Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shadowfax7 05-24-07, 11:31 AM	Is the Spontaneous Divine Casters option in UA balanced against PHB Clerics/Druids or more powerful ?? You are gaining 1 add'l spell to cast/day (allowing you to cast the same number of spells of 1st to 9th level as a normal Cleric including the Domain spell, plus more 0th level spells) and the ability to spontaneously cast all your spells . . . Your spells known are limited as a Sorcerer plus both Domain spells, but you still cast spells at levels :1/3/5/7/9/11/13/15/17, rather than as a Sorcerer at levels: 1/4/6/8/10/12/14/16/18.
Neutronium_Dragon 05-24-07, 10:32 PM	Given that you've gone from a nigh-unlimited spell list to one which is a few dozen at most, it's actually quite a power downgrade for the caster, especially given that situationally useful spells are probably going to be few and far between for a caster with so few available.
Morwen 05-24-07, 10:58 PM	It's more powerful than a Sorcerer (which is too weak imo), but not as powerful as a regular Cleric (who has a spells known list ranging in the several hundreds).
Flynnwd 05-25-07, 06:36 AM	I've played with it in one of my games, and I've found that it is actually weaker than normal, because of the extremely limited spells known. I imagine that if you allowed an additional 2 spells known at each spell level, then you might get some of the diversity back. Otherwise, my players didn't like the restrictive nature of it at all. Just thought you'd want to know the feedback I got, Flynn
Shadowfax7 05-25-07, 10:39 PM	I've played with it in one of my games, and I've found that it is actually weaker than normal, because of the extremely limited spells known. I imagine that if you allowed an additional 2 spells known at each spell level, then you might get some of the diversity back. Otherwise, my players didn't like the restrictive nature of it at all. I appreciate the feedback, but the spontaneous casting Cleric variant actually does get 2 more spells known/spell level than the Sorcerer, his/her 2 Domain spells. I forgot to mention that in my original post.
pukunui 05-26-07, 01:07 AM	I am DMing a game in which I am using the spontaneous divine caster variant and I have found that it significantly nerfs the cleric's versatility - the main reason being, if the cleric doesn't take the Healing Domain (which essentially gives him all the healing spells for free), he then has to take them as some of his spells known at the cost of other useful spells ... Although I still really like the variant (mainly because I strongly dislike prepared casting), I do now realize that in a "traditional" group consisting of fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric, the loss of access to the entire cleric spell list and the loss of the ability to convert other spells into cure spells makes it so that the person playing the cleric more or less has no choice but to pick a deity that will give him access to the Healing Domain. Either that or watch his friends die again and again and again ... that is, if he doesn't die himself. What it does is force you to choose your spells known very carefully. I think a situation where the variant's strengths would really shine is in game where there are multiple clerics in the party. One could be the traditional healer, while the other(s) could focus on buffing or damage-dealing or whatever else. It's also less of a problem if there are others in the party who can help a spontaneous cleric without the Healing Domain with the healing (bards, paladins, dragon shamans, etc). I have yet to see how it affects the druid. As a side note, I have also turned the paladin and ranger into spontaneous casters using the hexblade/spellthief spells known progression.