wizard spell prep question

[EphU437]

(assume that wizard spells reset at midnight)

at 9 pm on Monday, joe wizard casts his 1 1st level spell.

On Tuesday, at 5 AM, when, after 8 hours of rest he wants to prepare spells, can he prepare a spell in that slot? What if he waits until , say, 10 AM?

Thanks,
Eph

[tyckspoon]

The restriction is that spells cast in the most recent 8 hours count against the next day's spells. It's been at least 8 hours since Joe cast that spell, so he can refresh that slot when he next prepares spells.

[mostlyharmful]

The restriction is that spells cast in the most recent 8 hours count against the next day's spells. It's been at least 8 hours since Joe cast that spell, so he can refresh that slot when he next prepares spells.

This is what I use but many people, either as player or as DMs object to the idea that the arcane casters can prepare more than once a day. The 24 prep clock is written into the divine casters due to their prayer cycle but without a similar mechanic tied into arcane casters. Basically it can be argued either way as RAI, and it can be ruled as either in any game you might play but the RAW on Arcane prep only counts what's been cast in the last 8 hours so yes. They could also prep it again at miday on Monday if they sat down and chilled straight after casting that 1st level slot.

[its_all_ogre]

it's called spells per day for a reason you know.
a wizard can prep spells as many times a day as they like but they can only cast their spells once per day per spell slot.
excluding pearls of power etc use.

[Devils_Advocate]

(assume that wizard spells reset at midnight)

at 9 pm on Monday, joe wizard casts his 1 1st level spell.

On Tuesday, at 5 AM, when, after 8 hours of rest he wants to prepare spells, can he prepare a spell in that slot? What if he waits until , say, 10 AM?
Why wouldn't he be able to? He's had the required 8 hours of rest, and he isn't trying to prepare a spell in that slot more than once in a single day. You're even including the explicit assumption that a day begins and ends at midnight for the purposes of this, and midnight has passed since he used the slot yesterday. So... So far as I can see, the answer is "Yes, he absolutely can." Why would you even need to ask? Am I missing something here?

[mostlyharmful]

it's called spells per day for a reason you know.
a wizard can prep spells as many times a day as they like but they can only cast their spells once per day per spell slot.
excluding pearls of power etc use.

Yes. the reason is the divine spellcasters and laziness in thinking on the designers parts in omitting any mention of such a mechanic for the arcane classes. The spell prep section mentions spells cast in the last eight hours, not twenty four. There isn't anything writen in core to say they can't prep more than once a day, if you want to add that in that's fine, it's also a good houserule to cut down on Arcane caster overshine but it's just that.

[squishycube]

Yes. the reason is the divine spellcasters and laziness in thinking on the designers parts in omitting any mention of such a mechanic for the arcane classes. The spell prep section mentions spells cast in the last eight hours, not twenty four. There isn't anything writen in core to say they can't prep more than once a day, if you want to add that in that's fine, it's also a good houserule to cut down on Arcane caster overshine but it's just that.
It doesn't need to mention that again, because it is already stated plainly that they are talking about spells per day, which means that you only get to use each spell slot once per day, barring things which explicitly state that this limit is circumvented. The 8-hours before is and additional limit to the use of spell slots, not the only limit.

[Voyager_I]

It could also be argued that they were operating under the assumption that players only rest once per day, since most people don't actually play Narcoleptic Wizards. Inferences aren't worth much in rules debates.

Show me where the rules say Wizards can't reuse slots within 24 hours, and I'll believe. Until then, I'm in the 8-hour camp.

[Chronos]

Show me where the rules say Wizards can't reuse slots within 24 hours, and I'll believe. Until then, I'm in the 8-hour camp.Where it says "spells per day". You're the one making assumptions, that by "per day" they meant "per rest period".

[Voyager_I]

But if spell slots already took 24 hours to refresh, why would they have made the 8-hour rule?

...or if they all refresh at the start of the next "day", when does that "day" begin and end? Clerics have well-defined rules for when they finish a given cycle, but Wizards have nothing of the sort. The only clearly printed rule I've seen is the 8-hour rule, which leads me to believe that 8 hours is the definitive time frame for rest-based casters. If there's something I've missed, I'm open to seeing it, but I want to see "day" defined in the same way it is for a Cleric, who has to pray at a specific time to regain his spells.

While were at it, what about multiple charge per day magic items? Do they refresh as soon as the next "day" starts, or do all their charges refresh 24 hours after first being used, or is each charged tracked individually? (I don't have the rules compendium)

[Chronos]

But if spell slots already took 24 hours to refresh, why would they have made the 8-hour rule?

...or if they all refresh at the start of the next "day", when does that "day" begin and end?They refresh at the end of the 8 hours of rest, as long as that's at least a day after the last time they refreshed. A wizard could, if he wanted to, refresh spells at 9:00 AM on Monday, then stay up for 24 hours, go to bed at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, and then wake up at 5:00 PM and refresh his spells. But if he did so, then he couldn't refresh them again until 5:00 PM on Wednesday (and he might want to delay it again, to get back onto a semi-normal schedule).


While were at it, what about multiple charge per day magic items? Do they refresh as soon as the next "day" starts, or do all their charges refresh 24 hours after first being used, or is each charged tracked individually? (I don't have the rules compendium)I don't know if there's a RAW answer to that one. If the behaviour of the players makes a decision necessary, I think the most logical answer is that each charge replenishes 24 hours after its last use (and a similar rule for use/week abilities, etc.). Other interpretations are certainly possible: An item based on divine magic item replenish all at once, at the same time of day that the priest who made it replenishes spells. An item might even replenish at a particular time of day unknown to the players, which they could only determine through experimentation.

[Baron Malkar]

Here is a hipothetical question:
what if the plane of existance the wizard is on has a 12 hour day cycle?

what about the cleric on the same hypothetical plane of existance?

[Talic]

Simple:

If you memorize spells, any empty spell slot that has:

a) had its spell cast after your last 8 hour rest period
AND
b) had its spell cast within 8 hours of the memorization

is unavailable for use. "Day" is not a defined term in D20. By this logic, there are a few ways we can interpret it.

1) Casters can't cast spells at night (it IS spells per DAY, after all).
2) Casters can't use any spell slot again until they wait 24 hours after they cast it. This would invalidate the 8 hour rule, as it would make it completely redundant. Safe to say this ISN'T the correct answer. Spells aren't guns. The waiting period isn't THAT bad.
3) Casters can't use any spell slot that they have MEMORIZED a spell in within 24 hours. While this is a bit more likely than (2), it still requires keeping track of possibly multiple memorization times, and would create enough of a hindrance for people who save a slot or two to fill with whatever's needed that you think it'd be mentioned when it lists that possibility.
4) It's referring to "day" as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Which means that as long as there's been a midnight that has passed, and the above rules are met, everything's kosher.

Based on what I see, the most LOGICAL one to support would be (4). Keeps the game simple, still provides for each spell to be used only once per 24 hour period (from midnight to 11:59pm each day), without penalizing so much the people who are ambushed at 10:30 pm.

Remember Occam's Razor. Whenever there are multiple possible interpretations, the simplest one is usually correct.

By option 4, above, everything's kosher with the guy above's memorization.