Arcane Spellcaster Questions

[jhanzur]

LOL. Yeah, I guess such a wizard would be fairly useless- unless it was his topped-off array of wizardry that saved the party's collective bacon.

True! True! heh, but boy it would suck that the entire party would have to wait ANOTHER 8 hours hoping that another encounter didn't happen like that again! I'd take the wizard out of the watch rotation (If that were an option).

I brought this question up before and there seemed to be a divide between those who thought that the fact that the table says "spells per day" implied only a single preparation period per day, and those who merely read the spell preparation section and took the meaning there literally.

Clerics, for example, need to pray for spells the same time every day- that's listed in their spell preparation section. No such mention under arcane preparation...

I'd go with literal interpretation for the wizard's rest and assume that the Gods just aint handin out those divine spells every 8 hours.

 

[Artoomis]

Given the worthlessness to a party of a wizard who rests for another eight hours after such an encounter, I'm sure he could, as long as he follows all of the rules for rest and spell preparation. To quote p. 154 near the end of the "Rest" section, "... she still must have 8 hours of restful calm before preparing any spells."

Unless there is a rule I don't know about that sais the elf must travel and twiddle her thumbs for another 16 hours before beginning another 8 hour rest period, then I think there should be no problem.

No, no ,no ,no! "Spells per Day." Not per 8-hour rest period.

You get spells once per day, and that's it. You can keep some spell slots "open, " but that's the best you can do.

 

[Quidam]

Meaning that the stroke of midnight has a magical effect aside from turning coaches into pumpkins?

 

[jhanzur]

Meaning that the stroke of midnight has a magical effect aside from turning coaches into pumpkins?

I concur...

But there does seem to be a loophole?

p. 154 "To prepare her daily spells, a wizard must have a clear mind. To clear her mind, the wizard must first sleep for 8 hours."

At first I see "daily", but then I see the second sentence. If all you need to do to prepare spells, labeled daily or not, is rest for 8 hours, then I don't think it matters when you rest. After all, looking at recent casting limits, only spells cast within 8 hours count against it, and if you just rested for 8 hours, they don't count!

 

[Saeviomagy]

Simple fact of the matter is: barring a war between clerics and wizards which DOESN'T end on the first engagement, does it matter?

Who really cares if the wizard is resting for 8 hours NOW, or waiting for 16 hours and then resting for 8 hours? In both cases, the party just says "we wait until the wizard recharges" or "no, we can continue on without waiting for the wizard".

It makes no difference.

Hence, it's not really something you need to rule against.

 

[jhanzur]

Simple fact of the matter is: barring a war between clerics and wizards which DOESN'T end on the first engagement, does it matter?

Who really cares if the wizard is resting for 8 hours NOW, or waiting for 16 hours and then resting for 8 hours? In both cases, the party just says "we wait until the wizard recharges" or "no, we can continue on without waiting for the wizard".

It makes no difference.

Hence, it's not really something you need to rule against.

And ruling against it would be a house rule or a core rule? And for the record, it does make a difference to a Wizard without spells how long it will be before he gets them again.