Flexible Casting-lite won’t break the Wizard
Raise the floor, not the roof!
First let’s identify what “Flexible Casting” is and why it’s a major improvement to some characters.
Mainly, it allows prepared casters to be, well, more flexible. The most obvious benefit of flexible casting being that you can choose a wide selection of spells without having to dictate exact spell slots.
That absolutely adds flexibility that is useful.
But the position I hold is that the power ceiling for a flexible caster with the same number of slots as a normal prepared caster is the same. If a prepared caster prepares the right spell for the right slot, they have equal value to a flexible casters slots. A slots value itself isn’t determined by the type of caster, but the spell and moment in which it’s spent.
We must however remember the larger benefit of the Flexible Caster archetype:
“Once you gain 2nd-level spells, you can heighten any spell in your spell collection to any level you can cast, similar to a spontaneous spellcaster’s signature spells. The only restriction is that you must select at least one 1st-level spell for your collection each time you prepare, ensuring that you can use all your spell slots each day.”
This aspect of flexible casting is extremely good. Being able to heighten any spell in your spell collection at any time means that you essentially have a growing pool of spell options of your top ranked spell each time you gain a new level of spells, topping out at 18 total spells potentially choosable at 20th level.
To be clear, in the case of “Flexible Casting would not grant much additional power”, it is with the absence of the above behavior.
Thus we must create a new definition for what is being discussed when we’re talking about disparity between flexible casting and normal prepared casting to argue “Giving a more flexible default casting setup to prepared casters would not increase power ceilings and general power levels”, especially and mostly with respect to Wizard (and possibly Witch, but less so for Cleric and Druid*).
New definition:
“When you prepare spells during your daily preparations, you must choose a spell for each slot at every rank you can cast. You choose an appropriate spell from the list of spells you know for each rank when choosing these spells, and can choose a spell to be prepared in a higher rank than its initial rank. You can cast any of the spells you chose for that rank of spells with the spell slots of that same rank.”
Example:
A 1st-level wizard would choose 2 spells and then would gain the spell of their selected curriculum. The wizard would have 2 spell slots that they could use to cast any of the three spells they have prepared, and 1 spell slot which they must still use to cast the spell of their curriculum (as normal for the rules curriculum spells). The wizard knows fear, command, grease, illusory object, and summon construct, and then two from their curriculum from the school of mentalism, choosing sleep and sure strike.
The wizard must then choose 2 spells normally, fear and command, and 1 spell from the curriculum, choosing sure strike. The wizard can now spend 2 of their normal spell slots to cast any of these three spells, and they can use their curriculum slot to cast sure strike (as normal).
If the wizard were to be 5th level and they wanted to cast fear as a 3rd-rank spell, they would need to prepare fear as a 3rd-rank spell to cast the spell with 3rd-rank spell slots, and if they wanted to cast fear as a 1st-rank spell and a 3rd-rank spell, they would need to prepare fear in both of the respective ranks to be able to cast those spells with that slot.
There is probably a more concise way to write the above, but I am trying to merely define a premise.
Assuming you understand the premise here, now you have evaluated how much more powerful the above is over the current prepared wizard.
It is inarguable that the absolute maximum efficacy that a prepared wizard can have, this option will always be closer to the ceiling. That is undeniable, and is a case to say that in some ways this raises the power budget of the wizard. For that reason, it is fair to say this would be a buff.
However, with that said, it’s about who the buff is for and whether the consequences of the buff actually create more diverse play and raise the skill floor (the lowest skill needed to play the class effectively), but it does not move the power ceiling (the maximum power that either mechanic is capable of).
I would argue that granting the above flexible casting to a wizard is a good idea. I believe that because the current structure heavily punishes “choosing wrong” on spell selection.
The definition of “choosing wrong” is to pick a spell that cannot be effectively used during your day.
While one could argue, yeah isn’t that the point? You’re supposed to think about how to wisely choose your spells so they are effective during the day.
Absolutely.
However, the issue is that there are some spells that are so effective at every level of play that preparing them absolutely ensures that the spell slot will get value during an encounter, because they have what I will call “guaranteed value”.
