Chance to Learn Spells

Consider the opportunities that mages and specialists have to learn new spells, perhaps the most compelling difference between them. As illustration, compare a mage with an Intelligence of 9 and an illusionist with an Intelligence of 9. The mage has a 35 percent chance of learning each new spell he encounters, regardless of its school. The illusionist has a 50 percent chance of learning illusionist spells, a 20 percent chance of learning alteration, divination, enchantment/charm, and conjuration/summoning spells (this percentage reflects the 15 percent penalty for learning spells from other schools). The illusionist has no chance of learning spells from the schools of invocation/evocation, abjuration, or necromancy, since these schools are in opposition to the school of illusion.

Assume that in a typical adventure, the mage and the illusionist each have the opportunity to learn 16 new spells from discovered spell books, NPC wizards, and other sources. Also assume that of these 16 spells, two are from each of the eight schools. The mage has a 35 percent chance of learning each of these spells, meaning that he is likely to learn five or six of them. The illusionist is denied the chance to learn six of them (from the oppositional schools); he has a 50 percent chance of learning two of them (meaning he is likely to learn one of the two), and a 20 percent chance of learning eight of them (meaning he is likely to learn two spells). In this example, the mage learns six spells, while the illusionist learns only three.

It doesn't improve for specialists with higher Intelligence scores; at Intelligence 16, for instance, a mage will learn about 12 of the 16 spells, while the illusionist will learn approximately eight of them.

Of course, the specialist receives a bonus spell when he advances a level, and the differences are less severe for certain specialties (diviners, for instance, are denied access to only one school). But over the course of a typical campaign, a mage will likely learn far more spells than a specialist

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