Does anyone allow the Cleric to take Spells twice? I had that come up in a game recently, where a Cleric could prepare multiple spells and wanted 2 uses of Cure Light Wounds. I ruled that if the spell was revoked, that meant he could not cast it at all, and that spells aren’t slotted like in D&D.
Any comments or alternative solutions?
Sounds like the player is trying to hedge their bets against an unfortunate situation. That’s what you do in a tactical game – stack everything to your advantage.
Playing Dungeon World takes a different mindset, and it may be worth discussing this with your player. If the cleric burns their ability to cast Cure Light Wounds – What Do You Do? that’s where the fun comes in – what happens when your back is unexpectedly against the wall?
As for how I’d respond as the GM – i would let them know that there is no advantage to prepping the spell twice. They’re welcome to do it, but will received absolutely no advantage. If they lose one prep of the spell, they lose both. And they run the risk of losing their deity’s favor for treating a divine blessing like a common commodity. Now let them make their choice, and help them discover what happens next.
I would treat it more simply and just say it isn’t possible because DW doesn’t use spell slots. You get a certain number of spells – taking the same one twice wouldn’t mean anything.
Cool, I am glad to know that I handled it pretty appropriately. Thanks!
I would allow it. I’d go so far as to tell the player that they won’t lose the spell then, given that level of devotion and effort they’ve put forth in maintaining it. (Fan of the Character?)
But I’ll remind them that there WILL be a Hard Move when appropriate. (The monsters fighting the party get healed too, the chicken they’re cooking on the campfire spit comes back to life and bawls loud enough to draw the attention of Those In The Darkness, the grass and ants and venus flytraps nearby begin radiating magic and grow to fifty times their usual size, etc etc)
I think the player already has the possibility of retaining a spell, which is the choice of NOT forgetting it on a 7-9.
Choosing a spell twice weakens the impact of the choice presented in the Cast move.
Besides, you can ask “do you really forget a spell, or (being a cleric) do you always know it and just lose the ability to cast it?”.
Here it says you can
http://mattie.net/dungeon/ch18a-Class_Moves_Discussion.html
“If you like you can prepare the same spell more than once.”
I think the table should decide, but I would allow it. Choosing a spell twice only gets you a free pass in a 7-9 situation, and the cleric get one spell less. I think it’s a pretty hard choice, so if the cleric wants to take it I would allow it.
If the player can justify the fiction, I say go for it. But it has to be cool fiction.