Pearl of Power

[Lord Pendragon]

do you rule the same with a failed concentration check?

Yes. I honestly don't see the issue here. The description of a Pearl of Power says you can get a spell back if you've cast it. The various situations you mentioned state that you lose a spell as if you'd cast it. Seems straightforward. And it's certainly not unbalanced. A Pearl of Power is a party resource. If a spellcaster loses a spell as if they'd cast it, and then chooses to bring that spell back using a Pearl of Power, they've still expended a spell slot--the one that is granted by the Pearl of Power. There is no free ride. It's what the item was designed for.

 

[Creat]

In the end it's just a dm call, but I'd read the rules like that too: you get the dropped spell back can cast it, if you allow that to be converted to a cure spell again is more or less irrelevant, you could also let the player decide if she wants to recall the actually cast cure light wounds spell or the actually prepared bless spell (to stick with the example).

I don't think that any of these options would create an imbalance or even just make something feel wrong, I'd just make sure she can recall at least one of those two and not none, that would seem imbalancing because in the end I'd see a pearl of power as a tool to get back a spell slot. When you cast a spell using a slot (even if another one was prepared) I'd feel cheated

bye
Creat

 

[Nail]

The language of the SRD isn't gonna help the Pearl of Power-using cleric.

"Spontaneous Casting: A good cleric ... can “lose” any prepared spell that is not a domain spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower ..."

I see the word "lose" here, not the words "had prepared and then cast". The cleric doesn't get to use the Pearl in this way.

 

[Creat]

Honestly, I wouldn't try to solve this problem with a line of text given in the clerics description which clearly wasn't written with the pearl of power in mind (hell, they probably didn't even know that item would even exist later on). Think about what the pearl of power is for, what it is intended to do, not what some ill formulated line says if interpreted word-by-word.

The question is what makes the most sense (at least to me)!

bye
Creat

 

[Christian]

Many thanks to everyone for your input. I think I'm going to go with the 'allow it' ruling, despite the fact that the strictest reading of the rules is contrary to that, for two reasons. 1) Sometimes the strictest reading of the rules unnecessarily restricts the character's actions-using a pearl of power this way doesn't appear unbalancing, nor blatantly unreasonable from the item description; and 2) I like to avoid extra bookkeeping. Whenever I've seen a cleric played, the player just crosses spells off of his list of prepared spells as they're used; the player of a cleric with a pearl would also have to make a note in each case as to whether that spell was actually cast or swapped for a cure spell. (Or, along the lines of other comments above, lost due to level draining, or due to a failed concentration check, or due to Wisdom damage reducing bonus spells ...) The heck with that. Just cross it off; the pearl lets you erase one cross-off. KISS.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Also from the SRD:

Spontaneous Casting of Cure and Inflict Spells: A good cleric (or a cleric of a good deity) can spontaneously cast a cure spell in place of a prepared spell of the same level or higher, but not in place of a domain spell. An evil cleric (or a cleric of an evil deity) can spontaneously cast an inflict spell in place of a prepared spell (one that is not a domain spell) of the same level or higher. Each neutral cleric of a neutral deity either spontaneously casts cure spells like a good cleric or inflict spells like an evil one, depending on which option the player chooses when creating the character. The divine energy of the spell that the cure or inflict spell substitutes for is converted into the cure or inflict spell as if that spell had been prepared all along.

Looking at this and Nail's quote, I'd say by the RAW, you can use the Pearl of Power to recall the cure spell, which is cast "as if that spell had been prepared all along", but not the original spell, which is merely "lost" and, while having been prepared, was never cast.

 

[Nail]

Now That's a good quote, LP!

Why it's not the same language as in the class description of the power........we might have a "primary sources" arguement here.

 

[Nail]

The heck with that. Just cross it off; the pearl lets you erase one cross-off. KISS.

Keep in mind it's a "rules" forum. Sometimes the fun comes from parcing the text, rather than following common sense. At the table, I'd almost certainly agree with your choice.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Keep in mind it's a "rules" forum. Sometimes the fun comes from parcing the text, rather than following common sense. At the table, I'd almost certainly agree with your choice.

Me too.

 

[diaglo]

Me too.

ditto.