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My players have been telling me that fights are a bit to easy when I run them. I sat down with one of my players to see if I could make them a bit tougher and they agreed.
Going through the monsters, they asked why I was only the Innate spell once a day. I looked up innate spells and it says you do it once a day usually. I then looked at the monster and was written as:
Divine Innate Spells DC 16 Attack +6 2nd Darkness
They stated I should be able to cast that multiple times since there is /1. That didn't make sense to me. They can only cast that Darkness spell once a day right?
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The ability that gives you an innate spell tells you how often you can cast it—usually once per day—and its magical tradition. Innate spells are refreshed during your daily preparations. Innate cantrips are cast at will and automatically heightened as normal for cantrips unless otherwise specified.
In this Edition, whenever you see the words "usually" or "typically", they refer to the default. The two defaults given to us here are 1) "usually once per day", and 2) "cantrips are cast at will".
It's possible to have an innate cantrip limited to X times per day, or a higher level innate spell that's cast at will, but, typically those aren't the default.
If you want an example that demonstrates this, see Green Hag. It has invisibility and tree shape specifically labeled as at will, whereas tongues, water breathing and pass without trace are not.
From the PF2 Core Rulebook,
Innate Spells
Certain spells are natural to your character, typically coming from your ancestry or a magic item rather than your class. You can cast your innate spells even if you aren’t a member of a spellcasting class. The ability that gives you an innate spell tells you how often you can cast
it—usually once per day—and its magical tradition. Innate spells are refreshed during your daily preparations. Innate cantrips are cast at will and automatically heightened as normal for cantrips (see Cantrips on page 300) unless otherwise specified.
You’re always trained in spell attack rolls and spell DCs for your innate spells, even if you aren’t otherwise trained in spell attack rolls or spell DCs. If your proficiency in spell attack rolls or spell DCs is expert or better, apply that proficiency to your innate spells, too. You use your Charisma modifier as your spellcasting ability modifier for innate spells unless otherwise specified.
If you have an innate spell, you can cast it, even if it’s not of a spell level you can normally cast. This is especially common for monsters, which might be able to cast innate spells far beyond what a character of the same level could use. ...
From the PF1 Bestiary 1,
Innate Spells These are listed like other spells, but can also include constant, at-will, and focus spells. If the creature has a focus spell as an innate spell, it works like other innate spells with listed uses, rather than costing Focus Points. Spells that can be used an unlimited number of times list “(at will)” after the spell’s name. Constant spells appear at the end, separated by level. Rules for constant and at-will spells appear on page 342 in the Ability Glossary.
Innate on a spell means that the creature did not acquire the spell from a source that would make the creature a spellcaster, such magical studies, religious devotion, or bloodline. The creature can cast it as if trained, even if not trained in spell attacks or spell DCs. Innate says nothing about how often it can be cast; however, the notation about the innate spell in a creature's stat block can be read as if the creature were a spellcaster and that contains the information about how often the innate spell can be cast.
For example, on page 9 of the PF2 Bestiary 1, the Arbiter has:
Divine Innate Spells DC 17; 4th read omens; 1st command, detect alignment (at will, chaotic only), mending (×3)
The arbiter can cast read omens once a day, command once a day, detect alignment any number of times (that is what "at will" means), and mending three times a day.
The Drow Rogue on page 137 has:
Divine Innate Spells DC 16; 2nd darkness (at will), faerie fire (at will); Cantrips (2nd) dancing lights
All three Drow Rogue spells can be cast as often as the rogue wants. Two are at will and the third is a cantrip, both which mean unlimited casting. The "(2nd)" after Cantrip means the dancing lights are heightened to a 2nd level spell. The rogue lacks a caster level to tell what level the spell would ordinarily be heightened to.
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If the spell is a cantrip, it's at will unless it states a different number of times/day.
If the spell is not a cantrip, it's 1/day unless it states at will or a different number of times/day.
Example:
Primal Innate Spells DC 21, attack +11; 5th tree stride (x2); 4th charm (x3), suggestion; 3rd sleep; 2nd entangle (at will), tree shape (at will); Cantrips (2nd) tanglefoot; Constant (4th) speak with plants
Spells that follow the usual rules:
Tanglefoot: at will cantrip.Suggestion, Sleep: 1/day non-cantrip spells.
Spells that do not follow the usual rules:
Entangle, Tree Shape: at will non-cantrip spells.
Charm, Tree Strike: 3/day, 2/day non-cantrip spells, respectively.
Speak with Plants: constant non-cantrip spell.
Not that it couldn't happen, but do we know of any examples of cantrips that aren't at will? (There are a handful of cases where they do not auto-heighten, but can't think of any where their number of uses is limited per day.)If the spell is a cantrip, it's at will unless it states a different number of times/day.
If the spell is not a cantrip, it's 1/day unless it states at will or a different number of times/day.
I performed a word search on the two PF2 Bestiaries. None of the cantrips in those books have a uses per day restriction. They are all unlimited.
A redundant oddity is that the Cacodaemon on page 70 of PF2 Bestiary 1 says, "Cantrips (1st) detect magic (at will)." The Janni Amirs on page 164 also have, "Cantrips (4th) detect magic (at will)."