14/09/2007 @20:39:23 ^22:42:28

This should probably be read in conjunction with part 1 of the Spells spoiler.

You get an enormous penalty if you fail to satisfy the following inequality

6S + X/3 >= 4L - 5

where S is your skill in the spell's school - 0, 1, 2 or 3 for unskilled, basic, skilled and expert respectively - X is your experience level, and L is the spell's level. The penalty is large enough that the spell is all but unusable if you fail to satisfy the inequality*

For each spell level and skill, we can calculate the minimum experience level you have to be to cast (omitted if above 30 or below 1):

ubse
1
29
3213
415
5279
6213
715

Useful inferences can be made from this table and knowing the level and school of each spell.

* Of course if you lack sufficiently high spellcasting intelligence, or are wearing too much metal armour, you're not going to be able to cast anyway; or you might be wearing a spellcaster's robe, which improves your chances. I have not taken any of that into account, most of this is written from the point of view of a post-quest wizard, which was the stage I was at when I worked all this stuff out.