Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

I would not be so black & white about learning/access.

Perhaps instead "the GM may limit access to such spells. For instance, characters may need to find them, research them, or specifically be given the spell by their deity."

Each GM plays things the way they want, and you don't necessarily want to contradict the mechanisms in the core rules. This was one of the aspects of the Libram Magica that Solo did not care for when I first brought it out... the new/optional research rules (and specifically how it applied to clerics).

The gods grant spells to clerics; if a god wants to grant a previously-unknown spell to a cleric, that cleric will get the spell in place of one he or she has prayed for. Once the cleric knows about the spell, he or she can pray for it again.

The reason for the "hard limit" is so that no player can "force" a GM to allow them to use a non-base spell. But, I guess that's all irrelevant for Clerics, anyway, because even if the Cleric knows of a spell, the deity (i.e. GM) can always say no.

I guess the softer way to do it is just say that for any non-base spell, the GM will declare what is immediately available, what will never be available, and what has to be discovered along the way. That covers everything with how it will work anyway.

A smart GM never says what spells will never be available, only what is available to the magic-user right now.

Unless we want hard rules for suplement-based spell availability I would prefer that no mention is made and be let to each gm's mastering style