Movement and Magic

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

kalthandrix

Jul 22, 2005 12:18:43
The boards have been kinda slow so I have decided to post some questions that have come up in my gaming group.

1) I know that taking a 5' step never provokes an attack of opportunity, but recently on of my players had a character that was in the middle of four lirr, one at each of the four cardinal points- so he was flanked on four sides. He took a 5' step, moving into one of the unoccupied squares.

Now the question is could that move be made, give the situation.

2) Does a cleric need 8 hours of rest before they are able to memorize their spells. There has been some debate over this- stating that the gods (or elemental lord) set a different time or setting in a cleric my memorize their spells, and only arcane spellcasters need the uninterupted 8 hours of rest.

My stand point on this is that all arcane, divine, and psionic power users must have 8 hours of uninterrupted rest to memorize their spells or regain their powers.

Let me know what your take is on it.
#2

Sysane

Jul 22, 2005 12:31:48
2) Does a cleric need 8 hours of rest before they are able to memorize their spells. There has been some debate over this- stating that the gods (or elemental lord) set a different time or setting in a cleric my memorize their spells, and only arcane spellcasters need the uninterupted 8 hours of rest.

My stand point on this is that all arcane, divine, and psionic power users must have 8 hours of uninterrupted rest to memorize their spells or regain their powers.

You know thats 8 hours of rest within any given 24 hour period right?
#3

Kamelion

Jul 22, 2005 12:58:47
1) I would allow that move as a 5' step. Sounds fine to me.

2) The official ruling on rest time and spell preparation is that divine casters (clerics and druids) do not need the 8 hours of rest required by arcane casters or psionic manifesters. They only need to pray for one hour. PHB p179: "A divine spellcaster chooses and prepares spells ahead of time, just as a wizard does. However, a divine spellcaster does not require a period of rest to prepare spells. Instead, the character chooses a particluar part of the day to pray and receive spells." PHB p180: "The time required to prepare spells is the same as it is for a wizard (1 hour), as is the requirement for a relatively peaceful environment."
#4

ruhl-than_sage

Jul 22, 2005 16:18:19
Yah, divine casters don't need to sleep in order to be able to pray for and recieve their spells. If they don't get enough sleep though, you can always guve them penalties from fatigue or even exhaustion. Personally I think fatigue and exhaustion should impose a spell failure chance in addition to their other effects. Actually, I don't think those states do a very good job of representing the loss of mental capacity (especially concentration and attention), coordination, and physical endurance that come from being tired.

As of the time of day that a cleric recieves his/her spells, here is my overly lengthy meandering though process on the subject:

In most settings the time of day a cleric would pray for spells at is suggested by their gods domains/personality. A Goddess of the Night (or one with Darkness as a domain) for instance might have her clerics pray for their spells at sunset or midnight. A God of the Sun might have their clerics pray at sunrise or midday. For a lot of gods their is no definate time that makes more sense then others, however.

In Darksun since the clerics are elemental in nature, you have to draw your conclusions from the element. Obviously a Sun cleric has to pray for his spells some time during the day and that would make sense for a fire cleric as well because of their elements strong association with the sun. Though in that case it wouldn't necessarily have to be so. For all the other elements their is no strong suggestion of when their spells should be prayed for. The only thing I can think of is having Water & Rain clerics pray for their spells when the morning dew forms.

So having a set time at which spells are prayed for is kind of wierd in Darksun, unless thats just the ritual that the character prefers to preform or something. I would just say in most cases that you merely need to wait at least 24 hours between times spent praying for spells, but that the particular time of day doesn't matter, as long as you are in touch with a quantity of your element.
#5

jon_oracle_of_athas

Jul 23, 2005 6:15:34
1) I know that taking a 5' step never provokes an attack of opportunity, but recently on of my players had a character that was in the middle of four lirr, one at each of the four cardinal points- so he was flanked on four sides. He took a 5' step, moving into one of the unoccupied squares.
Now the question is could that move be made, give the situation.

He would be able to take the 5 foot step. The four lirrs could each then make a 5 foot step in the same direction, but two of them would lose their flanking bonuses for attacks made said round.

2) Does a cleric need 8 hours of rest before they are able to memorize their spells. There has been some debate over this- stating that the gods (or elemental lord) set a different time or setting in a cleric my memorize their spells, and only arcane spellcasters need the uninterupted 8 hours of rest.

No, as Kamelion has quoted.