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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 6771292" data-attributes="member: 996">Whether spells and/or cantrips are at-will or short-rest-recharge or daily, they're a dependable, renewable resource, that can be used systematically and thus unlikely to feel 'scarce.'&nbsp; In past editions, yes.&nbsp; Under 1e you memorized cantrips by cashing in a 1st-level slot and memorizing 4 cantrips.&nbsp; In 2e, Cantrip became a 1st-level spell that let you do many of the things 1e cantrips did 1/round for hours/level.&nbsp; For my campaign, I expanded on that with a 2nd and 4th level spell that let you cast increasingly useful cantrips (the 4th level spell in essence gave you a few 1/rnd at-will combat-useful effects all day, much like 5e cantrips).&nbsp; With 5e's neo-Vancian slots, it'd make a lot of sense to cash in a slot to gain use of cantrips.&nbsp; Maybe 1 cantrip per slot level?&nbsp; Cantrips are meant to be sub-optimal in 5e. (Except maybe for Warlocks, that is.)If you rarely have the recommended 6-8 encounters/day, your casters spell slots are going to seem even less like a 'scarce' resource.&nbsp; If I were going to try to run a genuinely low-magic game, I'd probably just make casting available only through Prestige Classes with fairly dire prerequisites, and with limitations far more severe than the relatively simple and dependable daily slot.Wouldn't worry about it.&nbsp; In a low-magic setting, where enemies are unlikely to have magic or be prepared to deal with it and magic items are even rarer than usual, casters already get a relative boost in power/importance because their spells are in greater demand, and make more significant impacts when used.It sounds like you're ultimately trying to revert to an earlier edition.&nbsp; Cantrips consuming 1st-level slots was an AD&amp;D thing, in 3.x/PF they have their own set of slots.&nbsp; And, in those prior eds, you didn't have saves every round against most spells.&nbsp; It wouldn't be hard to simply play an earlier ed, nor that difficult to port it's spellcasting systems into 5e wholesale.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 6771292, member: 996"] Whether spells and/or cantrips are at-will or short-rest-recharge or daily, they're a dependable, renewable resource, that can be used systematically and thus unlikely to feel 'scarce.' In past editions, yes. Under 1e you memorized cantrips by cashing in a 1st-level slot and memorizing 4 cantrips. In 2e, Cantrip became a 1st-level spell that let you do many of the things 1e cantrips did 1/round for hours/level. For my campaign, I expanded on that with a 2nd and 4th level spell that let you cast increasingly useful cantrips (the 4th level spell in essence gave you a few 1/rnd at-will combat-useful effects all day, much like 5e cantrips). With 5e's neo-Vancian slots, it'd make a lot of sense to cash in a slot to gain use of cantrips. Maybe 1 cantrip per slot level? Cantrips are meant to be sub-optimal in 5e. (Except maybe for Warlocks, that is.) If you rarely have the recommended 6-8 encounters/day, your casters spell slots are going to seem even less like a 'scarce' resource. If I were going to try to run a genuinely low-magic game, I'd probably just make casting available only through Prestige Classes with fairly dire prerequisites, and with limitations far more severe than the relatively simple and dependable daily slot. Wouldn't worry about it. In a low-magic setting, where enemies are unlikely to have magic or be prepared to deal with it and magic items are even rarer than usual, casters already get a relative boost in power/importance because their spells are in greater demand, and make more significant impacts when used. It sounds like you're ultimately trying to revert to an earlier edition. Cantrips consuming 1st-level slots was an AD&D thing, in 3.x/PF they have their own set of slots. And, in those prior eds, you didn't have saves every round against most spells. It wouldn't be hard to simply play an earlier ed, nor that difficult to port it's spellcasting systems into 5e wholesale. [/QUOTE]

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