Cure Wounds, etc, as one spell cast at different levels

[LucyG92]

My husband asked if I could implement this house rule, based on something he read in Occult Adventures.

Basically, spells like Cure Light, Moderate and Serious (?) Wounds would be 'Cure Wounds', which is then cast at the appropriate spell level.

So, for example, an Oracle would have 'Cure Wounds' as a level 3 spell known, but could cast that as Cure Light Wounds using a level 1 spell slot, or as Cure Serious wounds in a level 3 slot, without having to know all three levels of the spell as separate spells. But they would have to know the spell at the highest level they wish to cast.

I do like the idea, as the spells are essentially doing the same thing. It would apply to Inflict Wounds, Summon Monster, and other stuff along the same lines. As a new GM, though, I'd like to check it's not game breaking or anything. I can see how it's a pretty big thing for spontaneous casters, but doesn't sound like it should really cause any problems.

[MichaelCullen]

For cure and inflict spells, you should not see any real problems. Summon monster is a little more powerful, but can already sort of mimic this effect by choosing creatures from a lower list. I'm not sure what other spells you are looking at, but these should be fine.

[Daw]

As long as you pay attention that not all classes gain the "upgrades" at the same levels.

[LucyG92]

MichaelCullen wrote:

I'm not sure what other spells you are looking at, but these should be fine.

He suggested the same could be applied to Sleep and Deep Slumber - other than that, I'm struggling to think of others.

[Cyrad]

You're basically saying change cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds, cure serious wounds, and cure critical wounds to cure wounds I, cure wounds II, cure wounds III, and cure wounds IV respectively? And let them be undercast?

Remember that undercasting only works for spontaneous casters.

[Zelgadas Greyward]

LucyG92 wrote:

Basically, spells like Cure Light, Moderate and Serious (?) Wounds would be 'Cure Wounds', which is then cast at the appropriate spell level.

Undercasting. And yeah, as Cyrad said, it's spontaneous only since you do it on the fly.

The way it works is that if you have a higher level of the spell (say Cure Wounds III at 3rd level) then you can spend lower-level slots to cast weaker versions of the spell. Any lower-level versions of the spell that the character knows are immediately replaced with other spells known.

There's nothing wrong with this per se. It's more that it's less useful than it sounds. Good-aligned (and some neutral) Oracles already get all cure spells for free anyway (APG 43). Good/some neutral Clerics can already trade any spell for the Cure of that level (and wouldn't benefit anyway since they aren't spontaneous casters). So this rule really only helps other spontaneous classes that gain cure spells - Bards, Inquisitors, and a few Vigilante archetypes. Now, that's a really awesome upgrade for those classes (and I love me some Inquisitors - great class!) but it is not as wide-reaching as you might think.

Still, there's certainly nothing against doing it. I would suggest you read up on undercasting and some of the related spells first, though. If nothing else, it's a cool mechanic that makes the occult classes more able to have a wide variety of spells than they otherwise might.

[Rennaivx]

LucyG92 wrote:

He suggested the same could be applied to Sleep and Deep Slumber - other than that, I'm struggling to think of others.

I could see the image spells (silent image, minor image, major image, etc.) as being another decent candidate for undercasting. Possibly the charm (blank)/dominate (blank) spells as well. FWIW, I had the same thought as you when I saw undercasting first present in Occult Adventures. The only major effects I can see is that it allows spontaneous casters a few more spells known, which in my opinion isn't really a bad thing as it encourages a bit of creativity and makes more distinct differences between characters.