So I'm working on a low magic campaign in which much of the disposable spell casting (potions, scrolls, wands, etc) have been removed from the setting. That said however I don't want to put my PC casters in a position where they are literally able to do nothing once their handful of spells are exhausted.
A couple of things to note about the campaign: 1) It is level capped at 12th level, similar to Pathfinder Society. 2) We are also using a slow xp progression so 12th level will be quite an investment of time before we see that. 3) All spell casters (including divine casters) use a casting matrix similar to the Arcanist to allow for better flexibility in how they are preparing their spells.
To address the general shortage of spell casting I'm considering allowing the casters (arcane & divine) to have signature spells which are free casts (cost no spell slots to cast but are otherwise cast normally vs time, components, etc). These spells would be restricted to the arcane school or divine domain which the caster has specialized in. NOTE: This example is obviously targeted at the Mage and Cleric classes at this point to establish a base line for how this will work.
One idea that I'm considering is to limit such spells to ones are -2 to -3 levels below their top tier spells. Thus the lower level spells become more relevant again vs never being cast.
Further I think that allowing a meta-magic'd version of the spell to be taken as the signature spell would also be appropriate (such as a Silent Magic Missile, or Empowered Cure Light Wounds) as long as its appropriate spell slot was selected. Only 1 such signature spell per level (?) would be allowed. Alternately only 1 signature spell at all would be allowed.
Before anyone tells me that the low level spells (say a 1st level spell) at 10th level isn't relevant, I'd point out that out of combat healing via Cure Light Wounds over a period of even 1 minute is about 90 HP (give or take). Given a mixed party of different classes and your cleric could easily recover an entire party after only a few minutes of downtime, while their "active casting" during combat would be used to keep the party up during the fight. Channel positive energy also plays heavily into their active casting during combat.
Thoughts?
That said however I don't want to put my PC casters in a position where they are literally able to do nothing once their handful of spells are exhausted.
I was under the impression that is what the 0 level spells were for. They may not be the most powerful, but they allow a spellcaster to do something all the time. Or looking at it another way, assuming they have offensive 0 level spells, they could use those most of the time, waiting until the right moment to use their stronger spells.
But, the idea of a signature spell appeals to me, possibly because of Dresden Files. If you did include it, allowing them to use it forever seems a bit much. My suggestion would be allowing them to cast that specific spell an additional number of times per day equal to half their casting stat modifier rounded down. Possibly bring it up to full modifier at level 8 (considering you're only going up to 12th, it would basically be late game) or so (giving it at first level seems like it would be too many starting off).
If you chose to go with the above, you could reduce the number of extra casts of this spell by 1 for each metamagic they apply to it while keeping it the same spell level or allow them to cast it at a higher spell level, their choice. This could easily show their dedication and training with the spell and allow them the choice of a trade off.
I would also suggest only allowing one such spell, perhaps two if one were offensive/defensive and the other were a utility spell. If you did allow them to choose a different one, I think it should cost some gold and time in a ritual of some sort or heavy training, focusing on the new spell.
I think using the options in the above two paragraphs would make your spellcasters really think about which spells to choose and how to use them best.
For me, this signature spell would probably be a defining characteristic of my character. For instance, if my character, Talui, a cleric, liked to use Blood Crow Strike (for whatever reason, the first one to pop into my head), he could take that, or be given, as a title he's known by, Talui the Blood Crow. Or something like that
Thank you for your thoughts on this.
Anyone else?
I'd point out that a large part of the motivation behind introducing the signature spell is in direct response to the removal of "spell batteries" found in more typical campaigns. Scrolls, potions, and wands for example are extremely rare in this campaign setting, and even when they are found function in very A-Typical ways. IE; a "wand of fire" adds a +2 DC to fire based spells, and can cast Scorching Ray 2 x per day, however it never runs out of charges.
Scrolls allow you to learn new spells or meta-magics but do not allow for the casting of additional spells, etc.
Thus the signature spell concept allows for a cast to have some continued effectiveness without having to rely on the spell batteries.
As for 0 level spells, they simply aren't used in the campaign. We wanted all magic users to be very specialized and felt that universal spells, cantrips, and spells beyond 6th level were simply out side the scope of the campaign setting.
Thus my question is specific to the concept of the signature spell and where we should put the limitation on the requirements for it. Given the spell cap at 6th level, and most NPCs never pass 10th level, I'm thinking a -2 level difference. This is based on the idea that by the time an Evoker can cast Fireball he should have mastered Magic Missile.
So...did you turn all 0-level spells into 1st-level spells? If you did, did you give every full caster a boost in the number of 1st-level spells they can know/learn and cast per day? I personally cannot express how much I would miss a simple 0-level spell like Light or Detect Poison if it were just gone completely.
But since you're getting rid of 0-level spells, signature spells could very well be a good addition.
This is based on the idea that by the time an Evoker can cast Fireball he should have mastered Magic Missile.
This reminds me of an idea someone had and posted on some forum (I cannot remember enough of it to search for it) where as a caster gets more powerful, eventually 1st, 2nd, and I believe 3rd, level spells become as simple as 0-level spells for them to cast. Someone responded by pointing out that there are some spells in those levels that allowing a character to cast them however many times they want would be a problem (and explained the ones they felt were the most dangerous). I cannot remember the explanation or which spells, but I remember the response had a very good point. So if you are going to allow it, definitely keep an eye on it. (I think one of the questionable ones might have been Magic Missile.)
A suggestion for a possible different route for signature spells. I'll use Cure Light Wounds for this example (cuz we're all very familiar with it, or should be). What if by 'mastering' this spells, some portion of it was increased or unlocked.
Like, healing +2 per caster level and eventually up to +4 per caster level (with no maximum), or healing 1d10 initially then moving up to 1d12/2d6 to 2d8 finally to 2d10, or being able to heal a target from 5, 10, 15, 20 feet away, or multiple targets with one casting (or the same one multiple times).
Basically being able to do more with a spell because you understand it so perfectly and are able to stretch the limits of the spell beyond its initial creation.
Over the course of time I've considered something very similar to this with the scaling of lower levels spells like you are describing. With such a system you would not really have 9th level spells, but rather would have a range of "base spells" which you had upgraded over multiple times resulting in a few that were 4th level, 5th level, etc and others that had never been upgraded.
For example maybe a fireball really IS just a magic missile that has been upgraded several times. A Heal spell really is just a Cure Light Wounds which you have upgraded. etc etc
In order to do it justice however you would probably have to scrap most if not all of the magic system of PF / D&D and rebuild it into something with a mana pool. Perhaps something like you get so many upgrade points per level to advance your spells, not unlike the way that skills are upgraded or Feats are spent on Feat chains.
Don't get me wrong, I actually feel this is exactly what NEEDS to happen however is a much larger task that what I'm willing to personally undertake. If I found such an alternate system which was well done and integrated well into the rest of the mechanics I'd most likely adopt it.
In the mean time, my approach is more of a "lite / compatibility" version, which has always been a concern with creating alternative products for d20.
Spheres of power?
I've heard good things about Spheres of Power but have never looked at the rules for it. Will have to check that out at some point. Good idea however.