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View Full Version : Mnemonic enhancer and non-wizards



John Campbell
2008-07-10, 03:46 PM
So here's a weird question: What happens if a non-wizard manages to get Rary's mnemonic enhancer cast on him by whatever means?

(e.g., by UMDing a wand or other device, or a wizard Sharing Spell with his familiar... there are probably other methods that I can't come up with offhand)

Does the target get to prepare three levels of wizard spells? If so, from what spellbook? If the target's a familiar, can he use his boss's spellbook? If the target's some other kind of arcane caster, can he prepare three extra levels of spells from his own spell list? From the wizard spell list? Only where they overlap? What if he's a divine caster?

For that matter, what if a mystic theurge or the like casts Rary's mnemonic enhancer? Can he use it with cleric spells? The spell description doesn't restrict it to wizard spells, or even to arcane spells, and the retain function explicitly says "any spell"...

Alleine
2008-07-10, 04:47 PM
For a non-caster I would assume nothing would happen. This seems to be more in the realm of rule zero. As far as RAW it could probably be argued two ways, either they get no benefit or they get to prepare three levels of wizard spells.

If a divine caster gets it, they can do exactly what it says. It in no way limits it to arcane casters except that its only on the wizard's list. It doesn't say you can only prepare 3 levels of arcane spells, or only recall arcane spells
Same goes for any other caster. No limit really on what spell list it can be from, but it makes more sense that you'd be able to prepare from your own list.

EDIT: This is, of course, just what I think and is by no means a definitive answer.

Jack_Simth
2008-07-10, 04:58 PM
My take?

Well, with the "prepare" option, it's "You prepare and cast these spells normally." - so if you don't normally prepare and cast spells, nothing happens (as you don't normally prepare spells - what happens is the same thing that "normally" does).

With the "retain" option, it "restores the previously cast spell to your mind" - keywork: "restores". You can't restore something that was never present, so no effect for a non-caster.

For a Cleric of the Magic domain casting out of a wand (or other divine caster getting access to it by some means)? Works fine for Divine spells, but there's a catch: Normal spell preparation is the 1-hour prayer and meditation, which is at a fixed time, and you can be doing nothing else. With the ten minute casting time on Mnemonic enhancer, "prepare" is not going to work effectively, unless, perhaps, you time things so that you finish casting just as you're going into your morning prayer and meditation. No issues with "retain" though.

For a spontaneous caster, you don't normally prepare things, so the "prepare" option does nothing of any use. Retain, however, would still work just fine - you restore the spell, regaining the spent slot.