Here's the basic question: For purposes of determining what is "once per day", does the magic of a pearl of power work when the spell is recalled or when the recalled spell is cast?
Here's the situation: My character was a low level prepared-spell caster who wouldn't have time to prepare spells the next morning. He had cast only one first level spell. He had an unused first level pearl of power. I told my GM that I wanted to use the pearl to recall the spell before the day ended so that my spells would be fully prepared for the next game day. My GM ruled that this wouldn't work and explained why (more detail on that below).
I found his interpretation of the RAW reasonable, but unconvincing. Obviously, his interpretation is the rule for his campaign (and I am happy with his interpretation as a player because it ultimately makes pearls more useful). I also, however, run my own Pathfinder campaign, and I would like to hear others' interpretation.
The operative text for pearls of power is:
Once per day on command, a pearl of power enables the possessor to recall any one spell that she had prepared and then cast that day. The spell is then prepared again, just as if it had not been cast.
My interpretation is that my character invokes the pearl with a command word (which is a standard action). The magic of the pearl works on my character at that moment and causes my character to recall the lost spell. After the spell is recalled, my character again has it prepared, exactly the same as if it had not been cast. The magic of the pearl of power could then be used again to recall another spell the next game day.
My GM interprets the RAW differently. He explained that, in his view, the magic of the pearl works when the recalled spell is cast. He compared the pearl to the Magius Spell Recall class ability. The operative text for that ability is:
With a swift action he can recall any single magus spell that he has already prepared and cast that day by expending a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the spell’s level (minimum 1). The spell is prepared again, just as if it had not been cast.
Under his interpretation, a caster uses the pearl to recall a spell, but then draws upon the magic of the pearl to power the spell when casting it rather than the caster's own magical reserves. Recalling a spell the day before would offer no advantage to my character because the magic of the pearl wouldn't actually be expended until the next day when the spell is cast. (The upside to his interpretation for me as a player is that he also sees the act of recall the spell as a swift action like Spell Recall or perhaps even part of the spellcasting action like a Runestone of Power.)
I'd appreciate hearing other players' and GMs' thoughts. Thank you.
I'm not 100% solid on this, more like 95%.
Your DM is applying his own theories on magic to the functioning of the pearl of power. Both the Pearl of Power and the magus ability restore a spell that was cast to an uncast state (i.e. it is prepared). There is no calling upon the power of the pearl at the time of casting: both abilities function in identical ways.
Edit: To put it another way, the pearl of power creates an instantaneous effect (re-preparing a spell). Once it does this, it exits the equation and doesn't need to be considered anymore.
My GM has the pearls work like a wizard's bonded object with the difference that while a bonded object can be used to cast any spell in the spellbook, the pearl can only be used to cast a spell that has already been expended today.
My GM has the pearls work like a wizard's bonded object with the difference that while a bonded object can be used to cast any spell in the spellbook, the pearl can only be used to cast a spell that has already been expended today.
That's deep in houserule territory.
We treat the pearl of power as like a battery recharge. When you use it, it "recharges" the spell you've already cast. Once that is done, the spell is back in the wizard's head. Destroying the pearl of power at that point would have no impact (except seriously ticking off the wizard).
Link to the Runestone of Power.
The pearl of power works like this:
You're a prepared caster and you cast a spell.
At some point in the future, you give the command (a standard action) to restore the spell that you cast.
You may now cast the spell again at any point, respecting the casting time of the spell of course. So, if you're casting a spell that's a standard action, you could not use the pearl of power and then cast in the same round without some quickening magic going on. If the spell was a move action to cast, you could use the pearl of power and then cast it in the same round.
Runestones of Power work like this:
You're a caster who doesn't prepare spells and you cast a spell, choosing for the runestone of power to "power" the spell, using it up instead of your slots. There's no action required here.
Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Once per day on command, a pearl of power...
Activating the Pearl of Power is a standard action.
You were right :)
Thanks for the replies, everyone. :)
The once per day ruling also gets kinda sticky here due to the ambiguous nature of a spellcaster's "day"
Does the pearl regain its power when you have had 8 hours of rest and re-prepped your spells? In that case if it was longer than a day before you got to re-prep you wouldn't have use of your pearl again until you had done so.
I would probably rule that it functions like other magic items and refreshes 24hrs after being used.
That's another interesting thing to consider, when do your 1/day items become usable again? 24 hour cool down or everything refreshes at 12:01 am?
|
Related questions:
Does the PoP have to be in hand to activate it? If it is needed in combat, would it be a move action to retrieve and then a standard to activate? Or can it be activated wherever it happens to be?
I have heard people talking about making jewelry of their Pearls to make them more easily accessible. Is this really allowed by RAW? (90% of my play is in PFS, so I need a strict interpretation, unless some PFS player knows of an official ruling.)
As to the "when does it recharge" question, a 24 hour cooldown would be the most logical, but would require rather serious tracking for all suck magic items. In my experience, we always just assume items recharge while you sleep, or at some ambiguous moment during the night. It only really becomes an issue if the party is being attacked during the night.
This last one is easy. The pearl just have to be in your possession. Why? Cause it is a slotless item. You can always use it as long as it is in your possession. Thats RAW.
Yea... I cut my regular players a lot of slack I know but I let them use the Command Word as a Swift action, since you can say 2-3 sentences as a FREE action. - House Rule I have.
For Society games they must use a SA to recover the spell.
ARIIIIIIISE! ARIIIIIIiiIIIISE!
Were you talking to me, BigNorseWolf?