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A lot of people lately have expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of preparing spells. I count myself among them-- I don't like Vancian spellcasting either. Some have suggested that all spellcasters should be spontaneous, but that comes with its own problems. It makes sorcerers and wizards redundant, and cheapens the feel of the different classes by giving them all the same system. So I've been thinking: what could replace Vancian casting for each class? What would help each class retain its flavor and have its own way of casting without having to prepare spells?
Here's what I came up with. I admit, none of it is playtested and the numbers haven't been nailed down, but if you've found your players shy away from classes that prepare spells I welcome you to give this a try or add your own feedback.
Clerics would keep their current number of spells per day. Their spells known would be: either all the cure or all the inflict spells (depending on alignment as normal), the spells from their domain, and a very small number of other spells off of their spell list. At first level a cleric would likely only get one "free choice" spell. The cleric could cast these spells spontaneously.
In addition, once per week as a full-round action, a cleric could beg her deity for divine intervention and attempt to cast a cleric spell she doesn't know. To do so, the cleric would have to make a Wisdom check, DC20 + the level of the spell per day she is expending to attempt it. The cleric may not beg for a specific spell; she may only give a vague description of what kind of spell she wants. The GM may give her a +2 circumstance bonus on this check if the situation is desperate enough and her request is reasonable in the eyes of her deity. Success means the GM picks an appropriate spell from the cleric list, and the cleric successfully casts that spell. Regardless of the spell's casting time, the cleric can not apply metamagic feats to a spell cast in this way. Failure should be treated as a spell mishap with a wand, or should result in the cleric casting a spell that does not match her request or is of much lower level.
Either way, if a spell the cleric does not know is cast in this way, the cleric can attempt a Spellcraft check, DC 25+the spell's level. Success means that the cleric adds the spell to her list of spells known.
A wizard's spellbook, number of spells per day, and means for obtaining new spells remain unchanged.
To cast a spell, the wizard must first open his spellbook to the appropriate page (a move action). Once the spellbook is open, the wizard can cast that spell, and only that spell, spontaneously. To cast any other spell, the wizard must spend another move action looking it up. The wizard must hold the book in one hand to read it, unless he is next to a stand or table. If the spell has somatic components, he must use his other hand to cast it. If the wizard is prone, he may rest the book on the ground in front of him.
Applying metamagic feats to spells does not increase their casting time for a wizard. However, a wizard must first inscribe the metamagically-enhanced version of the spell in his spellbook as though it were a separate spell. Inscribing the spell in this way costs no gold and requires no Spellcraft check, but takes the amount of time and pages in the spellbook that the spell's (increased) level would suggest.
The druid's number of spells per day remain unchanged. The druid's spells known include the summon nature's ally spells, the druid's domain spells (if any), and a small number of additional spells as chosen by the druid.
In addition, many druids imbue their spells into "standing stones" that are hidden in the druid's territory. Imbuing a standing stone in this way is a ritual that takes 24 hours. The druid must choose a spell that he or she knows, and must carve the spell's name in Druidic into the stone. Once imbued, a standing stone's spell can never be changed. The stone itself must be at least one foot thick in all three dimensions. There is no limit to the number of standing stones a druid may imbue, but having imbued a standing stone neither benefits nor hinders the druid's ability to cast the spell in question.
Finding another druid's standing stone requires a DC 25 Survival check. Non-druids take a -20 penalty to this check. Any terrain where druids can be found, even cities, may be expected to have any number of standing stones. A druid can always identify a standing stone for what it is on sight, and always knows what spell is imbued into it. (The GM should determine what spell is imbued into the stone-- roll 1d10-1 to determine the spell level, then choose an appropriate spell from the druid spell list). Once a standing stone has been found, a druid can spend an hour meditating on the stone to attempt to learn the spell. At the end of the hour, the druid makes a Wisdom check, DC 20 + the spell's level. Success means the druid adds the spell to her spells known. Any number of druids can learn a spell from a standing stone. Imbuing a standing stone, or directing a druid towards a stone you have imbued, is usually considered an act of charity towards a druidic circle. Directing a non-druid towards a standing stone is considered a crime against the stone's imbuer and may require an atonement spell.
The paladin's spell list and spells per day are completely replaced.
