Spell Points [PEACH]

[Koury]

So, I was thinking about it, and I like the idea of Spell Points. Essentially Power Points for casters. And while I just thought of it, I'm not so silly as to think I'm the first. Are there any good systems out there for this type of thing? Especially one that keeps Wizards from being spontaneous?

My Rough-Sketch Idea
Casting a level one spell cost one point. A level two cost two points. Etc.

Sorcs get one point for a first level spell slot, two for a second, etc. This is essentially psionics, I guess. Their spells known is as normal.

Wizards get points via the same system (including specialists getting an adjusted amount more). They can choose an amount of spells per spell level at the beginning of the day equal to ([Int-10] - [Spell Levelx2]).

YES, this means that for even one 9th level spell you need 29 Int. I think thats fine, as really, you probably have that much well before level 17.

Specialist wizards must spend 1/4 of their total points on their chosen spell school. Focused specialists must spend 1/2.

Metamagic: A +4 meta is just that - +4. It costs 4 more points to cast. I'm thinking of some sort of Class level/2 limit on points spent per spell. That means you can add a +1 meta to a level 9 at 20.

So, thoughts? Obvious issues? Not-so-obvious issues? Something I wrote unclear?

EDIT: Made a table for Sorcs...

{table=header]Level | Base Spell Points
1 |
3
2 |
4
3 |
5
4 |
12
5 |
14
6 |
25
7 |
30
8 |
45
9 |
52
10 |
71
11 |
80
12 |
103
13 |
114
14 |
141
15 |
154
16 |
185
17 |
200
18 |
235
19 |
252
20 |
270[/table]

[Koury]

Hmm... 270/9=30. Thats a lot of level 9 spells per day. And thats not including bonus points. Maybe spells cost 2/spell level? Thats still 15...

Does making it 3/spell level screw the lower levels too much? Thats only one level one spell at 1st.

I'm thinking Cantrips will be at-wills, by the way.

I'd appreciate feedback and opinions on this.

EDIT: Of course, thats base numbers. If I use the Bonus Power Point Chart (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/index.htm#tableAbilityModifiersandBonusPowerPoints ) then a Sorc with 18 Cha can cast one first level spell at level one, two at level 2, 3 at level 3 (using the spell levelx3 cost). Grr, that seems too low, even with at will level 0s (not exactly a huge boon in and of itself).

Using the spell levelx2 gives just about perfect numbers (18 Cha Sorc would be 2 1sts at level one, 4 at 2 and 5 at 3.) But ends with 18 level 9s at 20. Of course, not every spell cast will be a 9, but the potential remains.

[Cataphract]

The unofficial but most common approach to spell points is the Unearthed Arcana variant, available freely here:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/spellPoints.htm

There's also a thread I started (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140363) that touches on the subject but it's not the sole focus.

[Roderick_BR]

YES, this means that for even one 9th level spell you need 29 Int. I think thats fine, as really, you probably have that much well before level 17.

Not likely. If you start with only, say, a 15 in int? Even an non-optmized player will dump his bonus into int, for a total of 20, at 20th level. If he's VERY luck, or have a generous DM, he can find, or craft a +6 Int item, for 26. Then he would have to find a way to boost Int even more, and then again, not everyone does that, or manages to when trying. So, it only allow heavy optmizers with very lucky rolls, or nice DMs to play the higher level stuff.

[Temotei]

Not likely. If you start with only, say, a 15 in int? Even an non-optmized player will dump his bonus into int, for a total of 20, at 20th level. If he's VERY luck, or have a generous DM, he can find, or craft a +6 Int item, for 26. Then he would have to find a way to boost Int even more, and then again, not everyone does that, or manages to when trying. So, it only allow heavy optmizers with very lucky rolls, or nice DMs to play the higher level stuff.

Agreed. While it keeps wizards and sorcerers from getting really, really nice stuff, ability scores should never keep someone from their class features.

When making a system, assume players start with the elite array (15 highest).

[Tinydwarfman]

Have you seen Dragoon Wraith's Mana system? He does it very well by making cost increase exponentially.