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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest 7034872" data-source="post: 8537794">Hi all,I do get the idea of having to memorize a limited number of spells for each day's casting, but I agree with the nay-sayers here that it still makes the caster too powerful for the game to stay fun.Many years ago, I played a game system called "Rollmaster" (or something like that...) by Iron Crown Entertainment, and they had a mana pool system for the spellcasters. So I played this weird thing called a "Sorcerer" (those didn't exist in D&D yet--it was the 80s) and I immediately discovered that these guys were absurdly powerful. Having that pool of points to draw from freely just made my guy way, way too strong (IMO).Fast forward to two years ago: a few years ago I played a D&D spellcaster who used what effectively were mana points and it quickly became obvious to everyone my character was overpowered. It was a playtest class WotC had in Unearthed Arcana called the "Mystic" (an awesome idea that just never worked out). I know, I know--there were dozens of things that made that class badly overpowered. Absolutely. But the mana points system was one of those things.When I created the character, I figured he would be a very versatile sort of Swiss army knife and a great tracker; boy, was I wrong. He was way beyond "versatile." Even just at first level he was some preposterous sort of rampaging, game-breaking killbot. By the time I hit fifth level, he was slaughtering whole parties of frost giants like they were baby kobolds and calmly strolling away with a toothpick in his mouth.I'm not speaking about im/plausibility for the backstory account of how magic works: just game mechanics. Having a pool of "psi points" with no restrictions on how my guy used them just made him way too flexible as a caster. After two sessions I seriously thought about having him commit suicide by kamikaze against some much-too-big foe just to get rid of him and roll up a new character. I figured if I wanted a pool of mana points, I could play a Monk. Ultimately, we decided against that and went through the whole campaign with him, but I resolved never again to play a spellcaster with a pool of points who can just do anything s/he wants with them. Given the way the game system is built, I think it's important casters have serious restrictions on their day-to-day spellcasting options.So in terms of a consistent account of how magic works in one's imaginary world, I think mana points make much, much more sense than spell slots, but for game mechanics I just can't see it.</blockquote>

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