Pearls of Power vs. Mementos Magica

[Afgncaap5]

tl;dr - Do you think the Memento Magica is more, less, or roughly equally useful when compared to the Pearl of Power?

So, a friend and I apparently have a huge difference in opinion regarding the value of these two items for their respective intended users. It may be splitting hairs since the two items are very similar, but the fact that the Mementos have a higher price is apparently tantamount to an insult. I'm personally okay with the price increase... I'd even be okay if they were cheaper or the same price as Pearls of Power in some situations... but my friend thinks that they should be cheaper than Pearls to begin with.

I'm not enough of a developer or power gamer to really look at them objectively, but it seems to me that the strengths and weaknesses the Mementos have over their pearly counterparts are basically...

-Mementos restore a spell slot instead of a single spell (effectively, I'd usually wind up spending less for a scroll of magic missile than I would for a spell completion device that has a single use but allows for the casting of magic missile, feather fall, burning hands, or grease when it's used.)
-Mementos arguably get more useful with more levels as a spontaneous caster will (usually) have more spells to work with.
-On the other hand, Mementos arguably get less useful with more levels as spontaneous casters will gain more slots for the given level and therefore have less need to restore a slot with a Memento.
-Prepared casters can only use a spell they've already cast with a Pearl of Power (making it useful for repeated attempts at a spell that failed earlier, or for days where they expect to be doing similar tasks repeatedly, but not useful for versatility; inferior to a level 1 wizard but possibly unimportant to a high level wizard with divinations?)
-Pearl necklaces are probably generally cooler than scale necklaces for hiding magic items in plane sight; scales can generally be hidden in other forms of clothing pretty easily, though.
-I think both items work outside of casting the spell as normal, which is something I was wrong about before... I've previously had characters just "cast the old spell with the pearl", but if I'm reading it right I should actually have them take an action to use a pearl/memento, and *then* be able to cast it again... huh. Guess I was wrong there, and that this point is roughly equal for both?

So, in terms of item usefulness... which would you say gets more bang for the buck? Am I wrong? Should the Memento Magica be cheaper than the pearl? About the same price as the pearl? Cheaper than it is now but not down to pearl costs? ...more expensive than it is now?

And does your answer change if a game is specified to only last until level 12 or 5 or something? Or is one answer more or less good across all likely ending levels?

Ultimately this is just splitting hairs, but after a day of discussing it with someone I'm really curious to get other opinions, even if the entire Internet disagrees with me. :-P

Oh! And last note: she entered the argument with prior experience with two other Pathfinder magic items, and not really knowing about the Mementos since she's more of a Pathfinder reader than a D&D player. The items she showed me were more expensive than the Mementos and didn't quite seem as useful, but she didn't really change her opinions when introduced to Mementos (or the similarly present Knowstones.)

[mabriss lethe]

From a purely technical standpoint, I'd say that pearls of power are more versatile, but that has more to do with poorly thought out RAW than anything else. PoPs don't specify that you have to replace the spell you cast with a new iteration of itself. You can replace it with any spell you've ever cast. Earlier in the day, Two weeks ago, a year ago. It doesn't matter to the pearl of power.


Once per day on command, a pearl of power enables the possessor to recall any one spell that she had prepared and then cast. The spell is then prepared again, just as if it had not been cast.

[MesiDoomstalker]

In principle, both allow their respective user's more spells per day. However, Pearls of Power enhance a prepared caster's ability to change their spells per day. Any spell they know they will cast at least twice (or however many Pearls they have -1) meaning all other slots of that level are still open. So, for example, if you expect to cast Greater Magic Weapon on the parties weapons (lets say there are 3 weapons to target), then at the cost of 3 Pearl of Power 3's and a singular 3rd level spell slot.

Now in the same instance for a Sorcerer with Memento Magica's, you need to sacrifice a Spell Known for GMW (not necessarily a bad thing) and 2 Mementos Magica and 1 Spell Slot (or 3 Mementos and no Spell Slots, ultimately). Now, ignoring the relative costs of the 2 items the Sorcerer is already behind. This costs a Sorcerer a build resource and the Wizard only a bit of Gold to scribe it into a spellbook. Now take a look at what happens after the Buff routine. A Wizard is down a slot, with X as many slots prepped with better adventuring spells. A Sorcerer is Y (or Y+1) slots, which can be used with however many 3rd level spells known he has. Now in theory both have the same amount of versatility, just the Wizard chose his versatility at the start of the day, while the Sorcerer chose whenever he leveled up.

But, you then realize that every spell slot a Sorcerer has can be used for any spell known at that level. And any spell slots not used are lost. In the above scenario, a Sorcerer could forgo any Momento Magica and simply adventure with 3 less 3rd level slots every day. Due to a Sorcerer's higher Spells per Day compared to a Wizard, a Sorcerer could then eat the spell slot cost of buffing his allies every day easier than a wizard.

Overall, Momento Magica is only useful when a Sorcerer runs out of that particular spell level slots, while a Pearl of Power allows repetitious casting a spell without affecting versatility for that spell level (in effect, allowing a Wizard to fake being a Sorcerer).

[Kelb_Panthera]

Let's examine it, shall we? Fair warning, I may run this one stream of conciousness style. There'll be a clearly marked TL;DR at the end.

Let's ignore the general superiority of prepared casters over spontaneous casters, for a moment, because that -can- be a point of contention, depending on the group and the particular player.

So first let's look at the price formula. Both use the formula spell level squared X <constant value>. The constants are where the difference lies and those constants are 1000gp and 1500gp for the pearl and the memento, respectively.

