8th Ed. Losing Wizard levels

This came up in a large storm of magic game over the weekend.

If a mage loses all of thier wizard levels can they still cast spells. I didn't see anything in the rulebook as we were playing but wasn't sure. One of my Skink priests suffered a miscast and lost 2 levels and spells. In a normal game this wouldn't have mattered as no more spells to cast but in storm of magic the wizard can never lose the cantrips and cataclysm spells. Would the priest still be able to cast these spells with a wizard level of 0?

The question was academic to the game as shortly after the skink was roasted by some sort of fireball.

 

From my understanding he is still a wizard that can channel, he can also cast spells if there are any left. An item such as the Plaque of Tepok that allows you to know 1 more spell than normal will let you have 1 spell after the other 2 are gone and you are at level 0.

However, this does conflict with pg. 28 "Wizards have a level from 1 to 4." Which could mean that the wizard is bought with a level from 1 to 4 or that having a level is what makes a wizard a wizard. But since pg 34 under magical detonation it says "His wizard level is permanently reduced by D3 to a minimum of 0..." makes people believe that 0 is an actual wizard level. Even later in the same paragraph it states "The Wizard cannot attempt to cast any further spells this phase" which means that it still refers to the model as a wizard.

Maybe there is an FAQ on this, but my decision has been treat them as a level 0 wizard.

 

Hi Arli and shaslain thanks for your thoughts.

I was thinking along similar lines that the wizard became level zero for the purposes of casting and dispelling.

 

I am pretty sure that it says in the BRB that a Lv0 wizard cannot cast spells or be used to dispel, but he can channel. Could be wrong though

 

FAQ:
Q: If a Wizard has had his level reduced to 0 does he still
counts as a Wizard and can he still attempt to channel Power and
Dispel dice? (p28)
A: Yes.

I personally would have thought that he wouldn't be able to channel.

 

So what happens in the case of a Skink priest with the Plaque of Topek or mounted on an EoG?

Plaque gives 1 extra spell so can Priest still cast but just at lvl 0?

And Priest on EoG casts as if 1 lvl higher than actual lvl so if he is knocked down to lvl 0 does he still cast as a lvl 1?

 

Yes, from the FAQ posted by cravenous it says that the model still counts as a wizard, so they would still be able to cast as a level 1 with EoG. Without EoG the Plaque of Tepok would give an extra spell that would be cast without a wizard level bonus.

 

Altho he is still awizard for wizard affecting rules, including channel, a lvl 0 cannot cast cuz of this:
Q: If a Wizard has had his level reduced to 0 and he still knows
one or more spells, can he attempt to cast them? (p31)
A: No.

 

Well there it is! I probably should have checked the FAQ myself.

 

Also note the FAQ for LMB changes rules for EotG, the priest no longer counts as one level higher but gets +1 to cast and dispel instead. (this stacks with EotG ability to lower casting value for a lore)

 

Isn't that what its done all along, was count you as a wizard 1 lvl higher w/o the bonus spell? What does this rewording change if anything?

 

It just more clearly defines the rules that while the Skink Priest casts as Wizard 1 lvl higher he is still in fact only a lvl 1 or lvl 2, and does not gain an extra spell. I think in the book it says the Skink Priest is counted as one level higher, and that may have caused some confusion.

 

Thanks Hoverboy, thats a shame though but my priest was dead before it would have become an issue. Useful for future reference though.

 

oh good, i was hoping i hadn't missed something dreadfully important.

 

The change also counts when you lose a wizard level. If a Lvl 1 priest lost a level under the old wording then he could still cast spells as he would have been counting as a Level 1 (0+1) instead of a Lvl 0 with +1 to cast under the new wording.