Two quick questions:
1. Does it take two spell slots for a witch to prepare a spell if that spell is from one of her opposition schools (from the wizard dip)?
2. Does the witch gain bonus wizard spell slots/ use bonded item to cast more spells of the same level as her witch spells, but from the wizard list? Like if the witch can cast up to level 5 witch spells, does the witch also get level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4, level 5 school slots from the wizard list?
I imagine the answers to those are related, but I don't see any text that limits the opposition/bonded item/spell slot to the wizard list, while I found some text in the cleric that does prohibit getting domain slots in the same way.
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Lazar has it correct.
It's usually a bad idea for a sorcerer/wizard/witch to multiclass into another arcane spell casting class, unless it's a single level dip for certain first level class abilties/features.
Can a Wizard who has Evocation as his specialized school and Divination and Enchantment as opposition school learn spells from the other schools of magic? If so, are there any penalties associated with this?
"A wizard that chooses to specialize in one school of magic must select two other schools as his opposition schools, representing knowledge sacrificed in one area of arcane lore to gain mastery in another. A wizard who prepares spells from his opposition schools must use two spell slots of that level to prepare the spell. For example, a wizard with evocation as an opposition school must expend two of his available 3rd-level spell slots to prepare a fireball. In addition, a specialist takes a –4 penalty on any skill checks made when crafting a magic item that has a spell from one of his opposition schools as a prerequisite.
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Can a Wizard who has Evocation as his specialized school and Divination and Enchantment as opposition school learn spells from the other schools of magic? If so, are there any penalties associated with this?"A wizard that chooses to specialize in one school of magic must select two other schools as his opposition schools, representing knowledge sacrificed in one area of arcane lore to gain mastery in another. A wizard who prepares spells from his opposition schools must use two spell slots of that level to prepare the spell. For example, a wizard with evocation as an opposition school must expend two of his available 3rd-level spell slots to prepare a fireball. In addition, a specialist takes a –4 penalty on any skill checks made when crafting a magic item that has a spell from one of his opposition schools as a prerequisite.
Ok that did not answer my question. Can the wizard described above (specialized in Evocation and opposition Divination and Enchantment learn a conjuration spell or a transmutation spell or any of the other schools of magic? and if so are there any penalties?) There are more schools of magic than just the 3 the wizard has chosen. It dose not give any ruling in the PRD which I noticed you quoted. I was wondering if anyone else has run into this issue.
Yes he can learn conjuration with no bonus or penalty.
The only other limit is you can only prepare a spell from your specialization school in the additional spell slot you get ... from picking your specialization school.
In addition, specialist wizards receive an additional spell slot of each spell level he can cast, from 1st on up. Each day, a wizard can prepare a spell from his specialty school in that slot. This spell must be in the wizard's spellbook.
So if you specialize in Evocation, you need to put an Evocation spell in the additional (specialization) spell slots.
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How did that not answer your question?
(not being snarky, I just genuinely don't know what else to say, since he quoted the relevant rules)
The question was about schools of magic that are neither specialized nor opposition. The quoted rules only addressed the penalties associated with opposition schools. While it may seem obvious to us that non-specialized, non-opposition schools have no bonuses or penalties since none are described, someone unfamiliar with the game could easily assume that since the rules don't say you can cast spells form non-specialized, non-opposition scools, you can't cast these spells at all.
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The question was about schools of magic that are neither specialized nor opposition. The quoted rules only addressed the penalties associated with opposition schools. While it may seem obvious to us that non-specialized, non-opposition schools have no bonuses or penalties since none are described, someone unfamiliar with the game could easily assume that since the rules don't say you can cast spells form non-specialized, non-opposition scools, you can't cast these spells at all.How did that not answer your question?
(not being snarky, I just genuinely don't know what else to say, since he quoted the relevant rules)
Thank you Wierdo. The rules only apply to specialized and opposition schools. There is nothing mentioned in the PRD concerning the other schools of magic. Since there are no rules concerning this I assumed you could not use those spells as you are specializing. Only a universalist has no penalties concerning what schools you can learn. It makes sense to me that if you specialize you should only get a bonus to your specialized school by having it cost only 1 spell slot. It doesn't make sense that you also get 1 spell slot for schools you are not specializing in and that are not in your opposition schools. It seems to me no one would be a universalist because you can get the same benefit except for 2 opposition schools.
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I just wish there was a ruling on this. There seems to be a hole in the wizards magic rules. Or at the very least room for interpretation. Nefreet I didn't think you were being snarky. I was just looking for a little clarification. I think this should be brought to the attention of Paizo for further review.
