I was reading about the variant option of using Spell Points in the DMG (p. 288 I think...). I am thinking about suggesting it to our table and am curious if anyone here is using (or used and abandoned) the idea of spell points or their own version? If so, how did it work for your table?
I like the idea and don't mind the added complexity, but I do have some balance concerns:
At 20th-level with 133 points a character could have 19 5th-level slots, which seems really powerful.
As early as at 9th-level, a character could have 8 5th-level slots (with a point left over).
Even with Eldritch Invocations, the two 5th-level slots a warlock gets at the same level seem very underpowered by comparison.
So, is anyone using spell points? What issues (if any) have you come across?
Going from bottom to top:
I've been allowed to use a variant on spell points for a couple characters in some games I've run. While it wasn't overpowered in the particular game I ended up using them in, they do make spellcasters simultaneously more versatile and more predictable.
Assuming the recommended number of short rests per long rest, the apparent inbalance between warlocks and spell point variant using classes becomes not worth mentioning (well, only as worth mentioning as warlock spell slots are compared to normal spellcaster spell slots).
Regarding 20th level casters, the 133 points is technically (unless you don't want to cast any 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th level spells for some reason) more like 90 points, which would be 12 5th-level spells with enough change left over for a 4th-level spell. Which is definitely more powerful than the 3 5th level slots you get normally, but also comes with the fact you lose a 6th and 7th level spell, as under the spell point variant, you can only cast 1 spell of level 6th and higher per long rest (whereas you eventually get 2 6th and 7th level spell slots normally).
I like spell points, but how the points and costs were determined didn't sit well with me (they're not hard to understand, but are more complex than they need to be, personally) or another DM I play with (who implemented something similar for a character in his campaign), so we both changed how they work. As the character I had made at the time that could drain or recharge magic items, I adjusted the spell point costs so that they equaled the spell's level (I.E. a 1st Level spell costs 1 point, a 4th Level spell costs 4 points, a 9th Level spell costs 9 points, etc.). For magic items that had charges that worked based off spell level (like the staff of the woodlands), one spell point equaled one charge; for items that worked differently (like the helm of teleportation), a charge equaled the spell point cost of the spell the item let you cast (in the helm's case, 7 points for the 7th level spell Teleport).
With that and the spell slot progression chart in mind, I had came up with a new spell points by level chart, as follows:
Spell Points per Long Rest, by Level
- 2 Spell Points
- 3 Spell Points
- 8 Spell Points
- 10 Spell Points
- 16 Spell Points
- 19 Spell Points
- 23 Spell Points
- 27 Spell Points
- 36 Spell Points
- 41 Spell Points
- 47 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 6 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 47 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 6 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 54 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 13 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 54 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 13 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 62 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 21 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 62 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 21 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 71 Spell Points (41 if you decide to exclude the 30 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 76 Spell Points (46 if you decide to exclude the 30 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 82 Spell Points (46 if you decide to exclude the 36 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
- 89 Spell Points (46 if you decide to exclude the 43 points you get from the limited number of 6th or higher level spells you get to cast per long rest)
This is admittedly just as convoluted with regards to determining how many spell points you have at a given level, but is a whole lot easier to deal with spell point costs (Used a 5th level spell? Subtract 5 points from your total.) and changing other features to match (Arcane/Natural Recovery? Regain a number of spell points equal to half your wizard/druid level (rounding up). Flexible Casting? Convert Spell Points to Sorcery Points 1 for 1.)
I also, using the same logic, did a chart for Warlocks, as follows:
Spell Points per Short Rest, by Level
- 1 Spell Points
- 2 Spell Points
- 4 Spell Points
- 4 Spell Points
- 6 Spell Points
- 6 Spell Points
- 8 Spell Points
- 8 Spell Points
- 10 Spell Points
- 10 Spell Points
- 15 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level spell per long rest)
- 15 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level spell per long rest)
- 15 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level and 1 7th level spell per long rest)
- 15 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level and 1 7th level spell per long rest)
- 15 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level, 1 7th level, and 1 8th level spell per long rest)
- 15 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level, 1 7th level, and 1 8th level spell per long rest)
- 20 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level, 1 7th level, 1 8th level, and 1 9th level spell per long rest)
- 20 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level, 1 7th level, 1 8th level, and 1 9th level spell per long rest)
- 20 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level, 1 7th level, 1 8th level, and 1 9th level spell per long rest)
- 20 Spell Points (Mystic Arcanum gives you 1 6th level, 1 7th level, 1 8th level, and 1 9th level spell per long rest; Eldritch Master lets you, once per long rest, spend a minute to recover your expended Spell Points)
If I ever decide to run a campaign of my own, I'd definitely offer the option to use spell points.