At level 4, the number of uses per day of the paladin's Lay on Hands ability is now based on Charisma score instead of Charisma modifier. As a standard action, the paladin may expend one use of her Lay on Hands to cast the following spells: Bless, Challenge Evil, Divine Favor, Grace, Magic Weapon, Protection from Evil, Protection from Chaos, and Rally Point. At 8th level, the paladin adds Bestow Grace, Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Wisdom, and Shield Other to this list. At 12th level, she adds Burst of Speed, Discern Lies, Dispel Magic, Fire of Judgment, Greater Magic Weapon, Holy Whisper, Prayer, and Sanctify Armor to the list. At 16th level, she adds Dispel Chaos, Dispel Evil, Holy Sword, King's Castle, Mark of Justice, Sacrificial Oath, and Symbol of Healing to the list.
I'll admit it: this one's really got me stumped. Flavor-wise I never really understood why Rangers cast divine spells, and as a full-BAB class, they don't really need spells at all, do they? But just plain removing them would feel like an incredible nerf, and I can't imagine a Ranger would be happy to lose cure spells, Lead Blades, or Gravity Bow.
My best suggestion would be to pick one of the Ranger archetypes that swaps out spellcasting and make that the default ability. Or give them a grit mechanic like gunslingers, and have them spend grit to cast spells (like I made the Paladin spend Lay on Hands usages to cast spells). I wish I had something better, but I don't.
Of all the prepared spellcasters, this is the one where a straight "now they're spontaneous" rule makes the most sense. The witch's familiar already acts like a "list of spells known", and there's already a mechanic in place for it to learn new spells. No additional rules needed really.
By contrast, this is the one where Vancian spell preparation makes the most sense. When each spell is literally a vial of potion, it makes perfect sense that you have to prepare it and you run out over the course of the day and you might not have prepared the right one that day. I recommend leaving the Alchemist as is-- even if the spell preparing turns folks off of it, it's just the most sensible execution of the class. Besides, anti-Vance players should be a lot happier with only one class to avoid instead of seven.
I sunder the spellbook.
Requiring the 20+ ability checks for clerics and druids to learn new spells is going to make it incredibly difficult for them to learn any spells, especially for the cleric who will only get one situationally appropriate chance per week. The druid will presumably be able to make multiple attempts per spell stone, but learning new spells could quickly become a time sink as the druid may end up making 6 attempts before succeeding, which wastes a large portion of that day of game time. As for the spell stone idea itself, its neat, but I think I might modify the DC of the survival check based on the level of the spell. A mighty druid that can cast powerful, earth changing magic is probably going to do more to hide that power than the druid who just figured out how to create water.
The wizard casting from his spell book is going to make him a lot more versatile since its just going to take one round for him to find and cast the perfect spell for any situation as long as he has his spellbook. This would probably be unbalancing when compared to other classes. The fact that he would have to record metamagic versions of spells in his spellbook would be irritating for sure, but most of the time I've found that I can get by with just a few select spells modified anyways. I'm not as familiar with the witch, but I could see her also becoming too versatile if she can spontaneously cast from essentially a "living spellbook".
Paladins will be able to cast a lot of spells suddenly. Or, alternatively as many might see it, do a lot more healing. Plus, you have removed a number of paladin spells that fit very well with the class, such as the litanies, Hero's Defiance, and Hero's Sacrifice. I would recommend at least leaving the spell list mostly untouched in what they can choose to make their spell list, and change the cost of the spell to the spell's level in uses of lay on hands. Still not sure that would balance out at lower levels, but its worth a shot.
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Requiring the 20+ ability checks for clerics and druids to learn new spells is going to make it incredibly difficult for them to learn any spells, especially for the cleric who will only get one situationally appropriate chance per week. The druid will presumably be able to make multiple attempts per spell stone, but learning new spells could quickly become a time sink as the druid may end up making 6 attempts before succeeding, which wastes a large portion of that day of game time. As for the spell stone idea itself, its neat, but I think I might modify the DC of the survival check based on the level of the spell. A mighty druid that can cast powerful, earth changing magic is probably going to do more to hide that power than the druid who just figured out how to create water.