Essentially a spell, no matter the outcome in most cases, that will 9/10 be an absolutely great pick during an adventuring day. You do still have to set up your own opportunities to use it, but that’s ultimately what every character wants to do during the day. Some spells do not require you to find the right enemy, be in the right circumstances, or to even be lucky. Some spells are just really good because of what they provide in an encounter as an absolute baseline, and for that reason, “you can’t choose wrong” becomes a reality.
These are spells like fear, heal, slow, synesthesia, enlarge with the right ally, summon fey for a Satyr, heroism, wall of stone, wall of force, wall of thorns, wall of text, okay, okay, you get it.
So let’s discuss three different arcane casters with the “4 slot” setup.
The Example
We have Cici the Sorcerer who has chosen the Imperial bloodline, she chooses to learn fear, sure strike, and then her bloodline spell is force barrage. She knows each of these spells are great and she can choose to cast any of them at a whim.
We have Walton the Wizard who has chosen the school of mentalism and is using the traditionally prepared wizard setup. Walton decides he doesn’t want to risk “choosing wrong”, so he also prepares the curriculum spell of sure strike then force barrage, and fear in the remaining 2 slots. Walton knows that it is highly likely that he will get to use each of these spells in a meaningful moment at some point during the day. Walton knows other spells, but doesn’t want to risk preparing them without certainty he will encounter something of relevance, so he does not prepare them unless he succeeds at Recall Knowledge checks or otherwise gains information that would change his mind during preparation. He also knows that the maximum value he can gain from his selections he is likely to get, and because of that, he will have reached the “power ceiling” for his day. Bonded item also has maximum choice value because of his selection.
Lastly, we have Dex the flex wizard, who is also of the school of mentalism who decides to choose fear, illusory object, and their curriculum spell of sure strike. They decide to pick these three options because they feel comfortable having a fall back of force barrage and sure strike in the event that illusory object does not find a valuable use during the day. This allows them to lean into more narrative minded selections without the worry of “wasting” spell slots on spells that can be situational, or entirely narrative drive.
But let’s say Dex decides they want to beat the other casters in efficacy, so they instead maximize their daily value by picking the exact same spells as Cici and Walton, because after all, why not have the absolute perfect perfect spell at any given moment among the best spells for that level? So Dex picks force barrage, fear, and sure strike as well.
The question now becomes “Will Dex have a more efficient/powerful day than Walton just because Dex has a higher versatility to choose the right spell in the moment that is presented?”
And the answer to that is maybe, but also probably not.
Why? Because Walton prepared 3 spells that are all but guaranteed to get value during the adventuring day. In the event that a scenario isn’t presented to Walton where he would cast a spell in his favor, one cannot necessarily assume that his opportunity would have been any better with the other options Walton chose at his rank, because those spells were just as likely to have the exact same “guaranteed value” at the rank Walton chose as his first spell.
Similarly, Dex doesn’t inherently even know which spell is going to be the right spell for the encounter when all three of their spells could be a great choice in a given situation. Dex could also have imperfect knowledge of which spell is the correct spell in the situation presented. Even if we assume that Dex has Recalled Knowledge on the enemy to have their best save or worse save, they have already prepared spells that are always so useful. In order to “beat” Walton’s efficacy, Dex would need to not only choose the right spell for the exact right moment based on the selection Dex made with regard to Walton, they would need to have an opportunity where a spent slot was the right slot to have in that moment (without needing Drain Bonded Item).
But even if that scenario were to arise, is it fair to assume that Dex’s spell that was cast was more effective than Walton’s spell slot? If Walton is using his spells effectively, then Walton probably is going to get value from the spell they prepared as well, and likely achieve a similar or exact efficacy as Dex did with their spell, because they are both casting “guaranteed value” spells.
In fact, due to circumstances and potentially miscalculated combat moments, Dex’s options may also be their undoing if they so choose to cast a spell that would not be perfect simply because they have the ability to produce some efficacy in that moment and they believe their adventuring day may end soon (such as casting fear an additional time when an enemy succeeds instead of changing to cantrips or a focus spell). Later Dex could be surprised by an unexpected encounter, and in spending an additional cast earlier due to perceived “efficacy” they left themselves unprepared for later.
