Power and Spell recovery in Pathfinder

[Robotron666]

Heya,

Just read a few threads about 15 minute adventuring days and power points for the barbarian, and it occurred to me that we're still looking at the old "resources tapped, must take rest now that may take several hours."

After looking at the Barbarian's "rage pool" I was struck by the idea of a mechanic that uses a token economy for powers and that makes big expenditures a serious investment of power but still allows for a constant stream of adventuring.

The basic idea is that you can make massive expenditures of power by spending points from a pool and then recharge over time. Recovery would occur at a rate depending on the characters current level of activity. Exert yourself, and you recover slowly, rest and you recover very quickly. This isn't like at will / per encounter / per day because you can recover your power pool quickly through rest, or slowly as you adventure onward.

Now bear with me for a second, because I can already hear the cries of "But Robotron666, this might work with barbarian rage powers, but what about spellcasters?"

The problem being that normally Vancian memorizing mechanics dictate the number of spells and castings that Wizards get per day - Potentially, if you use spell points wizards will just cast the highest level spells they have as often as possible.

I figure the way that memorization tables work is that they dictate the spells you have prepared, you have a number of points for each level of spell available to you (6 0-level, 4 1st-level, 2 2nd-level, etc as an example) those are just points you allocate to each spell level tier. Each spell level slot recharges at a pay out rate from your power pool.

It might take 5 minutes of rest to recover a 1st level spell point, but it might take 20 minutes of rest to recover a 4th level spell point.

You retain the spirit of Vancian memorization, but you get a more flexible system. You also lose the Sorcerer, but hey, sacrifices must be made.

Does any of this make sense? It's late. Ah maybe I should just shut my moth, but I'd really like to see the death of the 15 minute adventuring day.

[Lich-Loved]

This is called Recharge Magic and is an "official" variant rule. You can learn all about it here.

As an aside, Eric Mona mentioned in another thread that Vancian magic was here to stay, so variant systems of the kind proposed by Recharge Magic and alternate systems proposed by other posters are moot.

[SirUrza]

Besides, the Barbarian doesn't need to increase it's speed and intimidate all it's opponents and all those other alternative powers every fight either.

I'm sure the Barbarian, like the Wizard will be able to "Rage" more then she does in a normal 15 minute day. The Wizard's new abilities extend the 15 minute day by a lot and I think that most of the people in the threads you mentioned haven't even played the Alpha rules yet to realize that.

[Robotron666]

Lich-Loved wrote:

This is called Recharge Magic and is an "official" variant rule. You can learn all about it here.

As an aside, Eric Mona mentioned in another thread that Vancian magic was here to stay, so variant systems of the kind proposed by Recharge Magic and alternate systems proposed by other posters are moot.

Cool, thanks, I wasn't aware that UA had this type of mechanic detailed in it. This makes it a viable homebrew solution for my own games which is good.

[Robotron666]

SirUrza wrote:

The Wizard's new abilities extend the 15 minute day by a lot and I think that most of the people in the threads you mentioned haven't even played the Alpha rules yet to realize that.

Oh? Um, well I've read through, and (not trying to be intentionally obtuse here) I fail to see how. Can you explain this to me?

[SirUrza]

Robotron666 wrote:

Oh? Um, well I've read through, and (not trying to be intentionally obtuse here) I fail to see how. Can you explain this to me?

Well let's see.. facing goblins that die 2 or 3 hits right?

Why use a spell level 1 spell when Hand of the Apprentice, Fire Ray, Acid Dart, Ray of Frost, Acid Orb, and Electric Jolt can all be used unlimited times per day?

BTW.. while it's not a guaranteed hit, Hand of the Apprentice does more damage per encounter on average then Magic Missile will at low levels.

[Moondarq]

I agree with SirUrza. I'm playing a 3rd level Wizard for the Alpha Test, and I have to say that the new Wizard abilities do help extend my character's usefulness beyond the "15-minute" limit to some degree.

My wizard specializes in Evocation, which allows her to cast a 1d4+1 damage ray of the energy of my choice all day long.

In addition I get a free magic missile once per day.

Also, my wizard took the "bound item" option intead of a familiar, which allowed her to make a Wand of Burning Hands for roughly 200 gp. The wand also casts 1 spell from any she has in her book once per day.

Altogether that adds up to a lot of utility for small encounters while allowing me to save up my memorized spells for when they're needed most.