. Different types of casters work in slightly different ways but one way to describe it is that you recharge your magical power when you sleep and that is it until you sleep again.

As a wizard or cleric or druid you can remember multiple instances of the same spell of course, and sorcerers and bards get to choose what they cast when they cast it, but all are subject to the limits between rests.

Some community modules and PWs use the opportunities provided by this system to make resting a vital part of the game, introduce ambush attacks or increase the drama by being down to your last few spells with still no safe place to rest for example.

Sorcerers and wizards are by far the most powerful classes if played well, so this system is also a form of balancing.

You might find this link useful.

Have fun :)

I think this info is stated elsewhere, so sorry for the redundancy :x

Also, one more note: at the beginning, arcane spell casters may seem weak, as they will be limited by a small number of spell slots and level 1 spells which scale as the caster's level increases. However, they soon become very valuable and useful members of the party, and eventually become the most powerful characters bar none at the highest levels.

Err, just to state it more explicitly:

Divine Spellcasters:

Their spell-casting abilities are Wisdom based, meaning the number of spell they can cast (i.e. number of spell slots--see below) is affected by Wisdom, the chance for a spell to be resisted or for saving throws to succeed is affected by Wisdom, etc. Note that for the most part any die rolls for things like the amount of damage done or the amount of healing done is typically not tied to Wisdom (unless stated otherwise), but is very often affected by the caster's level.

They must prepare each instance of a spell they cast every day (i.e. between rests). Each spell level is allotted a specific number of slots. That means if they want to cast a level 1 Heal Minor Wounds (whatever it's called) spell, they need to put two instances of Heal Minor Wounds each into a level 1 slot, using up two level 1 spell slots.

The base classes that operate like this are the druid and the cleric.

Arcane Spellcasters (Intelligence):

Their spell-casting abilities are Intelligence-based, and Intelligence affects their arcane spells in a way analogous to how Wisdom affects divine spells. Note again that die rolls for damage dealt, etc. are typically based on the caster's level and not their intelligence.

Again, these spell casters are allotted a number of spell slots per level, and they must assign specific instances of these spells. For example, if such a spell caster wants to cast the much-lauded (or much-feared) level 3 Fireball spell 3 times that day, they must use up three level 3 spell slots to be each occupied by an instance of the Fireball spell.

The wizard is the only arcane Intelligence-based caster. However, note that in exchange for a lack of flexibility and lower number of spells they can cast per day (compared to the sorcerer), they have the ability to learn new spells from scrolls using the "Inscribe Scroll" ability. What that means is that if a wizard finds a scroll for a spell that she likes and is has a high enough character level to cast it, she can put that spell into her spell book, and thus assign it to her spell slots for that spell level as she would any other spell from her spell book.

Arcane Spellcasters (Charism):

Their spell-casting abilities are Charisma-based, and Charisma affects their arcane spells in a way analogous to how Charisma affects divine spells, etc. Note again that die rolls for damage dealt, etc. are typically based on the caster's level and not their Charisma.

These spell casters operate differently than either the wizard or the divine spell casters: they are allotted a number of spells per spell level they can cast each day. However, the number of instances of particular spells does NOT have to be set beforehand. So you can cast any spell at any time as long you haven't ran out of spell slots for that level.

For instance, let's say you can cast the following level 1 spells: Color Spray, Magic Missile, and Shocking Grasp. And let's say you have 5 level 1 spell slots per day. Whenever you want, you can cast ANY of these spells. Any time you do so, you will lose a level 1 spell slot. So you could cast 5 Magic Missiles, 1 Color Spray and 4 Shocking Grasps, etc., without having to decide before hand how many instances of a particular spell you want to cast that day.

The arcane-based Charisma base classes are the bard and the sorcerer. The sorcerer is much like a wizard, except that each time she gains access to a new level of spells, she chooses which spells she will be able to cast, and that's it. She will never be able to choose other spells for that level. The up-shot is greater flexibility than the wizard and more spell castings per day. In addition to arcane spells, bard has a great many number of abilities, many of which are rogue-like, as well as bardic songs which are completely unique to the class and have a number of interesting and useful effects. On the other hand, they gain spell levels more slowly and have a smaller number of spell slots than the sorcerer.

Other things to note:

If any arcane caster (wizard, sorcerer, bard) wears armor, he or she has a percentage chance (determined by the armor) to fail any spell cast. This can be circumvented through a number of methods, which I will not go into right now.

Paladins and rangers also get divine, Wisdom-based spells, they just can't cast them until a few (4?) levels in.

Oh right... I always conveniently forget about those two >_> And yeah, it starts at level 4 for both paladins and rangers. Both of them have to prepare their spells like clerics and druids.

And good point about the armor bit.


Also, just for the sake of interest... there is actually a divine spell caster class that is to clerics/druids what sorcerers are to wizards. It is the favored soul, and as the name suggests the background of a member of this class is that they were chosen by a deity from birth to be their champion, and thus they have an intuitive and innate ability to draw that deity's power. In terms of casting they are exactly like sorcerers (they also have their spell casting abilities tied to Charisma), but they choose their spells from the same list of spells as clerics do.

Oh, and I forgot to add one thing: though there is some overlap, the divine spells that clerics have access to are different from the divine spells that druids have access to. Wizards and sorcerers have access to the same list of spells. Bards have their own spell list, mostly a selection of wizard/sorcerer spells along with some of the cleric's spells and a few that only they have access to. For what it's worth, even the cleric spells that bards can cast are counted as arcane rather than divine. The biggest implication for this is that heavy and medium armor as well as shields inhibits their spell casting, though light armor does not, unlike for wizards and sorcerers.