Essentially Dex will be given more opportunities to choose right. But because of their spell access in each moment, they may also have more opportunities to choose “less right”, and more than likely they will simply end up making a choice of equal value, because Dex chose spells that always have efficacy and so did Walton.
Cici however just enjoys her day knowing that her choices are her choices and she’s probably gonna have a good time. She can even look forward to heightening spells spontaneously later, which will be a treat the other two spellcasters won’t get to enjoy. She maintains a similar power as both of the other characters simply by casting the best spell she has available at a time that suits her. If spells become less valuable later, she can replace them with spells she does want at those ranks as she levels.
Essentially, these gaps between “ceilings” end up being small. Dex is picking the best rank spells and Walton is picking the same. And in both scenarios, we have rather boring selections. Neither character can attempt to engage in any other aspect of play that isn’t combat related, because they have only prepared combat spells, knowing that the efficacy they will produce is inarguable, while spells that function in narrative may not even come up.
We also demonstrate how “reaching the power ceiling” requires a high system mastery to know what the best spells of each rank are, when to prepare them, etc. This high system mastery makes it difficult for new players to achieve the ceiling.
Now let’s try this comparison again, but this time Dex decides they aren’t getting that much more value by having 3 combat “guaranteed value” spells in a day than if they ran simply one or two of these spells and packing the very handy “illusory object” for a fun character moment that might happen later. Now on Dex’s adventuring day, they have not lost any actual efficacy, even if the scenario with the illusory object never materializes, because they can always rely on one of the other two spells, which have guaranteed efficacy, to be used for the slot in case illusory object never becomes more than a figment of the imagination.
Conclusion
When you present prepared casters with the option to prepare a group of spells that slots consume on a per rank basis, you don’t actually increase their power ceiling, but you raise their power floor. The power ceiling is easily achievable by any prepared spellcaster by simply picking spells that are “too good to not have value”, but the power floor for those that wish to explore other options on the spell list is raised significantly.
What would the ramifications of such a change be?
- For starters, prepared casters actually develop into a very important niche that no other caster can without fear of becoming weaker: preparing narratively focused spells. This is something prepared casters do anyways, but usually at much higher levels through scrolls and lower level slots.
- Secondly, it narrows the gap between prepared spellcasting and spontaneous spellcasting. There is one edge that each of these two forms of casting have over each other in the setup. Spontaneous spellcasters still have “Spontaneous Heightening” which is incredibly strong on its own. This is a major advantage over any prepared caster, because choosing to prepare a spell in a higher slot is still a much more cumbersome choice. The edge that prepared casters have is of course breadth of spells known. The breadth gives them wider potential to make riskier choices to know while a sorcerer has to choose spells that at least would have some relevance in their adventuring career, even if occasionally a more niche choice. This versatility is on par with the versatility of the slot expenditure from Spontaneous Heightening.
- Lastly, the main achievement is new players and players with moderate system mastery can simply choose a few “old reliable” options while keeping a wide array of other options within their grasp during actual play. Allowing the selection of other spells that aren’t “guaranteed value” and less punishing play for “choosing wrong”. This raises the skill floor, power floor, and does not move the power ceiling of the class, since the power ceiling is relatively easy to approach with “guaranteed value” spell selections. This is also good for experienced players, because now experienced players are encouraged to engage with lesser used or niche spells by proxy. This by extension means they will look for “maximum value” in their other selections as much as they would have for their “guaranteed value” selections, and thus make for more interesting moments at the table through spells that would normally never make it into daily preparation.
That’s my case for how it could improve the game to give Wizard this form of flexible casting(lite). It pushes Wizard and Sorcerer further apart into their respective niches while leaving each more than capable of handling an adventuring day. Sorcerer’s have spontaneous heightening, and Wizards have the ability to pull out some interesting pocket picks that could change a whole moment.
Spell diversity goes up, which means play becomes more diverse, which helps combat stagnation, boredom, and keeps things fresh.
*Cleric or Druid “know” every spell of a rank, so for these two classes, I do not think the above casting is necessary as much as it would be appropriate for Wizard (and potentially Witch). With that said, it is much easier on new players and develops the same changes in behaviors as the above examples.