I just wish there was a ruling on this. There seams to be a hole in the wizards magic rules. Or at the very least room for interpretation.
You (truly) don't need a ruling.
Wizards can write any spell they have access to (through level, borrowed spellbooks, etc) in their spellbooks. There are no restrictions other than a Spellcraft check and the # of pages available in your book.
The default state for a Wizard is to be able to prepare any spell he has in his spellbook in a single spell slot of the appropriate level.
If you specialize in a school, you get one bonus slot that must be used for your specialty school, and your opposition schools each take two slots (as opposed to the normal one slot). Excepting those restrictions, you function like a normal wizard -- as long as it's in your spellbook, you can prepare it.
So with no int bonus, a level 2 Wizard have two level one spell slots. A level 2 Wizard (Conjuration Specialty) has two level one spell slots plus a single bonus spell slot that can only be used for a Conjuration spell. And if he tries to prep a spell from an opposition school, it takes two slots.
There is no ambiguity, or need for further interpretation. If being a specialist Wizard only let you cast spells from your specialization ... no one would play one. Ever.
It seems to me no one would be a universalist because you can get the same benefit except for 2 opposition schools.
Nobody takes Universalist, for precisely this reason (and the wizard discovery that lets you eliminate one of your opposition schools).
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In trying to understand the Wizard, let's look at the Universalist. No bonuses, no penalties, just the ability to cast any spell from any school.
It's pretty much a Wizard on default settings.
Now imagine someone wanted to specialize in one school (let's say, Evocation). In spending extra time and energy focusing on that one school, his studies in two other schools (let's say, Illusion and Necromancy) go by the wayside. He gets a bonus Evocation spell every day, cool, but now he has to work harder to prepare any Illusion or Necromancy spells.
Nothing happened to his ability to cast spells from the other schools.
And, think about what you're suggesting. If a specialist Wizard simply lost all ability to cast other spells, that would mean his opposition schools were penalized less, since he can still at least cast them.
This is further supported by many archetypes that alter or play off of this reasoning.
It truly needs no "official ruling".
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It makes sense to me that if you specialize you should only get a bonus to your specialized school by having it cost only 1 spell slot. It doesn't make sense that you also get 1 spell slot for schools you are not specializing in and that are not in your opposition schools.
As explained above, the benefit of specialization in a school is not that it costs fewer spell slots to prepare school spells, but that you get one extra spell slot to be used for a spell of your specialized school. In theory the extra spell slot balances out the cost of having a harder time casting opposition schools compared to the universalist.
I can see why you were confused, but is it clear now?
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Wierdo,
That makes sense. I guess I need to look at the Specialized wizard as someone who has focused their time on one particular school in order to get an extra spell slot in that school as opposed to the universalist who does not. The way I was looking at it before this was that a universalist wizard had an advantage over the specialist because a universalist could cast any spell (1 slot only) without penalty or benefit. The specialist had to sacrifice 2 schools (2 slots) in order to gain that bonus slot in their specialized school. I see that all wizards can cast/learn any spell but when you specialize it seems like you get an advantage over the universalist because the schools which were not specialized or opposed get one spell slot as well. In my mind a universalist is a weaker choice according to what everyone is saying and I am not sure what benefit they have. I don't see why anyone would want to be a universalist. I guess it is a matter of preference. I still think there is room for interpretation in the PRD. If I made that mistake I guarantee that others are as well. That is why I suggested Paizo should make a ruling. That was a bad choice of words. They should rewrite the rules to make it more clear to new players of wizards. In closing I would like to thank everyone for their comments and explanations. This was a good learning experience for me.
I have witch and I was thinking dipping to get some cool powers from Cleric domain, Sorcerer bloodline or Wizard school. As high Int character, I was aiming mostly wizard, though I was troubled by this.
A wizard who prepares spells from his opposition schools must use two spell slots of that level to prepare the spell.
Nothing says if those are applied for spells from another classes. And then today, I found this.
General rule: If a class ability modifies your spellcasting, it applies to your spells from all classes, not just spells from the class that grants the ability. (The exception is if the class ability specifically says it only applies to spells from that class.)
—Jason Bulmahn, 10/21/10
While that was little depressing, there was also.
Specialist wizards receive an additional spell slot of each spell level he can cast, from 1st to up. Each day, a wizard can prepare a spell from his specialty school in that slot. This must be in the wizard's spellbook.
So, my multiclassed wizard can cast 6th level witch spells, though I think that each spell level is counted only once, no matter how many caster classes I have. I do need to scribe scrolls of the spells I want to copy into my spellbook.
I do like to see what is official, before I start to pleading my gm.