Metal Elementalist Wizard and Heat Metal?

[deuxhero]

A Metal Elementalist gains Heat Metal as a Wizard spell and is on the metal "school"'s spell list. The problem is that a Metal Elementalist has to take Fire as an opposed "school", and Heat Metal is a [fire] spell, placing it in his opposition "school" as well as his specialty.

How many slots does it take to prepare Heat Metal? 1? 2? 1 if prepared in a bonus slot, two if not? 2, but you can use the bonus slot as the second?

[Garden Tool]

Nowhere does it say that school spells only take one spell slot. All spells only take one spell slot to prepare unless otherwise specified (as is the case with spells from an opposed school).

Thus, heat metal would take two spell slots to prepare (since no text states that school spells take less slots to prepare, but rules text does state that schools from an opposed school require more spell slots).

Technically speaking, nowhere is it stated that a spell cannot belong to more than one elemental school.

Obviously, this whole mess is probably an author oversight. However, the RAW answer is actually pretty clear. Despite being a school spell (which offers no benefits with regards to spell preparation), heat metal is also an opposed spell (which imposes a penalty to spell preparation). Thus, the spell takes up two slots.

[Vendis]

I would be upset with my GM if he required it to take up two slots.

Garden Tool has the right of it - just an oversight. I hope, anyway.

[Distant Scholar]

deuxhero wrote:

A Metal Elementalist gains Heat Metal as a Wizard spell and is on the metal "school"'s spell list. The problem is that a Metal Elementalist has to take Fire as an opposed "school", and Heat Metal is a [fire] spell, placing it in his opposition "school" as well as his specialty.

How many slots does it take to prepare Heat Metal? 1? 2? 1 if prepared in a bonus slot, two if not? 2, but you can use the bonus slot as the second?

The spell heat metal may have the fire descriptor but it is not a spell in the Fire Elementalist School (APG 194-196). It only takes 1 slot for a Metal Elementalist.

[Garden Tool]

This is what happens when I don't check the source material before answering a question.

Distant Scholar is correct. Fire-descriptor spells are not necessarily fire school spells.

[cartmanbeck]

Distant Scholar wrote:

deuxhero wrote:

A Metal Elementalist gains Heat Metal as a Wizard spell and is on the metal "school"'s spell list. The problem is that a Metal Elementalist has to take Fire as an opposed "school", and Heat Metal is a [fire] spell, placing it in his opposition "school" as well as his specialty.

How many slots does it take to prepare Heat Metal? 1? 2? 1 if prepared in a bonus slot, two if not? 2, but you can use the bonus slot as the second?

The spell heat metal may have the fire descriptor but it is not a spell in the Fire Elementalist School (APG 194-196). It only takes 1 slot for a Metal Elementalist.

This is correct. The spells in the Fire school are the ones that are opposed, not all fire descriptor spells.