Falling Icicle
Adventurer
The new playtest packet is, to be blunt, a disaster for wizards (and clerics). They seem to be having alot of trouble figuring out how to keep vancian casting while avoiding the problems it has caused in the past. I beleive I have the solution, and it's actually quite simple: keep spell slots and preparation, but also have spell points! For example, a 3rd level wizard might have 3 1st level spell slots and 1 2nd level slot, and have 5 spell points (just tossing out numbers for the sake of example). This would mean that the wizard can prepare 3 1st level spells and 1 2nd level spell, but can cast any combination of those spells that totals 5 points.
There are several benefits to using this approach:
* It retains what is, IMO, the best feature of Vancian casting: the strategic element of choosing spells while simultaneously getting rid of its biggest flaws. You still choose whether or not to prepare fireball today, but you don't have to guess how many fireballs you will need today.
* By keeping the number of spells that a caster can prepare and the number of spells a caster can cast each day separate, it allows spellcasters to have greater flexibility without necessarily giving them greater power. The daily spell slots in past D&D editions add up to a staggering number of spells each day, to the point that high level casters rarely, if ever, run out of spells. The new playtest packet tried to address this problem by greatly reducing the number of spell slots, but that also reduces a caster's daily preparation choices to such a low number that it's almost pointless to even have preparation at all. You don't have much room for strategic or flavorful choices when you can only prepare 2 spells of a given level out of dozens. By keeping the two resources separate, you can leave a wizard's versatility intact while still reducing how many spells he can cast each day.
* It works better with scaling spells. For example, instead of having to worry about preparing magic missile in a higher level spell slot, the spell could simply shoot one missile for each spell point spent casting it.
* Metamagics work much better with spell points. Want to cast a Silent Spell? Just add +1 to the spell's spell point cost. Easy, and sorcerers don't get to be vastly better at metamagics than wizards, since wizards wouldn't need to prepare metamagics in advance.
* It makes sorcerers more balanced with and easier to use alongside wizards. Sorcerers would just have a set of spells known that they can't change on a daily basis. They could get more spell points or other perks (like cool origin powers) as compensation (of course, not having to pay for or have the liability of a spellbook is a nice benefit in and of itself).
* Other game elements can be designed to interact with spell points much easier than daily spells. You could have magic weapons that drain spell points from those they strike, potions that restore spell points, abilities that let a caster donate spell points to another character, and so on. You see very few mechanics like this in past editions because spell slots are so clunky and hard to work with. You did see a few, like energy drain in 3.x causing a character to lose their highest level spell slot, but that is a very clunky and inelegant mechanic compared to what can be done with spell points.
There are several benefits to using this approach:
* It retains what is, IMO, the best feature of Vancian casting: the strategic element of choosing spells while simultaneously getting rid of its biggest flaws. You still choose whether or not to prepare fireball today, but you don't have to guess how many fireballs you will need today.
* By keeping the number of spells that a caster can prepare and the number of spells a caster can cast each day separate, it allows spellcasters to have greater flexibility without necessarily giving them greater power. The daily spell slots in past D&D editions add up to a staggering number of spells each day, to the point that high level casters rarely, if ever, run out of spells. The new playtest packet tried to address this problem by greatly reducing the number of spell slots, but that also reduces a caster's daily preparation choices to such a low number that it's almost pointless to even have preparation at all. You don't have much room for strategic or flavorful choices when you can only prepare 2 spells of a given level out of dozens. By keeping the two resources separate, you can leave a wizard's versatility intact while still reducing how many spells he can cast each day.
* It works better with scaling spells. For example, instead of having to worry about preparing magic missile in a higher level spell slot, the spell could simply shoot one missile for each spell point spent casting it.
* Metamagics work much better with spell points. Want to cast a Silent Spell? Just add +1 to the spell's spell point cost. Easy, and sorcerers don't get to be vastly better at metamagics than wizards, since wizards wouldn't need to prepare metamagics in advance.
* It makes sorcerers more balanced with and easier to use alongside wizards. Sorcerers would just have a set of spells known that they can't change on a daily basis. They could get more spell points or other perks (like cool origin powers) as compensation (of course, not having to pay for or have the liability of a spellbook is a nice benefit in and of itself).
* Other game elements can be designed to interact with spell points much easier than daily spells. You could have magic weapons that drain spell points from those they strike, potions that restore spell points, abilities that let a caster donate spell points to another character, and so on. You see very few mechanics like this in past editions because spell slots are so clunky and hard to work with. You did see a few, like energy drain in 3.x causing a character to lose their highest level spell slot, but that is a very clunky and inelegant mechanic compared to what can be done with spell points.
