Another Spell Points system

[Kobold-Bard]

Yes it's another Spell Points thread. I'd appreciate any comments/criticism you'd like to post.

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1. Spell Costs

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Spells cost the same number of Spell Points (SP) as an equivalent level Psionic Power costs in Power Points.
{table]Spell Level|SP Cost
1|1
2|3
3|5
4|7
5|9
6|11
7|13
8|15
9|17[/table]

2. Cantrips/Orisons

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Cantrips/Orisons can be cast without SP cost a number of times/day = Primary Spellcasting Mod. Those Classes that use two different Stats for Spellcasting use the Stat that determines their bonus Spells/day.

3. Amount of SP

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- The amount of SP the Base Classes from the SRD are below. Other classes use the closest fit at DM's decision, or I may make up some for the more unusual classes.

{table]Level|Bard|Cleric, Druid, Wizard|Paladin, Ranger|Sorcerer
1st|0|2|0|3
2nd|0|4|0|5
3rd|1|7|0|8
4th|5|11|0|14
5th|6|16|0|19
6th|9|24|1|29
7th|14|33|1|37
8th|17|44|1|51
9th|22|56|1|63
10th|29|72|4|81
11th|34|88|4|97
12th|41|104|9|115
13th|50|120|9|131
14th|57|136|10|149
15th|67|152|17|165
16th|81|168|20|183
17th|95|184|25|199
18th|113|200|26|217
19th|133|216|41|233
20th|144|232|48|249[/table]

Cleric Domain SP:
{table]Class Level|Base SP
1|1
2|1
3|3
4|3
5|7
6|7
7|12
8|12
9|19
10|19
11|27
12|27
13|37
14|37
15|48
16|48
17|61
18|61
19|61
20|61[/table]

- Bonus Spells are converted into SP in the same way, but these totals remain seperate.
Score|Bonus Spell Points (by Maximum Spell Level)
{table]0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
12-13 |—|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1|1
14-15|—|1|4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4
16-17|—|1|4|9|9|9|9|9|9|9
18-19 |—|1|4|9|16|16|16|16|16|16
20-21|—|2|5|10|17|26|26|26|26|26
22-23 |—|2|8|13|20|29 |40|40|40|40
24-25 |—|2|8|18|25|34 |45|58|58|58
26-27 |—|2|8|18|32|41 |52|65|80|80
28-29 |—|3|9|19|33|51 |62|75|90|107
30-31 |—|3|12|22|36|54|76|89|104|121
32-33 |—|3|12|24|38|56|78|104|119|136
34-35 |—|3|12|27|48|66|88|114|144|161
36-37 |—|4|13|28|49|76|98|124|154|188
38-39 |—|4|16|31|52|77|110|136|166|200
40-41 |—|4|16|36|57|84|117|156|186|220
42-43 |—|4|16|36|64|91|124|163|208|242
44-45 |—|5|17|37|65|101|134|173|218|269
46-47 |—|5|20|40|68|104|148|187|232|283
48-49 |—|5|20|45|73|109|153|205|250|301
50-51 |—|5|20|45|80|116|160|212|272|323[/table]

- Base SP acquired from different classes form a single pool in the same way that PP do for Psionic classes. Bonus SP for having a high ability score however may only be used to cast Spells from the class that they come from.

eg. a Wizard 3/Archivist 3/Mystic Theurge 7 pools the base SP he gains from his 10 effective Wizard levels and 10 effective Archivist levels, but the bonus SP he gains for a high Int score in both classes are kept as two separate pools, even though they use the same modifier.

Optional:
In an effort to support transparency SP and PP may also be pooled and made indistinguishable so they can be used to both manifest powers and cast spells. If done so Bonus PP for having a high Ability score would also be kept separate, as bonus SP are.

4. Metamagic

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Metamagic Feats cost 2SP/level that they increase (eg. Reach Spell costs 4 additional SP as it is normally a +2 Spell Level Metamagic effect). You still can't use Metamagic to increase the level of a spell beyond a Spell Level that you can normally cast (so a Level 8 Sorcerer still can't cast a Quickened Magic Missile under normal circumstances).

Optional:
5. Alternate Prepared Casters

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- Prepared Casters work similarly to the Erudite (Comp Psi) under this system. They receive 1 unique Spell/day at level 1 and an additional one at each level (for a total of 20 unique Spells/day at Level 20). This increase from the Erudite's 11 is because powers are generally more flexible than Spells.

- Wizards can cast any Spell they have in their spellbook as a unique Spell/day, locking it in for the day. Other Arcane Casters follow whatever restrictions apply for spell choices. Divine Casters choose their spells at will, locking them in once used.

- Note: Spells like Mage's Lucubration or the Retain option of Mnemonic Enhancer return the SP expended on the chosen Spell to your Base SP pool, though you may only use that particular portion of SP to cast the same Spell as you originally spent it on.
The prepare option of Mnemonic Enhancer allows you bonus temporary SP that may be used as normal SP can.

- Classes that may spontaneously convert Spells may cast any spell they can spontaneously cast, as long as they have a spell of the appropriate level already locked in. These spells cost the usual SP amount, but do not count as another unique Spell/day used.

eg. A C/E Cleric may Spontaneously cast Inflict Serious Wounds as many times as his SP will allow as long as he has at least one 3rd Level Cleric Spell locked in for that day (such as Animate Dead).

- Cleric's gain 1 Domain unique Spell/day /spell level they can cast, these slots can only be filled with one of their Domain Spells of the appropriate Level (meaning they can still only cast 1 of their 2 Domain spells/level each day, as normal). They also gain Domain SP as shown on the table below, this SP can only be used to cast Domain Spells, and is kept separate from all other SP.

- Note: Necessary components are not affected by these rules.

- Spontaneous Casters are still limited to their usual amount of Spells Known, though they will inherently have a higher base SP pool because of their greater Spells/day.

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So what do you think?

Should I change the amount of SP classes get?
Should Erudite style casters get less unique Spells/day?
General comments/criticism/suggestions/remarks/etc. welcome and desired.


Thanks in advance,

K-B

[Kobold-Bard]

<Reserved just in case I think of anything>

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Your plan looks almost - but not quite - identical to the Unearthed Arcana spell points system.
Why not just use that system, as it is widely available via the SRD websites, and add your feat to that?

[Kobold-Bard]

Your plan looks almost - but not quite - identical to the Unearthed Arcana spell points system.
Why not just use that system, as it is widely available via the SRD websites, and add your feat to that?

It's actually a lot more similar than I thought, I'm not sure why I didn't notice that.

That's actually really annoying, though thanks. Sorry for wasting forum space.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

It's actually a lot more similar than I thought, I'm not sure why I didn't notice that.
...

It's very common for people to engineer solutions to the same problem independently, and to arrive at almost exactly similar solutions.
Just goes to show, your reasoning must be sound!

[lesser_minion]

I remember coming up with the approximation that a caster should have somewhere between 0.75 and 1.00 'juice' per caster level, where one juice = one vaguely level-appropriate spell slot.

That actually suggests that spell slots should follow the formula:

Spell Points = 0.50*(1 + CL2)

Which corresponds to about the minimum number of level-appropriate spell slots a character seems intended to have, each worth a number of points equal to CL * 0.75

[Defiant]

Why do sorcerers have barely higher spell points than wizards? Given a wizard's versatility, I would expect more spell points for a sorcerer to make up for it.