House rule - Spellcaster casts spells via CON drain

[Wulfram Kane]

I have a house rule that Spellcasters can 'burn' constitution to cast spells.
The rule goes like this:
1. Choose a spell
2. Subtract Level of Spell from Constitution (CON)
2a. This is Ability Drain
3. Immediately make a CON check at reduced CON
3a. If CON is 0 or less, player is Dead.
3b. If CON check is failed, player is Fatigued.
3b-1 If player is already Fatigued player is Exhausted
3b-2 If player is already Exhausted player is Nauseated

An expended prepared spell can be 'recast' in this manner.
If the daily casting limit has been exceeded, the spell can be cast in this manner.

This allows lower level spellcasters to remain useful (at considerable risk) to the party and encourages a wider range of spells for spellcasters who must prepare their spells every day.

No more "I cast a spell, let's sleep!"

[QuidEst]

This seems... really bad. It costs 1,000gp to remove Con drain. And that is a TON of Con drain. The only time it's worth using is as a very-last-resort, but there's no point, because the act of casting it will kill you from reduced hp.

[Drahliana Moonrunner]

Come up with the same kind of rules for martials and then we'll talk.

I'm convinced that much of the so-called Caster/Martial disparity is the proliferation of pro-caster home rules such as these.

I would also add the rule that burning Con like this forces a fortitude saving throw vs death equal to that of the calculated DC for a spell of that level. using the new lower CON value for calculating your effective saving throw bonus Failure means that the character dies as per the rules for death effects.

[Firewarrior44]

Personally I don't see anyone ever using this ever except if forced to.

Mechanically

How long do the debuffs last?

Drain = Permanent. becuase it's drain but Fatigue/Exhaustion/Nausea = Until drain is healed, next rest?

[Firewarrior44]

Drahliana Moonrunner wrote:

Come up with the same kind of rules for martials and then we'll talk.

I'm convinced that much of the so-called Caster/Martial disparity is the proliferation of pro-caster home rules such as these.

I think the people who advocate these kinds of rules are not usually the ones who also decry "casters op". Although there's probably some overlap.

[Kirth Gersen]

Wulfram Kane wrote:

An expended prepared spell can be 'recast' in this manner.

If the daily casting limit has been exceeded, the spell can be cast in this manner.

So, liches can cast infinite spells?

[Goth Guru]

Ha,Ha,Ha, very funny.

[Michael Sayre]

Kirth Gersen wrote:

Wulfram Kane wrote:

An expended prepared spell can be 'recast' in this manner.

If the daily casting limit has been exceeded, the spell can be cast in this manner.

So, liches can cast infinite spells?

That was pretty much immediately where I ended up, after a short detour to some of the crazier builds I've seen where people take over a whale's body and stick it with tons of CON damage/drain to power spells before hopping back into their walking 'round body.

@Wulfram Kane

Do you find that wizards quickly running out of spells and needing to hop back to rest is a frequent occurrence or problem in your games? Casters have a lot of ways to stretch their resources (they can make multiple scrolls a day even while adventuring), along with options like arcane bond items instead of familiars, school specializations, school powers, etc. Your issue could be something the class already has tools to deal with that just require a little extra application to start doing their job. Alternatively, you could look at an alternative spell system like Spheres of Power or Akashic Mysteries that are balanced around the casters having magic all day long and providing at-will abilities with more powerful effects a little more tightly gated.

[Calybos1]

I suggest a scaled-down 'fatigue' type of mechanic, where after every spell the caster must make a Fort save or similar check. The difficulty scales with the spell level. And once it's failed, the caster becomes Fatigued, then Exhausted.