| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My players really want to do a spell point system and I am inclined to agree with them but both of the traditional options I think don't work well.
First the option out of Unearthed Arcana (available on d20 srd) doesn't take into account that spells that don't use caster level for damage can be abused. Example casting a magic missle that does 5d4+5 uses 9 spell points the same as casting a 5th level spell, but casting color spray costs 1 all the time. Plus nothing stopping casters from going nova all the time.
Second a popular house rule I've seen is convert spells able to cast on a level to point ratio total points and that is your mana pool to cast spells. Spells cost only their level in mana so a fireball cost 3 mana. The problem with this is not that a mage can spam magic missle every round but that he can nova his highest level spells round after round.
My players want to just use the second system, but I find it to broken and said no.
But now that I have some time to sit down and think about things I came up with this idea....sorry it took so long to get here.
Cool Down Die
Use the second option as far as determining total mana and cost of spells but to keep casters from just using high level spells round after round limit how much mana they can use.
Take the highest level spell the caster can cast and double it this is your cool down die. Those able to cast only 1st level spells won't need one you will see in a bit and casters able to cast higher than 6th level can just use a d20 and set it to the right number.
The die starts at double the highest level you can cast, and when you spend mana lower the die by that amount you can only spend an amount of mana equal to or lower then the die. At the end of your turn raise the amount of the die by one if you cast a spell that turn and by two if you did not.
Example.
Sorcerer Tim level 10 sorcorer 22 cha has 89 mana points and since he his highest level spell he can cast is 5th he has a d10 cooldown die.
Round 1: Tim casts Wall of Force (5 mana) he subtracts 5 from his mana point total and lowers his cool down die by 5. But takes it back up by one at end of round so it's now at 6.
Round 2:Tim casts Fireball (3 mana) he subtracts 3 from total mana pool and lowers the cooldown die to 3. At end of turn he takes it up to 4.
Round 3:Tim with his cool down die at 4 can't spend the 5 mana he needs to cast another Wall of Force but does cast Black Tentacles for some much needed crowd control. This reduces his total mana now down to 77 for the day but his cool down die goes to 0 at the end of the round going back up to 1.
Round 4:Tim could only cast 1st level spells this round but chooses to instead use his wand of lighting bolt. He doesn't cast a spell himself this round so at the end of the round he increases his cool down die by 2 points going up to 3.
Round 5:Tim ....you get the idea by now.
So if you stayed with me and read all that what do you think?
Ohh and I know about the beta test for words of power that just got released and emailed my players so they could take a look maybe that will make them happy, but since I had this idea I wanted to share it with the world and put it down somewhere.
What die do you use when you can cast 7th, 8th or 9th level spells?
Here is one that always makes me laugh:
"You can cast more spells or spells of higher level if you like. Go for it! It's fun! In fact, you can any spell you have learned! (You learn spells like a Wizard, except you don't forget them!) Spells are normally sold in shops or found in moldy old tomes! However, SURPRISE, there is a twist! If you cast a spell, you need to make a will save! The DC for the save is 10 + the spell's level! If you fail you willingly take 10x the spell's level in damage! I know! SUCKS RIGHT! Don't cast magic! Your gonna botch that level 9 spell someday!"
Here is one that always makes me laugh:
"You can cast more spells or spells of higher level if you like. Go for it! It's fun! In fact, you can any spell you have learned! (You learn spells like a Wizard, except you don't forget them!) Spells are normally sold in shops or found in moldy old tomes! However, SURPRISE, there is a twist! If you cast a spell, you need to make a will save! The DC for the save is 10 + the spell's level! If you fail you willingly take 10x the spell's level in damage! I know! SUCKS RIGHT! Don't cast magic! Your gonna botch that level 9 spell someday!"
I houseruled that all arcane magic requires blood to cast and so the caster takes an amount of non-lethal damage equal to the level of the spell as part of the casting process. So 4th level spell causes 4 non-lethal damage. This would actually probably work well for a spell point system. It would discourage the spamming of high level spells as the Wizard would quickly find itself unconcious.
I ran that system as a mechanics test once.
Barbarians make the best casters XD
They just don't die.
(I allowed any class to cast magic, so long as they knew it)
If they are about to, they just raged.
"RAWWWWWW! CURE SERIOUS!!! RAWWWWW!"
HypertextD20
Great system, but I modified it a bit. Still greta for a starting place.
I ran that system as a mechanics test once.
Barbarians make the best casters XD
They just don't die.
(I allowed any class to cast magic, so long as they knew it)
If they are about to, they just raged.
"RAWWWWWW! CURE SERIOUS!!! RAWWWWW!"
You allowed any class to cast spells? o_0
And allowed Barbarians to cast while raging? @_@
It was an epic night. None of us forgot the crazy barbarian spell-caster :D
Edit: Spell casting classes had a bonus to their willsaves. Barbarian didn't cast while raging.
Rather than use spell points why not allow them to cast any spell they know but:
1) require a rather difficult casting roll (meaning that high level spells tend not to be cast but low level spells are easy to cast)
2) caster takes 1d4 points of non-lethal damage per spell level, fortitude save for half damage (meaning that constant high level casting results in an unconscious wizard)