MacBeth said:
swrushing said:
take mana-per-day
divide by 24
caster regains spent mana at that rate per hour, regardless of activity
think of the mage as a mana sponge, always collecting mana up to his limit from the surrounds, only soaking it up slowly.
You know, that may be the single most simple answer I've seen, and that makes it great. No need for added rolls or extra book keeping, for the most part.
I assume that the Arcanist would not be able to exceed his 'Mana Pool'? So after a certain amount of time, he just can't absorb any more?
You know, given an hour by hour regeneration with a cap, it might be interesting to add some rules for over 'soaking.' Something like, if an Arcanist reaches his max mana and doesn't start spending some of it, random magic effects may manifest around him... Magical runoff, so to speak.
I like this too. Wonderfully simple. It eliminates the biggest spellcaster "problem." However, I'd add ONE caveat.
When the arcanist is severely wounded (negative hit points) he can't absorb mana. His body just can't take the strain. Of course, you could also let the arcanist exceed his mana pool using the "Strain" mechanic. Personally, I think strain is cool, but I would make it temporary damage to Con only (that goes away with a night's sleep). So in theory, you can exceed your mana limit, but you start killing yourself. After a time, your mana recovers, but any con damage you inflicted is still there, and subtracts from your available mana pool. That sounds complicated, so let me give an example (for which I'll use a 5th-level arcanist, because his Mana limit is a nice even 24).
Brigit Flamedottir, a 5th-level arcanist invoker, has a Mana limit of 24. His spell masteries are invocation(4), abjuration (3), conjuration(2), and all others (1). In an encounter with a group of orcs, Brigit throws the following spells. In the first round, he casts an absorbing shield (DR 4) for 8 mana. This gives him DR 4 for the next 30 minutes (and lowers his mana total to 16). The following round, Morkoth casts a 3d6 ray of fire that affects two of the orcs. Total mana cost for this is 4+1+3 = 8 mana (The DC is 16). The fire obliterates both orcs. In the 3rd round, Brigit conjures a 5 HD animal (a bear?) to tackle another orc. Total cost for this is 3+2 = 5 mana, leaving Brigit with 3 mana after 3 rounds of combat. Finally, she throws a 4d6 fireball at the last orc - Total mana cost (1+1+4 = 6 mana). The DC is 15 (6 + 4 + 5). Brigit is now at -3 mana, and assuming she fails the saving throw (DC 18), she takes 3 points of temporary Con damage. Since she recovers 1 mana per hour, she won't be at positive mana until 4 hours pass. At that point, she'll be able to use her aspect of power abilities, but casting any spell will send her negative again. And the temporary Con damage will make the saving throw even harder to pass this time. And until she rests, she can't recover to more than 21 mana (which is a problem only if she doesn't get a good night's rest in the next 24 hours).
If Brigit hadn't needed to cast that final spell, she would have finished the battle with 3 mana. After an hour, she'd have been back to 4 mana. Not amazing, but enough for some minor spells.
Make sense? Actually, I think this is pretty balanced. The arcanist who overcasts is worthless for a few hours, and not up to full fighting trim unless he takes time off.
The only downside is the arcanist doesn't start every day utterly fresh. But I think that's okay (maybe even good). I'm gonna put this idea up on the
Iron Heroes boards (giving you due credit of course).