Preparation time for divine casters


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Per day means PER DAY.

Actually, "day" is defined in many places according to what can be accomplished in a "day." The actual definition of how many hours in a day and such particulars is, of course, determined by the game world that's being used. That said, there are lot's of things that happen on a "per day" basis.

Points lost to ability damage return at the rate of 1 point per day

Most creatures with breath weapons are limited to a number of uses per day...

[context: diseases] Once per day afterward, he must make a successful Fortitude saving throw to avoid repeated damage.

Damage: The ability damage the character takes after incubation and each day afterward.

The time to create a magic item depends on the feat and the cost of the item. The minimum time is one day.

Brewing a potion takes one day.

Enhancing a weapon, suit of armor, or shield takes one day for each 1,000 gp in the price of its magical features.

Crafting a rod takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price.

There are no doubt dozens, if not hundreds, of other examples. Spells per day is just that, spells per day.

If you wizard could get 5 sets of spells in two days, then he'd also have to make 5 disease saves in two days, creatures with ability uses/day would have more uses, etc., etc.

Per day means per day. Period. The rules contains specifics of how you prepare your spells each day.

Goodness, how many times you can prepare spells in a day is one of the easiest questions there is, there is no need to somehow turn it into a hard question.
 
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I never thought of this as an issue, although clearly it can be. I always thought the rules were crystal clear that there was 8 hours of rest, 1 hour of preparation, and a daily limit on spell slots regardless of how much additional sleep and preparation were carried out during the same day. I still think that, actually, but I am intrigued that there is disagreement about it.
Since the problem seems to be the lack of a definition of the word “day”, I would suggest using any of those available rather than trying to construct one from the rules. I suspect that if the word day was being used to mean something besides what it does generally, there would be a definition. Otherwise, it is not a particularly ambiguous word, and I would think required no more definition than the word dawn when it is used, for example.
 

Nice final post, Artoomis. I like your point: WHAT a day is exactly is a campaign setting issue, really. They don’t define it as 24 hours because perhaps your setting has a 23 or 27 hour day. The many examples illustrate, though, how “per day” is an essential part of game balance, and there is little (no?) ambiguity about how often casters can use spells in that period.
I think they were reasonable in assuming people know what a “day” is.
 


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