Okay, seems like an interesting class. I'd need to see it in action in a actual game to see exactly.
Can you describe the "original spellpoint system" you're reacting to? When I think of "spellpoints," I think of a system where for instance someone who could cast 5th level spells and had 20 spellpoints could cast 4 5th-level spells in one day, or 20 1sts, or something inbetween.
Minor immediate reaction: that concentration bit should cost 15 minutes and 1 minute per spell level.
Good to have some free updated Anchor stuff out there. ;)
I'm grateful to hear you're worried about overcomplications! Because I think this class has a lot of promise, but badly needs simplifying.
Example: "He can safely accumulate it to his flat limit (see Table: Anchor Class Progression). Accumulating more strain points puts him under a constant sickened condition, and all his spells gain a 10% failure chance. This maximum limit is determined by his Wisdom ability score."
(First of all, you don't mention a maximum limit before you refer to "this" one. Is it the "flat limit?" But also, why sickened? Why not fatigued? (Which would progress to exhausted given additional circs.) That's bad enough! And spell failure is IMHO complicated; it's an extra die roll every turn. Enough that my casters never take armor they can't cast in, because I don't want to have to make that roll.
Example: "Succeeding a save only fatigues him, while failing the save stuns him for 2d6 rounds. Failing the save twice knocks him unconscious for 1d8 hours. If he fails the save for the third time, he suffers 1d6 Wisdom damage in addition to becoming unconscious."
In short order: dead. I'd make this dazed for one round (success), sickened for 1d6 rounds (1st failure), nauseated for one minute (2nd failure), unconscious for one hour (3rd failure). Or just say that "maximum" means "maximum," and you cannot exceed it.
Example: "Causing fatigue or exhaustion from any source other than from above saves automatically accumulates strain points equal to the anchor’s level. If this increase exceeds the Strain maximum limit, he’s forced to make a save as normal."
Equal to the caster's level????? What are you thinking? The bigger they get, the harder they fall, apparently. Some very low level spells can inflict the fatigued condition, you know. Now you're saying I have to not only watch my own expenditures, I have to leave a buffer of my character level. Especially given how nasty exceeding maximum is!
It's bad enough if "fatigued" from exceeding your max progresses to "exhausted" because of a spell effect, although I have to say, many fatiguing spells specifically say they can't move a target to "exhausted," and I'd respect that. Exhausted is horrible! But certainly, you aren't going to be happy doing a forced march if you're already fatigued from strain.
Spell specifics: The spellbook part is overcomplicated, too -- I frankly don't think I grasp how an Anchor is supposed to come up with spells to cast.
So please just drop "Spells memorized" altogether, and rename that part of your table to "Spells per Book." It would be so much simpler if, as an anchor, I have all of the spells in the currently bound book available for casting as long as I have strain. I can only bind a book in the morning, during a one-hour ritual that also refreshes my strain. At that point, I should get one book for free, developed as I level according to the listed spells/book. Furthermore, I can never exceed the limits in your table for any given book. That said, I could develop other books with typical wizardly methods, including paying spell-writing costs for copying spells from an existing book into a new one. Playing this class will be expensive, you know!
Feature specifics: And I also don't really grasp what you're doing with Trance & Willpower, I'm afraid. (So maybe I shouldn't be commenting at all. It's made me cranky; I apologize.) For instance, I couldn't figure out what actions you can take during a Trance; why have a Hastening Trance if you can't move, for instance? And then I have to admit that by the time I got to Willpowers, I stopped reading. I'm sorry, but there it is. Do you need both Trances & Willpowers for one full-casting class? Please combine these two mechanics in some fashion. Simplify. And offer bonus feats, please, please, in place of one of the existing features.
One comment does need to be made, cranky as I may be...
Immediate Trance is utterly broken, and should not be. Period. And Swift Trance is way, way, way underpriced. If you keep them and see anyone playing this class at all, you're going to get massive havoc with multi-classing! If a move costs 1 strain & a standard 3, an extra swift should cost at least 5, and have a note that it cannot be converted to immediate. For the record, I'm no expert. Nonetheless, I'm confident from what I've seen on these boards that 1 swift per turn is PF canon.
{EtA: I think I just got it. You are supposed to want to undertake a state that gives you NO actions, until you acquire them with bonuses you get every four levels. I think you can simplify this part trivially: abandon it. People might want to play this class for the spellpoints, but they aren't going to care about the trances enough to invest in them or use them.}
FCB specifics: You'll need to revisit this as you revise. But I do have to wonder what happened to halflings.
Conclusion: I'm sorry I got cranky. Using spellpoints with alternate spellbooks is a great idea, worth refining. Please!
You're very welcome. I love working out my own homebrew stuff on this board, so I figure I should return feedback. I look forward to seeing what you do with this!
Btw, to cut spellbook costs, I'd make the Anchor's notes take up half the space, rather than double.
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You might want to check out Emblem Books as an idea for a short & mystical way of encoding spells.
That would mean that Craft (illustration) should get a bonus, I'd think.