Quote Originally Posted by hamishspence View Post
In a sense, this system turns wizards almost into warlocks. Super-warlocks, no less.

What sort of adjustments would be made to existing over-abusable spells, to ensure that it wouldn't get out of hand?

And what might martial characters get?
Good reference to the warlock.

there are two dynamics to keep in mind; IN and OUT of combat.
Out of combat, the TIMING of things becomes less important, because the resources are essentially unlimited (unless you adhere firmly to material components.. *I* don't unless it's real expensive), someone with the spell, Dig and Move Earth CAN build an entire fortress. just figger out how long it takes and there ya go. (avatar: last air bender could easily be produced here)

It's INSIDE combat that answers the question, "what do martial characters get". A caster CANNOT cast top level immediate spells every round... many cannot cast the top TWO level immediate spells every round... a 20th level wizard has 82 points if NOTHING is being sustained. To cast an imm 8th level spell, 45 points get burned... leaving only 37 points left. He could cast an imm 6th level spell next round, but then would be down to only 4 points, and at most can recover 40 points next round for a standard action... which is only 44 points--
round 1 = 82 points... 8th imm
round 2 = 37 points... 6th imm
round 3 = 4 points.. standard recover
round 4 = 44 points... 6th imm
round 5 = 11 points... standard recover
round 6 = 51 points... 9th imm
round 7 = 0 ponts... Full round recovery
round 8 = 82 points... 9th imm
round 9 = 31 points... 5th imm
round 10 = 4 points... standard recovery
Over 10 rounds of combat, the all powerful mage-- with NO buffs whatsoever-- is popping off 2 9th, 1 8th, 2 6th, and a 5th level spells, and is totally vulnerable.
How about:
buffed with detect invisible(2), fly(5), greater invisible(7), stoneskin(7)
sustaining 21 points of personal buffs.
round 1 = 61 points... 9th imm
round 2 = 10 points... full round recovery
round 3 = 61 points... 9th imm
round 4 = 10 points... standard recovery
round 5 = 50 points... 8th imm
round 6 = 5 points... full round recovery
round 7 = 61 points... 7th imm
round 8 = 22 points... standard recovery (39, not 40 are recoverd)
round 9 = 61 points... 9th imm
round 10 = 10 points... standard recovery
round 1 - 3 showcases the "horror" of a 20th level mage in this system: spamming 9th level spells while moderately buffed. VS. 20th level adversaries, this probably isn't much protection, but it keeps the riff raff away. JUST enough buffing to allow for 9th boom spells.

so... what do martial characters get? a chance to be awesome! The wizard lays down hell about every other round, and is a target the next. If an enemy survived the first hit... that mage is gonna get killed, unless someone stops the enemy. A FULL round to recover... that mage is planted to his square, takes whatever the enemy can dish out that same round.. and then the NEXT round as well while actually recovering.
remember the typical escape routes...
Dim door costs 21 to cast
teleport costs 27 to cast
The unbuffed caster who wants this in their pocket is now limited to 61 points to use.. the buffed caster is at a crippling 40.... this system allows for flexibility, but the old assumptions are now gone... your cleric, if buffed well, may not have the ability to heal next round if he's already helping this round and needs to recover... the cleric may have to move back and standard recover while the hurt fighter literally RUNS to get behind the cleric so next round he can move forward again, get a readied heal, and be back in front of the advancing enemy to suck up more pain.

when you don't know if you will have spell support next round-- and your opponent knows there might not be any-- the ol' hack n slash feels very different.

<the below has been added>
Here's some more fun to consider: recovery mechanics.
1. the nice DM allows recovery to happen because it just does... you declare it, you get it.
2. recovery requires a concentration check = to DC 10+ however many points you are recovering... a 20th level caster CAN recover 82 points on a full round recovery... but will need to hit a concentration check of 92.
He can choose to recover less... if he can only expect to get a 30 on his check, then he will choose to recover only 20 points... even if his standard action recovery COULD allow up to 40... if he can't get a 50 on a check, he's out of luck.
3. standard action recovery requires a concentration check... the amount of points you get are equal to your result - 10 (minimum 1, maximum = standard recovery limit by level). If you roll a 37, you recover 27. If you take a full round recovery, you get back double your result.. if you roll a 37, you get back 74 points (up to the maximum available for your pool... if you are buffed, and only have 61 available, the extra 13 are wasted)
4. Recovery is automatic as per #1... but if you get damaged, you have to make a concentration check DC = 10+damage taken... failure means your attempt to recover is totally wasted. try again next round.
5. combine #2 or #3 with #4.. you determine how many points you'll get back... but if you take damage, you have to make additional concentration checks to not waste the round.

all but #1 makes the pool more like HP than a dependable battery... you are taking chances that you will be safe, or will roll well, or possibly both.
I have only playtested #1... if you want to knock your casters down a few pegs, then go with #2-#5. the blaster or SoD caster becomes a REAL gutsy adventurer with those variations. You can also mix and match... If using the ToB system similar to this, you could decide they get method #1, bards and lesser casters get method #3, and full casters get the #5-- #3/#4 option.
it would be up to you on how hellacious you want to make it.