3.5e: Domain Focus and Spontaneous Domain

[Jesterface]

So I was looking over some old helpsheets I made up for some players years ago (I tend to play with a lot of people new to the game, so I do helpsheets for them so they know what their characters' abilities and items do), and came across a feat I'd completely forgotten about; Domain Focus. While I understand that this may not be an optimal feat in some respects, I'm following up a different line of thinking.

In my games, to avoid the cleric simply becoming a healbot due to spontaneous cures, I try and prompt players to take Spontaneous Domain. Now, with the rules on Domain Focus it states that domain spells not cast in a domain slot aren't affected by the feat. If you have Spontaneous Domain, and Domain Focus for the same domain, would spontaneously cast spells from the domain be improved by the feat?

I'm imagining not, looking at the wording of the feat and the ACF, but just wondered if you lovely people could please give me some input?

Many thanks in advance!

~J

[Chronos]

As an aside, spontaneous cures themselves act to prevent a cleric from being just a healbot. It used to be, when you needed to prepare cure spells, many clerics would end up filling up most of their slots with cures, because they never knew when they'd be needed, and so they'd only have a small number of non-cure spells for each level. With spontaneous curing, though, you can prepare all of the good non-curing spells, and then just use whichever ones happened to not be useful (which you don't need to know in advance) on your healing.

[Jesterface]

Certainly a very different take on it than I've seen. I've just seen too many clerics become the field medic due to the ability, and was moaned at in a game years ago because I played a spontaneous inflictor and prepared one cure spell at each level per day.

[Segev]

I've used Spontaneous Domain to make a BETTER healer: take the Healing domain as your spontaneous one.

[Curmudgeon]

Now, with the rules on Domain Focus it states that domain spells not cast in a domain slot aren't affected by the feat. If you have Spontaneous Domain, and Domain Focus for the same domain, would spontaneously cast spells from the domain be improved by the feat?
Yes, I think this combo works.
You can “lose” any prepared spell (other than a domain spell) to cast any spell of the same level or lower on that domain list.

Benefit: You can cast spells associated with one of your domains at +1 caster level. ... If you cast a spell from one of your non-domain spell slots, this feat does not help you, even if the spell also happens to appear on your domain list.
"Associated with" is loose enough terminology that casting "on that domain list" fits. With Spontaneous Domain Casting you're not casting directly from the prepared spell, but rather through the SDC transformation where you "lose" that prepared spell and then immediately get to cast from your domain list.

[Jesterface]

Ah, belter. Thanks Curmudgeon! The wording seemed a little murky, so I thought I'd check.

[Troacctid]

I don't know, the requirement that the spell be cast from a domain slot seems pretty clear-cut. I don't think you can get around it.

[Curmudgeon]

I don't know, the requirement that the spell be cast from a domain slot seems pretty clear-cut. I don't think you can get around it.
Where are you getting that requirement? I don't see it in Spontaneous Domain Casting (Player's Handbook II, page 37).

[Troacctid]

Where are you getting that requirement? I don't see it in Spontaneous Domain Casting (Player's Handbook II, page 37).

From Domain Focus, as you quoted it.


If you cast a spell from one of your non-domain spell slots, this feat does not help you, even if the spell also happens to appear on your domain list.

[Curmudgeon]

From Domain Focus, as you quoted it.
Ah, but the spell isn't coming from your non-domain spell slot, but rather is already lost from there, and is instead cast from your domain list.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

"If you cast a spell from one of your nondomain spell slots, this feat does not help you, even if the spell also happens to appear on your domain list."

I'll have to agree that while a prepared nondomain spell was lost to cast the domain spell, it wasn't prepared and cast from a nondomain slot, so this will indeed work.

Paragnostic Apostle's Divine Understanding class feature does the same thing without ambiguous wording and without being limited to domain spell slots.

The spontaneous domain casting ACF also helps other domain-spell-specific abilities, such as Radiant Servant's ability to empower/maximize healing domain spells for free.