D&D 5E Spell Point Variant in Play

Pvt. Winslow

Explorer

• Feb 3, 2015

• #1

Greetings fellow forumites!

I profess to be the kind of player (and DM) who fell in love with spell points long ago when first reading them, but has never gotten to play or DM in a campaign that used them extensively. I have gotten the chance to play 3.5E D&D Psionics, and power points fill the same niche for my taste (plus, augmentation is awesome, and I see the same style in 5E with casting spells in higher slots, which is really cool). I've always felt that a pool of power that a spellcaster taps into in order to power their spells works much better thematically than the standard Vancian style. Now, I'm not looking to get into a debate of Vancian vs. other methods, I'm just hoping to get some anecdotal stories from other gamers on what does and doesn't work with Spell Points.

I've been considering using them in the next campaign I DM, and I'm hoping to be aware of any pitfalls before I do. Has anyone had the chance to test out the optional Spell Point system on pages 288-289 of the DMG? At a glance they seem like they're what I'm looking for, but I could be missing something. Does anyone have stories of pre-5E games that used Spell Points? I'm really curious what people's experiences have been.

Thanks in advance.

 

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keterys

First Post

• Feb 3, 2015

• #2

In my experience, spell point systems lead inexorably to 5-minute work days, because you can exhaust all of your points _very rapidly_ by using all top level spells, and have little incentive not to do so.

It's possible 5E dodges some of that (many spells scale horribly so it's not worth increasing them), but I don't believe that's the case.

 

Pvt. Winslow

Explorer

• Feb 3, 2015

• #3

Okay, yeah I can definitely see that. Have you had any games you played in where that was the case? I know should a caster choose to do so, they can expend almost all of their points on nothing but their highest slots, which does ramp up their power quite a bit, but I always hoped that there would still be lower level spells they needed to cast each day, like Mage Armor, Shield, Invisibility, etc, that would take a few points away from them.

 

Ravenheart87

Explorer

• Feb 4, 2015

• #4

I think 5e dodges some of that, because even with Spell Points, you can use very high level spells only once a day.

 

Pvt. Winslow

Explorer

• Feb 4, 2015

• #5

Ravenheart87 said:

I think 5e dodges some of that, because even with Spell Points, you can use very high level spells only once a day.

Click to expand...

You can only use 6th to 9th level spells once a day. It doesn't prevent casting nothing but 5th level spells, which I assume would be the biggest issue.

 

keterys

First Post

• Feb 4, 2015

• #6

Between the wonky scaling and the limits on 6th - 9th, I suspect 5E spell points will work better than any of the other spell point systems I've run across. Unfortunately I'm not sure how much that means, and I don't have direct experience with 5e's version due to shying away from them after seeing other spell point systems flop.

 

Bolares

Hero

• Feb 4, 2015

• #7

Haven't played with them yet, but thinking on giving SP a chance
in my next Eberron Campaign, I advise you to do it to if you're
curious about them. And if they are bad just adapt your group to
the slots again.

 

Pvt. Winslow

Explorer

• Feb 4, 2015

• #8

I'm guessing they aren't exactly a hot topic at this point. Possible that 5E is still too new for many groups to have tested out the variants yet. We're probably all still busy playing in regular campaigns and enjoying the new rules. I think I am going to give the system a try and see how it works. I'll come back to report on any issues that come up and how my players take to it.

If you do decide to go with it for your Eberron campaign, Bolares, I'd be interested in your thoughts. Maybe consider stopping by to drop some knowledge, as it were, if you get any insights.

 

F

FormerlyHemlock

Hero

• Feb 4, 2015

• #9

I use spell points from the DMG. I like the simplicity and the feel. My wizard player loves to nova, yes; my bard/cleric player hardly ever cats anything at all.

I'm happy with the rules. I expect you will be too if you're the kind of guy who ever liked spell points in the first place.

 

W

wyrdone

First Post

• Feb 5, 2015

• #10

keterys said:

In my experience, spell point systems lead inexorably to 5-minute work days, because you can exhaust all of your points _very rapidly_ by using all top level spells, and have little incentive not to do so.

Click to expand...

This seems like kind of a self-correcting problem.

Say player A blows through all of their spell points in battle #1. Then the next 3-5 battles all he can do it use his cantrips. He'll do very little damage and have no variety on his actions. That's not much fun for him, so the next day he tries to space out his point usage. That's what I'd do anyway.

I think your characters would quickly learn that blowing all of their points in one battle is kind of fun for that one encounter, but the rest of the day quickly becomes a drag.