Divine Favor

[Menexenus]

[Disclaimer: Sorry if this question has been asked before. I tried using the Search feature, but I kept getting a message that said I wasn't allowed to view the page for some reason.]

I'm having some trouble interpreting the wording in the Divine Favor spell in the Player's Handbook. It says you get a +1 on attack and damage for every 3 caster levels. I assume it provides a +1 at 1st level, so does that mean you get a +2 at 4th level or 3rd level?

Either way, I wish they would have clarified this wording in 3.5...

Thanks for your help!

-Menexenus

 

[Clumsy Bob]

I always read it to be as you say, 1-3 +1, 4-6 +2, 3-9 +3 etc. But, I dont recall seeing any tables justifying this interpretation.

Bob

 

[hong]

Divide your caster levels by 3, and round down, as per the usual D&D rules for handling fractions. That's the divine favor bonus you get, with a minimum of +1. Hence:

1-5: +1
6-8: +2
9-11: +3
12-14: +4
15-17: +5
18 and up: +6

 

[Menexenus]

Thanks for your input, guys. So, Hong, your interpretation is that Divine Favor only bestows a +1 until caster level 6? That seems pretty harsh to me. I see how you come to your conclusion, but it's hard for me to believe that that's what the designers intended. I think +2 at 4th level makes more sense.

I'm curious how other people have interpreted this rule. (I guess this would have been a good opportunity for a poll topic, huh?) So if you're reading this, please reply telling me how you think Divine Favor is supposed to work.

Thanks again,

-Menexenus

 

[dcollins]

Agree with hong. "...for every three caster levels you have (at least +1...)" means exactly the table he's laid out. If it was intended differently, they'd use language that appears in magic missile (for example).

 

[Larcen]

The Shield of Faith spell has language that makes this kind of calculation clearer:

~~~~~~~~~~~
... The spell grants the subject a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
~~~~~~~~~~~

The key is the "at 18 level" part. Only by dividing the level by 6 and rounding down does it make sense to write that.

If the designers had meant something like Clumsy Bob's chart, they would have wrote "at 13th level".

 

[trentonjoe]

Divide your caster levels by 3, and round down, as per the usual D&D rules for handling fractions. That's the divine favor bonus you get, with a minimum of +1. Hence:

1-5: +1
6-8: +2
9-11: +3
12-14: +4
15-17: +5
18 and up: +6

That's how we play as well.

 

[reapersaurus]

That seems pretty harsh to me. I see how you come to your conclusion, but it's hard for me to believe that that's what the designers intended. I think +2 at 4th level makes more sense.

Just so you know, I (and I'm sure, other people) have also felt exactly like you do.
While I understand the rules justification for hong's table, I think it's a very bad progression, bordering on lame.

1st level spells, when done right, should provide level-based benefits before level 6. It's just not very fun when you get a spell from the very beginning, and have to wait 5 levels before increasing at all, then it's every 3 after that.

They probably should have just capped it at +5.

 

[CRGreathouse]

I'm with hong and dcollins: the spell grants +2 at 6th level, +3 at 9th, etc. This is the correct interpretation of spells without special language (e.g. shield of faith, magic missile).

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

1st level spells, when done right, should provide level-based benefits before level 6. It's just not very fun when you get a spell from the very beginning, and have to wait 5 levels before increasing at all, then it's every 3 after that.

I do generally agree with your point, but it would be inappropriate for Divine Favor to scale much more quickly than GMW.