D&D 5E Spell Point Variant in Play

[Pvt. Winslow]

In a sense, this already exists : it's the warlock casting mechanic.

Well, the warlock mechanic always reminded me a lot of 4E's AEDU power structure, or in this case just the A (At-Will) for cantrips, and the E (Encounters) for their actual spell slots. Depending on how you have short rests (I go with 10min personally), then Warlocks play the most like a 4E class out of any of the current 5E classes.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

It feels like "you may cast an divination of any level with a 1st/2nd level slot" is better than the normal slot degradation.

Any level 1st through 5th. Casting Foresight still uses up your 9th level slot, of which you only have one.

Still, it's a nice little boost to someone who values tactical intel via Arcane Eye/etc.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Any level 1st through 5th. Casting Foresight still uses up your 9th level slot, of which you only have one.

The slot you trade for is 5th at most. You still get to trade for spells above that, although you are still limited in how many of those shots you get.

 

[airwalkrr]

1) Spell points are difficult to manage when PCs battle NPC casters. You have to find the right balance between giving them just enough to challenge the PCs without giving them enough to wipe the PCs by casting at their highest potential every single round.

2) You have to find a way to manage PC spellcasters who are capable of dumping their entire spell point pool on a single encounter to make it trivial without making them so paranoid they refuse to give up more than a small fraction of their spell point pool in one encounter.

3) You have to be willing to convert a LOT of stuff on the fly. Monsters and NPCs with spellcasting are common foes.

4) Figuring out how magic items like wands and potions fit into your world might be more difficult than you imagine.

I thought 3e and 3.5 psionics found a nice balance to this, but it still had its issues. Mainly that it seems difficult to find a way for players to balance their expenditure of power points properly. It was also a major issue in tournament/organized play where the "3 encounter work-day" was a common occurrence; in these cases it was simply overpowered at mid to high levels because players did not have to mind their spell point pools very much.

I have tried using spell points in my home campaigns, and always found it troublesome for one reason or another. In each case my players and I eventually unanimously concluded it was better to go back to Vancian casting. There is some particular quality about the way D&D is designed (4e being an exception) that makes spell points difficult. Perhaps it was just my lack of DM skill or imagination. Perhaps not.

 

[MoutonRustique]

Well, the warlock mechanic always reminded me a lot of 4E's AEDU power structure, or in this case just the A (At-Will) for cantrips, and the E (Encounters) for their actual spell slots. Depending on how you have short rests (I go with 10min personally), then Warlocks play the most like a 4E class out of any of the current 5E classes.

You probably get that from the "encounter emphasis" created by the recharge condition for the spells.

Open-ended encounter power selection was the purview of only one mechanic in 4e : channel divinity. So it's not really about the actually functioning mechanics in this case - it's more a question of feel-through-association.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not trying to say that you're feeling is wrong, I'm trying to say that there is very little "objective" truth to the warlock being "4e-like" other than, possibly, in presentation. I had the exact same impressions on first reading the class.

My original meaning was:
- you were talking about a system of "spell points" with a limited selection of spells which would be cast at ever-increasing efficiency
- this efficiency would be gained either through more powerful spells or through the "ramp-up" mechanic already in place
- the spell points would not be used to make the spells more powerful
- there would be a hard limit set very low on the amount of points that could be spent per limit
- this is exactly how the warlock functions :
-- -- it has a small selection of spells
-- -- those spells increase in power
-- -- they have a single pool for all castings ("spell points")
-- -- one cannot use more spell points to make the spells more powerful: the increase of power is built-in
-- -- one can only use one spell point per casting

I feel like this post isn't as clear as I'd want it... but I don't really have the time to polish it so... you'll have to bear with it.

 

[Pvt. Winslow]

1) Spell points are difficult to manage when PCs battle NPC casters. You have to find the right balance between giving them just enough to challenge the PCs without giving them enough to wipe the PCs by casting at their highest potential every single round.

I think that this is the same advice you would use, even if sticking with the standard spell slot system. Most foes don't seem to last more than 4-5 rounds on average, and as DM, even using spell points, if you feel that too many casts of the NPC's 4th-5th level spells will unbalance the encounter, you can just make sure to not abuse it. Personally, I find a lot of the monsters in the MM seem to punch below their CR already, so having a bit more oomph with the spellcasting foes might actually be a bit more of a challenge at my table. Only time will tell.