1st level wizard spell slots

[Guinness2702]

Hi all, I'm a noob to Pathfinder, and there's something I'm not sure about in the rules. Please help settle this discussion.

A Level 1 Wizard gets 3 x L0 and 1 x L1 spells per day according to Table 3-16

The Wizard has INT 20, so gets and extra 2 x L1 spells bonus according to Table 1-3

.... giving 3 x L0 and 3 x L1 per day. So far so good. But! Table 1-3 also says she gets 1 spell per day at each of L2 - L5. Now obviously, she can't spellcast at those levels, and my GM says therefore she doesn't get access them *at all*, until reaching the relevant spellcasting levels. However The magic (arcane spells) rules say:-

The rules wrote:

A spellcaster always has the option to fill a higher-level spell slot with a lower-level spell. A spellcaster who lacks a high enough ability score to cast spells that would otherwise be his due still gets the slots but must fill them with spells of lower levels.

(my emphasis)

ISTM that what that says is that she does get the extra L2-L5 slots which are "his due" but that she can only fill them with L1 (or L0) spells. So, I think she should have 3 x L0 and 7 x L1 spells while at level 1.

Am I right or wrong? Can anyone explain, please?

Thanks :)

[Zhayne]

Your DM is correct. Notice those L2-5 entries don't say zero, they say -. You can add on to zero (see: Rangers), but you can't add on to -. You do not have access to those spell slots at all until you hit level 3, then 5, etc.

[Guinness2702]

Ahh, okay, that makes sense, thanks :) Hmm, maybe the rules need clarifying on that one .... where do I sent feedback to?

[Zhayne]

Well, I've never seen this question come up ever, but you could flag your post as an FAQ condidate (or if you can't flag your own posts, I'll do it for you).

[Mark Garringer]

Not a Beginner Box question, but a newbie PFRPG rules question. That's fine, just in the wrong forum. :)

What it comes down to is that you appear to be confusing 'bonus' spell slots and 'base' spell slots. As Zhayne, and your GM, have said that's not how it works. Bonus slots are in addition to base slots. If you don't have the base slot, you can't get a bonus slot for it yet.

The rules you are point to really are for the case where you have a 3rd level 11 INT Wizard (WHY?!?!?) trying to cast 2nd level spells. His base spell slots for 2nd level should be 1 but he doesn't have the INT to cast them, so that 1 slot would be filled by a 1st level spell instead. Leaving the poor, under-educated wizard with a base of 3 lst level spell slots to fill (and no bonus slots due to his impressive INT).

Hope that all helps :)

[Zhayne]

I once played a Wizard who topped off his INT at 12. Every spell level above 3 was filled with metamagicked Scorching Rays. :)