So ultimately, the difference in value, then, is one half.

Let's examine the difference in function next. A pearl gives you back the same spell you already used once already. The memento gives you back a blank slot that you can use on any spell you know up to that level. Advantge; memento.

If all else was equal between spontaneous and prepared casters, this would be pretty clear cut. The memento would be plainly the more potent item.

All else is -not- equal, however. If we put overall characer building out of the equation and examine the prepared caster and spontaneous caster we notice a few things:

Prepared casters generally progress to the next level of spells one level earlier, have access to a wider range of spells, and can apply multiple metamagics to those spells. This tends to more than offset the lower number of spells per day.

Now, these advantages -can- be mitigated somewhat. Knowstones, rune staves, wands, and staves (generally in that order) can expand a spontaneous caster's variety of spells in exchange for gold, though not to the extent that a spellbook user's gold expands his and never to the extent of a prepared caster that can draw from his list freely. Certain PrC's and feats can also expand their repetoire but generally at a noticeably higher opportunity cost.

Other than the generally accepted superiority of prepared casters over spontaneous casters, I honestly can't come up with a solid reason to price the memento -lower- than the pearl.

TL;DR: whether that higher price is justified over an equal price (I can't justify a lower price) depends largely on whether or not you think this statement is true; "Better a good option today than the perfect option tomorrow."

I, for one, do feel as though the increased price is justified. YMMV.

[Godskook]

1.A Wizard can prepare more spells per day than a Sorcerer is allowed to know of any spell level, assuming at least a specialist with an ability mod equal to his highest spell level(reasonable assumptions).

2.A Wizard with an infinite number of Pearls of Power is indistinguishable from a Sorcerer with an infinite number of Momentos Magica, except the Wizard has more spells to choose from at any given time, gets them at earlier levels, and can choose new ones every day from their spellbook.

3.A Wizard is generally regarded as stronger than a Sorcerer in every spellcasting way EXCEPT spell slots.

4.Spell slots are worth proportionally less to a Sorcerer due to his higher starting allotment. Incremental increases in spell slots(such as from a high ability score) favor Wizards unless Wizards pay more for the increment.

For Momentos to be validly worth more than Pearls, there'd need to be a class level where, for some value of X, a Sorcerer with X Momentos is stronger than a Wizard with X Pearls. This is -not- true at X=0 or infinity, and I am exceptionally confident of any value over ~5 per spell level. I strongly suspect that there's no value that makes Momentos the stronger item.

A single Pearl means a Wizard has access to 1 sorcerer-quality slot from his own prepared spell list. A Momentos does not give a Wizard-quality slot, it ~also~ gives a sorcerer-quality slot.

The only imaginable advantage Momentos carry, afaik, is that they require no thought of effort nor foresight of need. Thus, in a rare moment, a Wizard could need to use one mid-battle to recover a crucial spell.

[Troacctid]

Both items give you an extra spell per day. The only real salient difference is that the Memento costs 50% more for the "privilege" of being used by a different class. Since it's more expensive and offers no other relevant advantages, the Memento is clearly a weaker item.

[Fizban]

The Memento can turn into multiple spells due to spontaneous casting, so it's more expensive. The designer apparently fails to understand that the Pearl can also turn into multiple spells. Presumably they prepare multiple copies of the same spell, or use the Pearl immediately on whatever they just used instead of waiting to use it on the correct spell.

The Memento is a waste of money. Pearls are already fairly expensive for most of the game and spontaneous casters get far less out of Mementos than prepared casters get out of the Pearl. I'd use it if I couldn't sell or trade it for full price, but I'd never buy one on purpose.

[Deophaun]

While in a theoretical framework I'd say the Memento Magica is overpriced, in practice, I've had more call for them than the Pearls. Bards and Sorcerers actually have more low level spells that stay relevant than Wizards. Improvisation is a 1st level Bard spell that only gets more useful (and more spammable) as you level. Couple with burning slots on inspirational boost at the start of each encounter, and you can eat your low level slots real quick. Sorcerers get wings of cover, which can easily be used multiple times in a single encounter, even at level 20. These things have caused me to spare a few thousand gold for the little reminders in the past. Meanwhile, by the time I've had the money to spare with my wizards, I'm struggling to come up with things to spend all my low level slots on. Besides, Wizards also get Scribe Scroll for free.

[Zanos]

Presumably memento magickas cost more because Sorcerers already have an advantage in slots per day. The typical cost framework for magic items is such that it costs more to get better at something you're already good at.

[Fizban]

Improvisation, inspirational boost, wings of cover
The first is definitely awesome and needs to be cast from your own slots, but the second two are just as potent via wand. They're atypical enough I'd say it's more of a problem with the spells than the virtue of the item. Not any 1st level Sorcerer spells I can think of I'd really want to spam that much, aside from Shield or True Strike. Any suggestions?

[StreamOfTheSky]

First of all, the obvious intent was that PoP replaces a spell you cast THAT DAY and it disgusts me that people actually use such a broken RAW abuse reading of them.

That said, even with that "restriction," PoP are better than Memento Magica, and also cheaper. A Sorc being able to fire off 8 of the same spell instead of 7 is way less useful than a wizard who prepared a broad array of spells getting to re-use one of them that turned out to be super important.
Memento Magica is still good. More dakka is always welcome. But that's all it is. PoP is both more dakka, and in enough quantity, basically lets a wizard do the sorc's shctick as well. It's not that MM is bad, it's that PoP is just that good.