Clerics spontaneously casting healing spells

[TheEvil]

In a Living Greyhawk game this past weekend, the question come up as to how long it took a cleric to spontaneously cast healing spells. The GM and several of the players were under the impression that it took a full round, much the same as metamagicing spells for spontaneous casters of all strips. Nothing in the description of clerics says anthing of the sort, what's more Page 180 of the PHB states:

"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."

Pointing these things out to the GM got the response that he thought he had seen it in the FAQ.

Has anyone read ANTHING, Living Greyhawk or otherwise, that says that it is a full round casting for spontaneous healing without metamagic enhancement?

Thanks!

 

[MerakSpielman]

I think it's cast just like it was a regularly prepared healing spell. 1 Action.

 

[Spatula]

I don't think that it's stated outright that a normal spontaneously-cast cure/inflict spell is a standard action. However, applying metamagic to a spontaneous cure/inflict spell is a full round action, just as with sorcerer spells (this may be what the DM was thinking of). Which implies that not using metamagic with the spontaneous spell is a standard action.

 

[nhl_1997]

I have no idea if the Living Greyhawk campaign setting changes things, but the following is from the 3.5 PHB:

Spontaneous Casting and Metamagic Feats:
A cleric spontaneously casting a cure or inflict spell can cast a metamagic version of it instead. ... Extra time is also required in this case. Casting a 1-action metamagic spell spontaneously is a full-round action, and a spell with a longer casting time takes an extra full-round action to cast.

From this, I infer that spontaneously casting a cure or inflict spell without any added metamagic feats is a standard action.

 

[Christian]

Absolutely correct. Burning a fourth-level slot to cast a maximized Cure Light Wounds for a guaranteed 13 points of curing would take a full round. During which your target will no doubt disrupt the spell by attacking you in fury for your not using that slot to heal at least 4d8+7 points with a spontaneous Cure Critical Wounds instead. So make sure you cast defensively.

 

[MichaelH]

In a Living Greyhawk game this past weekend, the question come up as to how long it took a cleric to spontaneously cast healing spells. The GM and several of the players were under the impression that it took a full round, much the same as metamagicing spells for spontaneous casters of all strips.

As a LG player and DM, I can tell you that it takes 1 standard action for a cleric to spontaneously cast a cure spell. Spontaneously casting a cure or inflict spell is not much the same as a sorcerer or bard adding metamagic to one of their spells. In fact, sorcerers and bards spontaneously cast all their spells, most of which require a casting time of 1 standard action the same as their wizard or cleric counterparts. It's only when the sorcerer or cleric adds metamagic to their spontaneously casted spells that it takes a little longer to complete the spells.

 

[TheEvil]

Well, thanks for the responses, now to convice the GM the next time I play with him...