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Prepared Casters fall into two categories, albeit without a clear name. Clerics, Druids, and Animists know all common spells of their tradition and can prepare any they choose. Wizards, Witches, and Magi have a vessel, be it a spellbook or familliar, in which they learn some new spells each level and can use the Learn a Spell action to add more. But the Necromancer is different. While you put your known spells in your dirge and learn more each level, nowhere does it say you can add spells to your dirge otherwise- In fact, the text of dirge seems to rule that out by saying the learn a spell activity only gives you access to a spell that you can learn at a later date, much like spontaneous casters!
This puts the Necromancer in an awkward position, kind of getting the worst of both worlds. You have the fixed spellals known of a spontaneous caster limiting your day to day options with the lack of moment to moment flexibility of a prepared caster. This feels like an oversight. It's especially glaring because as a prepared caster, you have no way to forget and replace a spell upon leveling up, so you can only swap out a bad spell by spending a week to retrain it (while a wizard would just learn a new spell in less than a day).
Edit: Full credit to BadLuckGamer for pointing this out in his video first.
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While it is odd that the rules are omitted, I don't think the Necromancer is in the "worst of both worlds" because the general rules for Learn a Spell itself already cover this.
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But the Necromancer is different. While you put your known spells in your dirge and learn more each level, nowhere does it say you can add spells to your dirge otherwise- In fact, the text of dirge seems to rule that out by saying the learn a spell activity only gives you access to a spell that you can learn at a later date, much like spontaneous casters!
How are we to come to that conclusion?
The rule text for dirge:
Each time you gain a level, you add two occult spells to your dirge, of any spell rank for which you have spell slots, chosen from common spells of your tradition or others you gain access to and learn via Learn a Spell.
seems to match pretty much exactly to the Wizard's spellbook:
Each time you gain a level, you add two arcane spells to your spellbook, of any spell rank for which you have spell slots, chosen from common spells of your tradition or others you gain access to and learn via Learn a Spell.
I am not seeing anywhere else in Wizard class description itself that allows adding spells to the spellbook. Only the general rules for Learn a Spell. Which Necromancer should be able to use as well.
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Feels like Dirge should be covered by the bottom part of Learn a Spell:
A spell you learn is added to your repository of spells, such as a spellbook for a wizard, familiar for a witch, or spell list for a cleric or druid. If you have a spell repertoire, such as a bard, it's not automatically added since you can only know a limited number of spells. Instead, you can select it when you add or swap spells.
This is explicitly not a spell repertoire, so it should be treated like the former cases and become available.
Feels like Dirge should be covered by the bottom part of Learn a Spell:
A spell you learn is added to your repository of spells, such as a spellbook for a wizard, familiar for a witch, or spell list for a cleric or druid. If you have a spell repertoire, such as a bard, it's not automatically added since you can only know a limited number of spells. Instead, you can select it when you add or swap spells.This is explicitly not a spell repertoire, so it should be treated like the former cases and become available.
The only reason that I can think of to argue that it doesn't is if the example list is instead considered to be exhaustive. At which point Magus can't use Learn a Spell either. Nor can Sorcerer or Oracle. And Animist wouldn't be able to use it to gain Uncommon spells. Only PC1 classes get to learn new spells.
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Huh. I did some checking, and while Witch and Magus have explicit text in their class that they can add spells to their familliar/spellbook, it's absent from the wizard? So I think it's safe to say it's intended that Necromancer's can add spells to their dirge with learn a spell (as opposed to using the activity to gain acccess to a spell like a cleric/druid/animist or spontaneous caster). I do think it's worth calling out, though. And honestly, errata'ing a line into the wizard and not relying on existing players to know that.
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I don't get thos take as it os clearly written (nearly identicalto the wizard). Learn a Spell is a very specific activity and is capitalized in the text for a reason. Necromancers use this activity the same as Wizards do. Their Dirge expands pretty easily.
I saw the BadLuckGamer video where he ranted about this and I was yelling at my screen that he was spreading misinformation due to his lack of understanding the rules. I knew this would come up after that video.
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Your occult spells become a part of an internal dirge that echoes throughout your body, bones, and even your spirit. Each day to prepare your spells, you pull forth pieces of your dirge to vocalize. Your dirge contains your choice of ten occult cantrips and five 1st-rank occult spells.
You choose these from the common spells on the occult spell list or from other occult spells you gain access to.
Each time you gain a level, you add two occult spells to your dirge, of any spell rank for which you have spell slots, chosen from common spells of your tradition or others you gain access to and learn via Learn a Spell.
Every arcane spell has a written version, which you record in your personalized book of spells. You start with a spellbook worth 10 sp or less, which you receive for free and must study each day to prepare your spells. Your spellbook's form and name are up to you. It might be a musty, leather-bound tome or an assortment of thin metal disks connected to a brass ring; its name might be esoteric, like The Tome of Silent Shadows or something more academic, like Advanced Pyromantic Applications of Jalmeri Elemental Theory.The spellbook contains your choice of 10 arcane cantrips and five 1st-rank arcane spells. You choose these from the common spells on the arcane spell list (page 304) or from other arcane spells you gain access to. You also add two 1st-rank spells from the curriculum of your arcane school (except in the case of the school of unified magical theory, as described in that school).
Each time you gain a level, you add two arcane spells to your spellbook, of any spell rank for which you have spell slots, chosen from common spells of your tradition or others you gain access to and learn via Learn a Spell. When you gain spell slots of a new rank, you also add an additional spell from your school's curriculum (unless it's the school of unified magical theory).
Treat Dirge exactly as you would Spell Book for the purposes of learning spells.
