For those of us who desire a clean break from the most cumbersome features of Vancian spell systems, I've put together an alternative. All class features and feats relating to spell slots and preparations have been overhauled, and replaced with a pool of points that are expended to cast spells.
This has not been extensively play-tested anyone yet. Is it balanced? No. Could it be fun? I really think it could be.
Check it out if you'd like. Looks the Excel formatting didn't translate well to Google drive. It should still be legible though.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbny2S7UL9agd949W1ennOTgPtyruYxd/view?usp= sharing
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I admit I was really confused by the thread title and just clicked it because I was sitting there with a huge wtf expression on my face
looks interesting, although that means as soon as you reached level 3 you instantly can cast unlimited lvl 1 spells which mostly invalidates cantrips for a while (and actually even some higher level spells)
and even level 3 spells should be surely free for most characters
I think the cost reduction progression is to steep in the beginning and to weak on later levels
also the pools refilling just with a 10 minute rest, not a fan
that gives casters nearly infinite recources (besides that any divine, occult and primal caster can already heal you full without problems from level 3 on)
And I think the Archetype spell pools are too big compared to the normal ones. archetypes give one spell slot per level, two with an extra feat - not 90% of spellcasting with free low level spells
This system makes spellcasters incredibly powerfull at low level with nearly infinite recoureces but at the same time almost removes them from the game in higher levels as they only have a very limited number of spells availible
I admit I was really confused by the thread title and just clicked it because I was sitting there with a huge wtf expression on my face
looks interesting, although that means as soon as you reached level 3 you instantly can cast unlimited lvl 1 spells which mostly invalidates cantrips for a while (and actually even some higher level spells)
and even level 3 spells should be surely free for most charactersI think the cost reduction progression is to steep in the beginning and to weak on later levels
also the pools refilling just with a 10 minute rest, not a fan
that gives casters nearly infinite recources (besides that any divine, occult and primal caster can already heal you full without problems from level 3 on)And I think the Archetype spell pools are too big compared to the normal ones. archetypes give one spell slot per level, two with an extra feat - not 90% of spellcasting with free low level spells
This system makes spellcasters incredibly powerfull at low level with nearly infinite recoureces but at the same time almost removes them from the game in higher levels as they only have a very limited number of spells availible
One of the conundrums I ran into was that if the cost progression was too flat, (level 1 cost 1sp, level 9 cost 9sp) then simply summing the point values of what were previously spell slots created a pool that was enormous, and would permit over a dozen level 9 or 10 casts before depletion.
I also decided that where possible, I wanted new mechanics to be calculated the same as some of the existing mechanics(ex. spell pool = spell attack), in order to make it simpler for players to use. However, if the results are not optimal for a somewhat balance gameplay experience, I'm not opposed to different mechanics.
This is good feedback, thank you for taking the time to look at the sheet. It would be nice if Paizo published an official variant for "mana points" or "spell points", but until that happens we're on our own I suppose.
I plan to continue modifying this based on feedback. Ideally, I want to make something that many will consider a worthy alternative to the stock magic system.
This is a problem that PF1 psionics ran into a lot - because of how the cost progression worked, lower level psi powers became almost "free" to cast a few levels after you got them. It's hard to reconcile a mana pool system with Pathfinder's nine spell levels.
If I could suggest something more unorthodox, instead of tying the cost to spell level, tie it to the highest level of spell the character can cast. For example: Casting the highest level of spell you know costs 5sp, casting the second highest costs 4sp, casting the third highest costs 3sp, and casting anything lower then that costs 2sp (numbers are picked out of the air).
That way you can more tightly control the expected number of spells a spellcaster can manage at each level; instead of the spell point pool having to increase geometrically to keep up with the cost of higher level spells, it can increase linearly. You'll end up with fewer low level spells overall, but I think that might be a feature rather than a bug, and it would be in exchange for more versatility with your higher level spells.
EDIT: I would also move away from the "partial refill on a ten minute rest" thing. That changes the paradigm spellcasters live in way too far away from the expectations of the system, and is going to have a lot of knock-on effects.
For the same reason, I would avoid any spells other than cantrips ever becoming actually free to cast. The closer you hew to the base design of spellcasters the less you are going to risk accidentally breaking.