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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteveC" data-source="post: 2460721" data-attributes="member: 9053">Cheiromancer is correct. In the most simple terms, your caster level is based on the number of tokens you spend like so: 1 token -->max CL2 2 tokens->max CL4 (min for lvl 2 spells)3 tokens->max CL6 (min for lvl 3 spells)4 tokens->max CL8 (min for lvl 4 spells)5 tokens->max CL10 (min for lvl 5 spells)6 tokens->max CL12 (min for lvl 6 spells)7 tokens->max CL14 (min for lvl 7 spells)8 tokens->max CL16 (min for lvl 8 spells)9 tokens->max CL18 (min for lvl 9 spells)10 tokens->max CL20 Of course you are always limited to a maximum caster level by your level as a wizard. What this means is: a 5th level wizard who cast magic missile would get 1 missile for 1 token, 2 missiles for 2 tokens and 3 missiles for 3 tokens. For the same three tokens, they could also cast fireball for 5d6 damage. This means that it is generally not a good deal to cast lower level spells with more token expense, which is an intended feature: higher level spells are better to use in this system than lower level ones. I have changed things so that save DCs increase by spending more tokens, so there is at least some incentive to do so. Hopefully that part makes some sense. I figured that not everyone would really like this system, but it was a compromise I made to keep things simpler. I guess I felt that the issue of casting a billion magic missiles was not as much fun as casting a handful of meteor swarms as a high level mage.<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" />  Yep, the change to metamagic was intended to be a power up on my part. I like metamagic, but I've never really had characters use it very much at all, because you get to both pay for the feat and pay each time you use it. I wanted to make wizards take lots of metamagic feats and use 'em. You're also correct that the basis for the increased cost for improving a spell's caster level comes from the psionics handbook. Actually it is a mix of that and the spell point system from Unearthed Arcana. The thing is, I like the idea of having wizards cast their more powerful spells as combat effects. I think it makes magic more interesting to play that way. If you don't use some kind of a mechanic like this, you see spells like magic missile being cast waaaay too often, even at high levels, because it's such a good spell. I agree with you on the 1+1 per level mechanic. I went a little different way here, because it allows me to have a mechanic where I can cast an unlimited number of level 0 spells. This gives a wizard something to do with their spells all the time. Now that I am able to look at how Iron Heroes handles tokens, I have some more food for thought on how to handle tokens and recovery. The effect of the token system that I was looking for was that wizards will run out of tokens and have to spend actions recharging them. That's one of the reasons they have a higher Hit Die, actually, since they will need to stay in a combat longer now. A lot of my reasoning for how many tokens a wizard has and how many they use comes from my assumptions on how long a combat will take. In my experience, a typical combat lasts maybe 5-6 rounds at lower levels, and actually takes less time at higher ones. The reason? Magic "nuke" effects really take control of the battlefield. A high level wizard in this system will be able to cast two or three full power spells. If they have their buff spells running like I normally see, they'll get off maybe two spells. This is okay with me too, since having waaaay too many buff spells running in high level combats is another thing I'm not too happy with. The result of this system in play has been that a high level wizard is able to open up with their usual combat opening spells for a round or two, but then comes another couple of rounds where they have to recharge, and the rest of the party gets to make a difference.  Hey now, my hat resents that! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Actually, the reasons for table 4's numbers are that if you spend a full round action, you get enough tokens back with a successful check to power up one more spell of your highest level. Spending less time gives you back a progressively smaller amount of tokens. --Steve</blockquote>

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