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I had a bit of a hair-brained unconscious thought in regards to the playtest, and I decided to see if it might work.
From PF1, the Magus had a 4th level class feature called Spell Recall, which let them regain spell slots they have cast at the cost of expending points from their Arcane Pool equal to the spell level of the spell they wish to regain. I believe there might be a way to re-implement this feature into PF2 as a means to make the current "4 Spell Slot" rules more viable for longer adventuring days, and to make the Magus have better staying power.
With the implementation and scaling balance of Focus Points/Pools, We can reinvent this feature as a means to not only make this "4 Spell Slot" mechanic viable, but also something that Magus players can better play around to make their Focus Pool more versatile while also gauging fair applications of Focus Points, and making more interesting choices with their Focus pool expenditures.
This is obviously a first rough draft, but hopefully it conveys the point across, and may be what Paizo might use to balance the "4 Spell Slot" mechanic if it still makes it to the final product:
Spell Recall Focus 1
{Uncommon}{Magus}{Concentrate}{Arcane}
1 Free Action
Trigger: At the start of your turn.
Requirement: You have expended a prepared spell slot.
You regain a spell slot you have cast from the last time you made your daily preparations. This ability cannot be used on spells acquired from sources other than the Magus class.
It obviously looks overpowered, but this is just the baseline I'm proposing, and there are other balancing factors that I haven't implemented quite yet as I'm unsure of the implications. But they include:
-Requiring your spellbook being held, otherwise how else are you going to recall the spell? Also makes Sword and Book more viable!
-Limiting the feature to be used only once per spell level until you reprepare spells, so that people can't just always have free spell slots every combat, as spell slots should still be a limitation of some sort.
-Allowing the feature to work with any prepared spells, including from multiclass dedications, as the Focus Pool plus Refocusing will be the balancing factors here, making spellcasting dedications like Wizard more appealing.
Any thoughts or impressions on what could make this work or if it's just way too much?
I was thinking of it too. maybe not making it a free action, and rather limit its frequency use. Maybe something like "once per encounter" so it cannot be spammed between fights.
I thought about that, but I think the Focus Points are enough of a limitation.
Remember that the Magus only starts with 1 point, and needs to take feats to expand their pool. Starting out, they can expend their Focus Point to regain their 1st level slot, or to apply Magus Potency. Also, they can only regain 1 Focus Point between combats, and they can't have more than 3 Focus Points at a given time. Plus, the Magus may also want the Hasted Assault Focus Spell, as well as perhaps the Magus Potency Focus Spell.
There are other ways for them to regain focus points (familiars in particular), though that does require investment choices that they may not make. It makes building around their Focus Pool more interesting and viable, though.
Yeah, I was just thinking of avoiding something like: "use a focus point to recharge a slot. *take a 10 minute rest* use a focus point to recharge a slot *take a 10 minute rest*" etc.
You can't refocus a second time until you've expended a focus point again.
Requirements You have a focus pool, and you have spent at least 1 Focus Point since you last regained any Focus Points.
Yeah but you can spend it to recall a spell. And then rest again.
Technically that's how a Champion can get infinite healing.
The Focus point implementation is probably the way to go if spell recall becomes a choice, it was effectively limited in a similar way last edition and it fits snuggly into this edition. It could probably be a class feat at level 4 potentially, as that was when it normally came online.
Man, we've been running that part wrong, then.
Can implement either a spell level or a 1/hour limitation, then.
My thought was was to make an Echoing Spell style focus power that let you re-prepare a spell you had cast in the previous round for an action.
I've thought about this too. I called my version Arcane Pool just for nostalgia's sake, but I think maybe we can mesh the two together.
So Magus receives an Arcane Pool(let Focus Points be separate) of something like 3 and those points are used with a Spell Recall activity. The activity takes 10 minutes and can be used while Refocusing.
I think the Arcane Pool should grow, like +1 for every 5 levels.
This would balance the low spell slots and grant some lasting power for Magi. This way, you can prepare one Shocking Grasp, but if you feel you need more, you can use Spell Recall.
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While I would love to see Spell Recall added back to the Magus, I think that the way they've designed everything so far, it's unlikely that a class will get another pool of points. Gone is the Investigator's Inspiration Pool, the Swashbuckler's Panache pool has been replaced with Panache or not Panache, Monk Ki Pool and Badic Performance rounds have folded into Focus Points, Rage has a frequency and duration instead of rounds/day, etc. While it's possible they'll do anything, it seems far more likely that it would be represented either by shifting Magus casting more towards Focus Spells (at the cost of flexibility) or having a mechanic tied to focus points to recover a spell slot.
To clarify a few things:
This wasn't designed to be a feat any more than Magus Potency was. Maybe it shouldn't be available right away, but when a Magus only gets one spell slot at 1st level, it's a problem.
I'm not suggesting they make multiple pools for the Magus. In fact, the last part (a mechanic tied to focus points to recover spell slots) is precisely what my initial proposal is: Spend a Focus Point to regain an expended prepared spell slot.
What about making it, instead of a 1-action Focus spell, a reaction Focus spell?
Maybe the trigger is you need to crit with a Strike, or a Striking Spell Strike, or a Spell?
Maybe the trigger is you need to have missed, or otherwise not done any effect, with a spell-slot spell?
There's probably other good ideas for triggers people can come up with?
I think the way to make this work is to make it so you have to use it right away.
Spell Recall Focus 1
{Uncommon}{Magus}{Arcane}{Concentrate}
Actions: Same as the spell recalled
Trigger: Striking spell is used
Requirement: You have expended a prepared spell slot.
Recast a spell you have cast from your Magus spell slots after your daily preparations. Add the traits from the recalled spell to this spell's traits.
That seems a good balance.
Limiting this to once per fight also seems an important safety valve.
Using focus points to get real 9th level spells is very strong.
In the lategame, Magi have a self-haste as a focus spell.
Letting them get real Haste for the same cost to cast on everyone is a strict upgrade.
Limiting this to once per fight also seems an important safety valve.
It'd be easy enough to add a timer on it, like once per 10 min.
In the lategame, Magi have a self-haste as a focus spell.
Letting them get real Haste for the same cost to cast on everyone is a strict upgrade.
I'd intended for the spell to have to meat the same requirements as Spellstrike, so in my version it couldn't be used for haste: only target's you're hitting with your weapon. So let me reword it a bit.
Recast a spell you have cast from your Magus spell slots after your daily preparations. This Spell must qualify for Strike Spell. Add the traits from the recalled spell to this spell's traits.
That seems pretty fair.
Load up a single polar ray, let it off the chain in the first fight, and reuse it in each fight thereafter.
Yeah I was thinking of two feats for that.
Spell Recall, as you mentionned before, more or less the same. One focus point to refill one spell slot used in that encounter.
And maybe a high level feat reaction to recharge focus in combat.
Something like "Critical Focus: When you land a critical SpellStrike (or the foe criticaly fails his saving throws against a spellstrike) you can spend your reaction to regain 1 Focus Point" once per 10 minutes maybe. It'd be useful to clear mooks faster (you can "afford" to spend 2 spell slots in the encounter) and could turn the tides during a difficult encounter.