Resting and Spell preparation
Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:40 am
Been reading you tech guys hash away at the rest/prepare stuffs. For what it's worth, a comment I'd like to make that seems to have been omitted:
Currently spells are restored upon off-line rest, fully bringing back whatever payload was chose when logging out. AND another preparation with spellbook/holysymbol is allowed, so that casters can choose their spell payloads after login.
What seems missing is the notion that the ability of prepared casters to pick and choose their spell loadouts to fit the challenge of the day should be situational. ICly they need upto a full day (clerics and druids) or one hour (wizards) between knowing what is the challenge of the day and sallying forth to meet it in order to adapt their spells.
From a DMs point of view, you can always force rest players, so you can let PCs prepare if appropriate. (A good night's sleep before setting off.) But if the engine lets players click a thing and set their spells a'la carte, then the DM cannot make the PCs scramble out the gates without picking and choosing spells. And being able to create these hasty situations is certainly a desired functionality.
Thus, forcing players to pick their spells upon login, not after 30mins of RP, is a good thing, not a downside. Needing an IG rest to choose spells to fit the session is as it should be. It's the closest IG implementation of the IC peace and quiet needed for preparation. It's all good regardless it being via DM force rest or taking RL 5mins in a rest area in a DMless game.
Making picking and choosing spells easier for wizards than clerics&druids is certainly another desired functionality, whichever way it's done. Perhaps the Holy Symbol of divine casters is even unnecessary and counterproductive, and simply resetting divine spells on rest is close enough to the desired "get spells on a fixed time once per 24 hours" functionality? The spellbook using then could give wizards their more flexible preparation?
Anyways, 2c.
Currently spells are restored upon off-line rest, fully bringing back whatever payload was chose when logging out. AND another preparation with spellbook/holysymbol is allowed, so that casters can choose their spell payloads after login.
What seems missing is the notion that the ability of prepared casters to pick and choose their spell loadouts to fit the challenge of the day should be situational. ICly they need upto a full day (clerics and druids) or one hour (wizards) between knowing what is the challenge of the day and sallying forth to meet it in order to adapt their spells.
From a DMs point of view, you can always force rest players, so you can let PCs prepare if appropriate. (A good night's sleep before setting off.) But if the engine lets players click a thing and set their spells a'la carte, then the DM cannot make the PCs scramble out the gates without picking and choosing spells. And being able to create these hasty situations is certainly a desired functionality.
Thus, forcing players to pick their spells upon login, not after 30mins of RP, is a good thing, not a downside. Needing an IG rest to choose spells to fit the session is as it should be. It's the closest IG implementation of the IC peace and quiet needed for preparation. It's all good regardless it being via DM force rest or taking RL 5mins in a rest area in a DMless game.
Making picking and choosing spells easier for wizards than clerics&druids is certainly another desired functionality, whichever way it's done. Perhaps the Holy Symbol of divine casters is even unnecessary and counterproductive, and simply resetting divine spells on rest is close enough to the desired "get spells on a fixed time once per 24 hours" functionality? The spellbook using then could give wizards their more flexible preparation?
Anyways, 2c.