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A few questions came up yesterday, which, I think, are not addressed in the rules.
When does an oracle prepare spells? And how long does it take?
The Core Rulebook says this about spell preparation:
Arcane: needs to sleep 8 hours, wizard (prepared casting) prepares for one hour from spellbook, sorcerer/bard (spontaneous casting) meditate for 15 minutes.
Divine (all CR classes are prepared casting): does not necessarily need sleep, but prepares for one hour at fixed time, usually determined by deity.
Now the oracle is a divine caster, so he would probably fall into the spot as the cleric with the fixed time, I guess, but then he is also spontaneous, so he would probably only need the 15 minutes. However, oracles don't necessarily follow a specific god, so when would they have to meditate for new spells.
Is there anything in the rules I may have overlooked?
The oracle isn't a preparation caster, it's a spontaneous one (like sorcerer).
The oracle isn't a preparation caster, it's a spontaneous one (like sorcerer).
I know that, and if you look closely, I actually said that above. Doesn't change that he'll have to prepare for being able to cast spells, probably similar to the sorcerer.
I admit, I could have worded the thread name better. It's prone to misunderstandings, yes.
I use the divine casting method. I reason it as, they are divine casters first, the method of casting is different and takes lessor priority. But I do not know of an official ruling.
Greg
Nothing offical so what every your GM goes with i personally think the Divine caster's Meditation or pray works best for my players.
This sounds like a reasonable compromise then: if the oracle follows a specific deity, he uses the same time as a cleric of that deity would, otherwise he chooses the time as described above. As a spontaneous caster, he takes 15 minutes of meditating instead of an hour preparing.
Pending a ruling by one of the designers I'll be using that for now.
Have there been any rulings?
you can just cast them each day. So decide when you "day" starts and at that time their spells refresh.
There is no limitation/rule stating that Oracles need to designate a particular time to 'recharge' their casting.
They simply get a daily allotment.
So every day, they are simply able to cast all their spells again.
When this reset happens has NEVER been described. We just say it's always the same time, no matter what, and let the player choose.
If they choose 8am, it's always 8am. Always. Forever.
My oracle is affected by Desna, so I'd chose midnight, but of course he won't always be able to spend 15 minutes meditating at midnight - is he like the cleric limited to that time slot? i.e. if he can't get it then, he'll have to wait until the day after?
I don't remember anything like this from AD&D, didn't know that devine casters were limited to specific(ish) time of day while spellcasters can have 1 day every 8 hours, if their party is up for it, and they have a sleep disorder, or ways of getting tired enough, though I guess RAW there isn't a limit to how many hours you can rest in a day, right?
Anyway, what's up with having to chose a time at all to prep spells? I'd get for "this is the soonest you can do it again" - but there isn't exact enough language that says what "as soon as possible" after that time means... So if I choose midnight and I blow all my spells at 11:30 pm, I get to meditate for 15 min, just past midnight and regain all my spells, right? - And if I don't, but go sleep instead and wake up late afternoon, could I still prep spells then?
Why can't you spend 15 mins at midnight? Just wake up for a bit. Or take that shift of the watch. It's pretty simple. As long as that entire time isn't interrupted you can re prepare spells with no issue.
Yes, you can cast all your spells around 11:30 then re prepare them half an hour later.
Why can't you spend 15 mins at midnight? Just wake up for a bit. Or take that shift of the watch. It's pretty simple. As long as that entire time isn't interrupted you can re prepare spells with no issue.
Yes, you can cast all your spells around 11:30 then re prepare them half an hour later.
My main issue was realism, i.e. why would he wake up then? But would he have to be awake? Maybe his sleep/dreams are interrupted by meaningful dreams or meditation around midnight? - Would that be sensible?
why would he wake up then?
Why does he get spells in the first place? It's magic! He just does.
But would he have to be awake? Maybe his sleep/dreams are interrupted by meaningful dreams or meditation around midnight? - Would that be sensible?
That would be quite sensible, and flavourful to boot. Though I'd subtract that dream-time from the actual rest-time: there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I would treat Oracles like sorcerers. Yes their magic is divine, but they usually didn't ask for it, and some may not even want it (at least in some source material), so I wouldn't say they actually pray.