Does Protection from Good, Evil etc

[Vorkosigan]

Does this spell cost 1 spell slot for all when first learning? Or is it 1 new spell slot per Protection?

Example #1
Protection from Chaos/Evil/Good/Law. new spell 1 slot.

At time of casting you choose which you want.

or

Example #2
Protection from Chaos. new spell 1 slot
Protection from Evil. new spell 1 slot
Protection from Good. new spell 1 slot
Protection from Law. new spell 1 slot

At time of casting you choose which one you know & want.

Thanks for the insight & help.

[Githzilla]

They all have seperate entries in the rule book. They are seperate spells and should be treated that way.

[Cralius the Dark]

Githzilla wrote:

They all have seperate entries in the rule book. They are seperate spells and should be treated that way.

But in the spell lists they are lumped together.

This question came up in my game.

On page 206, under choosing a spell, it says

"If a spell has multiple versions, you choose which version to use when you cast it. You don't have to prepare (or learn, in the case of a bard or sorcerer) a specific version of the spell."

To me, that means example #1 is correct. You memorize a Protection from x. When you cast it, you decide whether it's good, evil, law, chaos.

[Githzilla]

Ah, you are probably right then. I did not look at the spell list, I just went straight to the individual spell descriptions and did not notice how it appears as one entry on the list. Sorry about that.

[Lee Gordon]

I believe they are each separate spells. The Good/Evil/Law/Chaos entry is simply to be more concise in the spell list. Otherwise, I'd expect to it be something like Protection from Alignment Component.

I think the issue of different versions refers to when a spell has multiple effects which you select from at casting time, such as Dispel Magic or Fire Shield.

[Lehmuska]

They're different spells in the spell description text. Following the old rule from the golden age of third edition D&D tells us that text trumps table.