Thoughts on expanding half-casters to 6th level spells

[Coidzor]

I've been considering doing this for a while for Paladins so that there's slightly less reason to just go "lol, cleric," without banning Paladins or making them PrC only, and I figured if I were to do it for Pallys I might as well do it for Rangers too, since I see them as sister classes. There's a chance I might actually get to DM for a change this summer, so that's basically lit a fire under me about asking for references.

So, what I want to know in particular is if you all know of any good homebrew material to look at for inspiration in regards to expanding either class's spell list up to that level or even examples of how others have.

I'm also interested in any spell progressions to look at other than the Mystic Ranger and Bard spell progressions.
Right now I'm considering orisons at first level and then 1st level spells starting at 2nd, but after dealing with that with a bard as our only caster & healer in one game that started at 1st level I'm not so sure.

On the other hand, it seems like it might be easier to set up a pattern for the spell progression that starts at 2nd level and is regular to get where I want to go without having longer waits for certain spell levels.

On the other, other hand, part of me thinks I should just have them get their spell levels a level after full-casters get them and then just stop and only increase spells per day after they get all of the spell levels I've allocated them. So, 2nd level gives 1st level spells, 4th level gives 2nd, 6th gives 3rd, etc

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this matter.

Any spells in particular to consider avoiding or make sure I don't overlook would also be appreciated.

As far as books, well, the entire 3.X library, really, though starting with a focus on Core+SpC.

[Varil]

But...aside from 1st level spells, isn't that basically the same progression as a sorcerer? Yeah, not the same spell list, but still a little weird. Maybe give them 1st level spells at level 2, then every 3 levels thereafter? So 2nd at 5, 3rd at 8, 4th at 11, 5th at 14, and 6th at 17. That gives you a pretty smooth progression, and you even hit your max spell level at the same time as most standard casters.

Actually, don't Duskblades cap at 6th level spells? You could use them as reference, given that they're pretty much the melee spellcaster "done right".

[Coidzor]

I believe Duskblades get 5th level spells that aren't really worth mentioning.

Not sure about 6th level spells at 17th mostly because Bards and Adepts both get their last spellcasting level at 16th, and the way more melee focused classes generally want to be a bit more flexible about Prcing makes me feel like having more than 3 levels that don't have to advance spellcasting would be good.

[Ormur]

I think Ernir in his translation of Vancian spellcasting to psionic mechanics (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194002) is giving paladins and rangers 6th level spells, based on the Psychic Warrior progression.

Maybe you could get some pointers from the spells/powers he writes for those classes even though you don't have to use the point based casting system.

Edit: He hasn't made anything for the ranger yet though.