Just Starting

[Longman]

Jolander the Magic-User knows 2 first level spells - Read Magic (which every mage knows) and the spell 'Shield', which the DM rolled randomly on a 12 sided dice on the table on page 16. See core rules pages 8 and 16.

On any given day, Jolander can only memorise 1 spell (page 8 again). In other words, he only has one 1st level spell slot. He almost always chooses Shield.

When he gets into a combat situation, Jolander casts his 'Shield' spell. This is his main action for the round. The spells starts as soon as it is his turn in the round. It gives him a +6 AC against missile attacks and lasts for 6 rounds. During his time he throws daggers and flaming oil at the creatures attacking his party and tries not to get killed.

Now, he has cast his spell, he has to wait until the following morning to relearn another spell.

Having 2 known spells and 1 learned spell is standard for a 1st level mage. As GM you can vary that in two main ways.

Firstly, you can decide to give your 1st level magic users more known spells - for example, roll 3 times on the table on page 16, instead of only once. Or, just give the spells you want the character to have. So, Jolander might also have Magic Missile and Magic Mouth as spells he could learn.

Secondly, you can increase the number of learned spells (spell slots) the character has. Most GMs do this by giving the character's intelligence bonus (page 4) as an extra number of 1st level spell slots. For example, if a character had an intelligence of 15, they would get a +1 intelligence bonus, meaning that they would get an extra 1st level spell slot, for 2 in total.

That would mean Jolander could learn 2 spells - he might pick Magic Missile and Shield, or, Magic Missile twice. If he casts one spell in a day, the other one is still there and does not need to be relearned. If he casts both, then both slots must be filled the next morning.

It might help to imagine the spells as cards, which are turned face up before they are used, and face down afterwards. The character must sleep for a night before the cards can be turned face up.

[Solomoriah]

It might help to imagine the spells as cards, which are turned face up before they are used, and face down afterwards. The character must sleep for a night before the cards can be turned face up.

Say, I like this analogy...

[admincalamity]

Thank you all for the replies! I think I get the magic system a little better now [the cards analogy is really good]. I'm still a little overwhelmed just on principle, but I feel a bit more confident now thanks to the help.

[Longman]

One more thing -

The very low number of learned spell ('slots') for 1st level spell-casters, and low numbers of hit points generally, tends to make starting expeditions pretty brief. Do some exploration, find out information to establish objectives, have one fight (if you fight at all) and then retreat.

(This is particularly the case seeing as clerics do not get any spell slots at 1st level in this system, so they can't heal anyone just yet).

Hopefully you group will be quite excited, but it's important they understand that. If the fighter takes an injury and the mage has cast his or her spells, the group should really think about getting out of there. Even if you have only been playing for an hour in real time, it's still OK for them to go back to safety and try again later, in the same session.

Have fun!