Clerics, recovering spells, and the planes

[dragonjek]

A number of deities demand of their clerics that they pray to refill their spells at a specific time of day/night.

But what if the cleric is on a plane where there is no day/night cycle? Or one where day and night last less than an hour each? Or a plane locked in perpetual twilight/midnight/noon/etc.?

[DM Nate]

It's a balance issue. Your cleric should be able to regain his spells at periodic intervals...not too long that he is spent for most encounters, and not too short so that he's always tanked up. Twenty-four hours is an arbitrary decision, but the DM can push as few or as many encounters in that period as he wants to.

Same should go for your game. You could pick "24 hours" or "10 hours" or "after every third encounter" or whatever would fit the campaign and party best.

[TheThan]

Since there’s no real time pieces (save the water clock ) the cleric shouldn’t be able to know when to prepare his spells while underground, where there are no visible clues as to the time of day. So it’s not just an issue while going for a planar walk.

If it’s religious, wouldn’t performing your worship service at midnight when you’re supposed to perform it at noon count as sacrilege and get you in trouble with your deity? Isn’t cleric spell preparation part of the religious aspect of the character? Or am I just a silly guy that role-plays clerics like that.

[DM Nate]

Thor smites those who offer him praise too often.

[Spore]

This just screams for a homebrew cantrip. Also this problem sounds prominent enough that there should exist enough solutions already. Still, travelling the planes sounds like an extraordinary boon granted to a cleric anyways so a normal god should be okay to accept irregular prayers from his champion. Plane Shift is a high level spell after all.

[Jay R]

A number of deities demand of their clerics that they pray to refill their spells at a specific time of day/night.

But what if the cleric is on a plane where there is no day/night cycle? Or one where day and night last less than an hour each? Or a plane locked in perpetual twilight/midnight/noon/etc.?

There's a work-around, as shown by the story of the F-Sharp Bell. One of the Green Lanterns went to a world in permanent darkness, and tried to recruit a Green Lantern. But how do you explain it to somebody who cannot comprehend either "green" or a "lantern"? Eventually she directed the recruit to put on the ring, conjure an instrument, and think of a specific tone. He thought of a bell, and f-sharp. From the on, he was the F-Sharp Bell, and used the tone of the bell to create the ring's effects.

"In loudest din or hush profound,
My ears catch evil's slightest sound.
Let those who toll out evil's knell
Beware my power, the F-Sharp Bell!"

Similarly, within a few days cycles, the cleric will have figured out when she can get spells by trial and error. And if it's consistent, it will be at the start of the period of most activity, just as with all other clerics.