The wizard casting from his spell book is going to make him a lot more versatile since its just going to take one round for him to find and cast the perfect spell for any situation as long as he has his spellbook. This would probably be unbalancing when compared to other classes. The fact that he would have to record metamagic versions of spells in his spellbook would be irritating for sure, but most of the time I've found that I can get by with just a few select spells modified anyways. I'm not as familiar with the witch, but I could see her also becoming too versatile if she can spontaneously cast from essentially a "living spellbook".
Paladins will be able to cast a lot of spells suddenly. Or, alternatively as many might see it, do a lot more healing. Plus, you have removed a number of paladin spells that fit very well with the class, such as the litanies, Hero's Defiance, and Hero's Sacrifice. I would recommend at least leaving the spell list mostly untouched in what they can choose to make their spell list, and change the cost of the spell to the spell's level in uses of lay on hands. Still not sure that would balance out at lower levels, but its worth a shot.
I made the Spellcraft DCs so high because the "true" spont-casters can't learn new spells at all except by gaining levels. I wanted Clerics and Druids to have some sort of means to access their niche spells like Remove Poison without having to spend their precious few spells known on it, but I didn't want the mechanic to be too easy to abuse. For druids, I downright forgot to include a "once per day/week" rider.
For wizards and witches-- you're right, having too many spells known on a spont-caster could be an issue. For wizards I expected that if a GM enforces the number of pages in a spellbook, scribing metamagic feats separately would mean a wizard would quickly end up with multiple spellbooks and have to spend even more action economy drawing the right book out of his backpack at higher levels. I seemed the remember the witch's methods being fairly complicated, and dependent on the witch finding other witches, so at least the GM could keep a Witch's number of spells learned under control fairly easily.
As for paladins, I was trying to give them a "sample platter" of spells that would capably express what paladins are all about. I knew I'd miss a bunch of good ones, but paladins IMHO aren't really about spellcasting, so it's okay if they lose some spells in the transfer. This is all homebrew anyway, so any group who wanted to use it could decide which spells to keep.
Giving paladins so many more uses of LoH was a concern for me, but since I also took away their ability to use a wand of CLW without a UMD check, and that their spells and healing are now competing for the same resource, I thought it might be worth it. Though making higher level spells cost more usages is definitely a good idea.
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I sunder the spellbook.
Yeah, that's pretty much a fatal weakness for the Wizard, even if it's compensated with always having the right spell.
My idea was to add a feat:
Consult Spellbook
You can swap a prepared spell for one recorded in your spellbook.
Prerequisite: Ability to prepare spells from a spellbook or the equivalent.
By consulting your spellbook, you can remove an unexpended spell from the spell slot you assigned it to and replace it with different spell from your book. The old spell is now considered “unprepared” and you cannot cast it until you prepare it again. The new spell must be the same level or lower than the old spell. Consulting your spellbook and swapping spells takes a minimum of ten minutes and provokes an attack of opportunity. Consulting a spellbook must be done in real time. No magic or spell, including haste or time stop can enable a you to shorten the time it takes to consult your spellbook.
Special: A wizard may select this feat on one his bonus feats.
This gives the wizard a little spontaneous casting ability, but doesn't enable him to just pull out the perfect spell in the middle of combat.
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Two thoughts on the Paladin option:
1. You're severely limiting the spell choices available for the class. Why not let him choose a small number of spells from the Paladin spell list instead of picking them for him?
2. Tying it to his lay hands ability might be unbalancing. This means a 4th level spell costs the paladin the same amount of resources as a first level spell. Maybe have them cost a number of uses equal to the spell's level.
My solution for the ranger is to just use the spell-less ranger from Open Design. Never liked the idea of rangers as spell casters.
Oh, I didn't realize the checks for clerics and druids were Spellcraft skill checks. I thought they were straight Wisdom ability checks. That wouldn't be too bad then. That would let them cast those spells and give them a decent chance to learn them as they were needed then.
You could just try giving the paladin a separate pool for casting spells instead of tying it to LoH. Maybe give them a pool of Divine Power equal to their character level + Charisma mod. Then they can spend points equal to the level of the spell they wish to cast on their spell list to actually cast it. I would say give them some say in their spell's known, though. Maybe give them a few floating slots they they can pick some paladin-only spells to put in them.
I'm still trying to think if there is anything to do with rangers, and I am playing with a couple ideas. If I can flesh one out, I'll let you know.