How fast should magical power return to a caster?

[fusangite]

I think this should be more different amongst different magical schools. It seems to me that it is a poor solution for divine magic to be contingent on power internal to the caster given what it is supposed to represent. Arcane magic makes a tad more sense (especially for sorcerors) to be based on power internal to the caster.

I think the Runequest magic point system is a good deal more elegant than the D&D system. In RQ, magic is stored in magic points which equal the character's Power attribute (the RQ equivalent of Wisdom); the character regenerates all his magic points every 24 hours but does so gradually. So a character with a POW of 12 regains a Magic Point every two hours.

In a campaign I currently run, the priest characters have to hit very high Prayer DCs to get God to produce magical effects for them but the only limit is that one cannot pray for the same thing twice in the same day.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I like the current method. I'd hate to see D&D switch to a genric mana point system.

 

[wayne62682]

I find the D&D magic system utterly revolting.. the idea that you can only cast a spell a certain number of times per day.. ugh.. I would prefer spell points given the context of D&D, but in a perfect world I would rather see a system like Shadowrun where there's no limit but the more powerful the spell the more taxing it is on you, while low level spells should be nothing for a competant Wizard.

 

[Lanefan]

As if spellcasters aren't already powerful enough, some of you want them to be able to recover spells between each *encounter*? Yikes! That said, I have no problem with them being able to *rearrange* spells between encounters (if they have time), but not recover.

I voted once per day, but it's not automatic; if the caster doesn't spend time studying or praying as appropriate, no new spells today.

Lanefan

 

[Onyx]

Perhaps I'm missing something

Perhaps I'm missing something, but cannot a wizard prepare spells after 8 hours of rest (which the phb says doesn't have to be sleeping, but must be doing nothing)?

I mean, you could have a huge fight at 9am, then rest til 5pm and the wizard could reprep his spells.

 

[Lanefan]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but cannot a wizard prepare spells after 8 hours of rest (which the phb says doesn't have to be sleeping, but must be doing nothing)?

I mean, you could have a huge fight at 9am, then rest til 5pm and the wizard could reprep his spells.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that's an editing burp; the "8 hours rest" is assumed to be your overnight sleep, though "overnight" *can* mean during daylight if circumstances demand it, and that there's one such sleep period per day.

Lanefan

 

[Someone]

In a perfect game, IMO, the spellcasters should not be limited, but spellcasting should be taxing, and big spells when you're tired should become dangerous to cast for the caster's health.

I'm sure there are already some systems that play it that way and I just don't know about them, though.

AR

You could try with Riddle of steel, in which you age if you´re reckless or plain unlucky.

I designed once, for a campaing where I didn´t intended to use the paradigm of 4 encounters per day, an alternative system where the casters traded number of spells per day (virtually unlimited) for casting time: it was very difficult or impossible to cast even a moderately powerful spell every round.

 

[Hjorimir]

Thematically speaking, I love the idea of an edgier/grittier magic system. But any system used also has to be both enjoyable and playable; a different mechanic would require elegance for me to consider using it.

 

[Ilium]

I use both the standard rules and a homebrewed gradual recovery system. The two different types of casters give a different flavor but seem to be balanced power-wise.

I think it would be cool to have a gradual recovery system where you can tweak the speed of recovery and the maximum power. So one caster might be able to cast less-powerful spells, but his power regenerates completely over the course of an hour, while another of the same level can cast bigger spells but full recovery takes, say, a week.

 

[Warbringer]

In a perfect game, IMO, the spellcasters should not be limited, but spellcasting should be taxing, and big spells when you're tired should become dangerous to cast for the caster's health.

I'm sure there are already some systems that play it that way and I just don't know about them, though.

AR

Simple addition to D+D

All spells require a spellcraft check of 15+(n*spell level), if failed the spell still goes off, but the caster makes a concentration check, same level. If failed, caster becomes fatigued. If caster asts while fatigued and fails both rolls, takes n*spell level hit points of damage.

"n" elegantly reflects how difficult spell casting is in your world,

When we used this we removed armor restrictions. Instead, DC increases by Armor bonus *3. skiping a component was allowed: material (5-10 depending on the cost); Somatic (+5), Verbal (+5).. Others, riding +5, rding in a storm +10..... etc (see concentration check modifiers)