I maxed out Speed on my Sorcerer, to the point where her Speed eclipses that of my melee toons, but she still comes up infrequently in turn-based combat. Does Speed affect spellcasting recovery or not? If it only affects her melee speed then I might as well switch out her gear.

Speed is for weapons. Spells and Scrolls are determined by the game mechanics (but can be modded.)
Not 100% sure, but I think that is accurate. I looked it up once and that was the answer on "Heroes of the Round Table" site, and they are usually correct.

Some spells are 'slower' than other spells, which would mean fewer turns. Easy example: casting Starburst would leave the caster without a turn for a long period of time, while casting Feather Fall lets the caster take another turn very quickly. I thought it improved recovery time, even for spells. Granted, I've never looked it up on a mechanics site, so I could be wrong.

Don't do that. Speed is armor, to make up for not wearing plate or chain, and the thing with sorcerers is knowing when to burn through spell points, when to conserve them, and when to get stuck in with Mordred and another dagger.

speed lowers recovery time from attacking and being hit, its actually more efficient when you aren't slowed down by armor.

Wait a minute; they implemented a significant downside to wearing armor?

What do they have against armor? First, there's the Xeen games making armor break as soon as you reach -10 (IIRC) HP, and only protecting against some enemies, making it really not worth the hastle. And now, you say that, in MM6, armor slows you down, making you less effective offensively?

Why do they feel the need to make armor such a bother in these games?

(By the way, in MM6, is armor even worth using? (In World of Xeen, I have decided it isn't, except *maybe* an exception for the Southern Sphinx, but only if you can get a Cleric's AC above 250 or so.)

recovery penalty is eliminated for every armor type once you reach master in the skill for mm6, i think. i always just assumed its worth using at every point in the game but it would be interesting to see some actual math on this. as a big fan of monks in MM7 i'd like this to be a viable option but i doubt it.

Yes for leather, chain and plate armor; not so sure about shields. On the other hand no penalty from wearing any or all of the protective gear that needs no skill, that is helmets, boots, gauntlets and cloaks.

My earlier point that "speed is armor": besides reducing recovery, the Speed stat also boosts Armor Class (just as Might boosts weapon damage and Accuracy boosts both weapon and bow Attack ratings).

Shield recovery penalty is eliminated at expert level.

It is only a downside when armor skills (Plate, Chain, Leather) are low. When you master those skills you no longer deal with speed penalties. So, Plate is always better than Chain and Chain is always better than Leather. Of course, not all classes can wear Plate and Chain.