Starting Magic?

[DavetheLost]

Specifically for the Crucible of the Dragons setting, but also applies in general.

When starting off new characters to do you allow them to pick from the whole list of Battle Magic spells or only specific ones available from their hometown, cult, etc?

I am letting my players choose from the full list for initial spells, but subsequent spells they will need to find a teacher for, and that will limit the list. Some spells will be very hard to find a teacher who knows the spell, and that is before getting them to be willing to teach it. I think it will make for interesting roleplaying opportunities while also allowing players to have the spells that are most important to their vision of their characters.

[g33k]

If your setting has detailed all the Battle Magc spells' availability, specified by different hometowns, cults, etc...

And you like the RP potential of finding/persuading teachers, etc...

I would be disinclined to let all that setting/prep be ignored in a "choose freely" set-up; it violates the setting.  Allow the spells with conditions attached.  Specifically, any spells that can ONLY be learned from "interesting" sources should be marked as-such, so when players choose those spells,  the character shoud have some backstory element linking them to that source... e.g:

Quote

"This spell may only be learned from the Knight-Wardens of the Northern Ramparts, and they only teach it in return for a huge monetary donation... or occasionally for free, if one of their number is impressed by acts of unusual nobility and/or valor."  So a PC  beginning with thos spell would also begin with both a reputation for unusual nobility and/or valor, and be known to the Knight-Wardens as Somebody Special; they will be inclined to call upon that PC at need, expecting further acts of valor (and be favorably disosed to the PC's requests for aid...).

Similarly for spells only known to assassins, or some secretive Guild, or a specific Noble House, etc etc etc.

Don't give up the setting-specific material!  Freely-permit players to take "the spells that are most important to their vision of their characters" and use that to embed the PC into the setting.