How Does An Oracle Recover Spells?

[Palanan]

This came up in our last game session, and in the heat of the moment I couldn't find a definitive answer in the APG. In the entry for class features, just about everything else is sketched out, but I can't tell if an oracle specifically needs to pray for spells at a given time or if eight hours of rest is all that's required.

To me, it seems the oracle is a spontaneous caster patterned after the sorcerer, and should only need the basic eight hours of rest. My DM ruled that since the oracle casts divine spells like a cleric, clearly the oracle needs to pray for an hour in either the morning or the evening, just like a cleric.

Is there a clear answer one way or the other, or is this a blank space in the design of the class?

[Red Fel]

This came up in our last game session, and in the heat of the moment I couldn't find a definitive answer in the APG. In the entry for class features, just about everything else is sketched out, but I can't tell if an oracle specifically needs to pray for spells at a given time or if eight hours of rest is all that's required.

To me, it seems the oracle is a spontaneous caster patterned after the sorcerer, and should only need the basic eight hours of rest. My DM ruled that since the oracle casts divine spells like a cleric, clearly the oracle needs to pray for an hour in either the morning or the evening, just like a cleric.

Is there a clear answer one way or the other, or is this a blank space in the design of the class?

You are correct; the Oracle is modeled after the Sorcerer. Specifically, there is this language (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle#TOC-Spells):
Unlike a cleric, an oracle need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level.

In other words, you do not need to prepare (pray for) spells; you know them innately. You recover slots daily, just as a Sorcerer does.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Oracles don't need to pray.

[Oddman80]

Who would they even pray to? Unlike Clerics, their powers do not even come from a single god.

[deuxhero]

Or even gods at all. Possessed Oracle for example.

[Spore]

Who would they even pray to? Unlike Clerics, their powers do not even come from a single god.

Well, an oracle can still be pieous. It's just that it doesn't have anything to do with her spells (and after a sufficient level she should know this). After all, having divine spells thrown at you without guidance seems quite a bit scary don'tya think? I can see people suffering from divine curses and being granted cosmic powers STARTING to follow a god.

Other question: Does an sorcerer, oracle or any other caster still need 8 hours of sleep when equipping a Ring of Sustenance?

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Yes. Though arcane casters still have to wait eight hours as to not overlap their spells.