Clarifications [Archive] - Wizards Community

Clarifications [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ortman
07-05-04, 02:02 PM Hello everyone. New to these boards, veteran player and DM here. Have a few questions for those of you that have possibly debated these subjects before. I've done some searching for various questions I've had concerning the new 3.5 rules (many of which I'm adapting, others of which I am not implementing...which also seems to be a common trend amongst the community).

One major thing I came across was something I wasn't even looking for. In a particular thread concerning a spell, one or more people mentioned the 3.5 clarification that only 1 spell could be cast in a round by a spell caster.

This struck me as odd, so I looked through the 3.0 and 3.5 PHB. I found the following snippet that I think these people may have been referring to. It reads:

"A spell with a casting time of 1 free action (such as feather fall) doesn't count against your normal limit of one spell per round." [page 174, PHB 3.5/Casting Time]

My understanding of the above statement is NOT that casters are limited to 1 spell per round, but that the above free action casting doesn't count towards the normal limit of 1 Quickened or otherwise instantaneous spell effect per round. I underscore this with reiteration that the entire paragraph is devoted to spells denoted as having casting time of "1 free action".

Am I wrong? Is there really an explicit mention elsewhere that I've missed that limits casting of spells (even if they're 1 action castings) to 1 per round? This seems flawed, but I welcome anyone's input that has possibly pondered on this once before.

Cheers,

ortman
Seeker95
07-05-04, 07:33 PM You have it right.
Heron_Marked_Blade
07-05-04, 11:48 PM Probably posters were pointing out the difference between 3.5 and 3.0 -- in 3.5 you can only cast one spell per round (apart from a free-action/quickened spell), whereas in 3.0 (thanks to haste) you could cast two spells per round as well as a free-action/quickened spell.

Haste no longer works that way in 3.5.
Naeron
07-06-04, 07:25 AM You are right that a caster can actually cast more than one spell a round, what people invariably mean on the boards when they talk about "one spell a round" is "without counting quickened spells", but generally they just leave that clarification out.
tarkin
07-06-04, 11:22 AM In 3.5, an 18+ level wizard/Sorceror can do the following:

1) Cast a quickened Spell as a free action.

2) As a free action, ask their intelligent dagger to cast Cure Light on them. Probalby it will.

3) As a Free Action, stick out their tounge, which they previously declared to be the Contigency to activate a Shield Spell on themselves.

4) Use their Standard Action to cast a ShapeChange spell, changing into a certain monster from the core Monster Manual that lets take two actions per round, including casting a spell.

5) Use their second action that they get from having Shape Changed into that creature to cast a still, Silenced fireball (Must be still and silenced cause they don't have a voice/hands).

6) As a Free Action, command their improved Familiar (Mephit), to cast magic missile at the bad guy.

There are others, but these are the main ways I know of to cast multiple spells in a single round.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ortman 07-05-04, 02:02 PM	Hello everyone. New to these boards, veteran player and DM here. Have a few questions for those of you that have possibly debated these subjects before. I've done some searching for various questions I've had concerning the new 3.5 rules (many of which I'm adapting, others of which I am not implementing...which also seems to be a common trend amongst the community). One major thing I came across was something I wasn't even looking for. In a particular thread concerning a spell, one or more people mentioned the 3.5 clarification that only 1 spell could be cast in a round by a spell caster. This struck me as odd, so I looked through the 3.0 and 3.5 PHB. I found the following snippet that I think these people may have been referring to. It reads: "A spell with a casting time of 1 free action (such as feather fall) doesn't count against your normal limit of one spell per round." [page 174, PHB 3.5/Casting Time] My understanding of the above statement is NOT that casters are limited to 1 spell per round, but that the above free action casting doesn't count towards the normal limit of 1 Quickened or otherwise instantaneous spell effect per round. I underscore this with reiteration that the entire paragraph is devoted to spells denoted as having casting time of "1 free action". Am I wrong? Is there really an explicit mention elsewhere that I've missed that limits casting of spells (even if they're 1 action castings) to 1 per round? This seems flawed, but I welcome anyone's input that has possibly pondered on this once before. Cheers, ortman
Seeker95 07-05-04, 07:33 PM	You have it right.
Heron_Marked_Blade 07-05-04, 11:48 PM	Probably posters were pointing out the difference between 3.5 and 3.0 -- in 3.5 you can only cast one spell per round (apart from a free-action/quickened spell), whereas in 3.0 (thanks to haste) you could cast two spells per round as well as a free-action/quickened spell. Haste no longer works that way in 3.5.
Naeron 07-06-04, 07:25 AM	You are right that a caster can actually cast more than one spell a round, what people invariably mean on the boards when they talk about "one spell a round" is "without counting quickened spells", but generally they just leave that clarification out.
tarkin 07-06-04, 11:22 AM	In 3.5, an 18+ level wizard/Sorceror can do the following: 1) Cast a quickened Spell as a free action. 2) As a free action, ask their intelligent dagger to cast Cure Light on them. Probalby it will. 3) As a Free Action, stick out their tounge, which they previously declared to be the Contigency to activate a Shield Spell on themselves. 4) Use their Standard Action to cast a ShapeChange spell, changing into a certain monster from the core Monster Manual that lets take two actions per round, including casting a spell. 5) Use their second action that they get from having Shape Changed into that creature to cast a still, Silenced fireball (Must be still and silenced cause they don't have a voice/hands). 6) As a Free Action, command their improved Familiar (Mephit), to cast magic missile at the bad guy. There are others, but these are the main ways I know of to cast multiple spells in a single round.