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Message: <blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 6337645" data-attributes="member: 9789">One subtle thing to keep in mind is that currently we don't know how long fights last, typically, in 5.0, but it's almost certainly going to be fewer rounds on average than 4.0.  Probably closer to the 3.5 model.  So "spamming" low-level spells isn't too horribly big of a concern, because if you blow your ~6 actions in a combat casting first level slotted spells, you probably didn't make much of an impact (on average).  In other words:  lots of low-level casting at high levels isn't really that big of a deal.In fact, given that cantrips scale with level and spells cast using first level slots do not, a high-level cantrip will likely be a better round-by-round choice (on average) than a first-level spell cast with a first level slot.  (11th level Fire Bolt will do +6 average damage than a 1st-slot Magic Missle, for example.)Casting more current-max-level spells is a more tricky problem, although it does cut both ways.  If you allow spell points in nearly any fashion, it's almost certainly going to be easier for a caster to "nova" - i.e. blow a huge number of resources in a very short period of time.  Casting ~6 fifth spell-slot leveled spells during a single combat at level 10 is going to have a much bigger impact that being limited to only 2.  (Cone of Cold is 8d8, save for half, for example.)  However, it's going to absolutely burn your resources.  Using the "basic" chart I made earlier, that leaves you with the ability to cast 2 more fifth spell-slot leveled spells, one first level spell slotted spell, and nothing else for the rest of your time between long rests.  That's quite a chunk gone.  However, then it comes down to how generous your GM makes the ability rest an option, and we're back to the 3.5 problem of a 5 minute workday.It's tricky, but there's probably a few good ideas out there not yet explored.  Making spells cost more than their level is something I've toyed with a lot, but I can't find a simple solution that really impacts anything (other than just reducing total number of spells).  For example, you could just say that each spell costs 1+level to cast, but use the same "basic" chart for points.  That cuts down the number of spells overall you can cast by quite a bit, but it helps keeps the most powerful spells very resource-expensive.  Unfortunately it doesn't do much to stop novas, as you could still cast 6 fifth level spell slotted spells in one battle using my earlier example.There could instead be a more direct oversight required; for example you could say that casters can only cast X number of their most powerful spells per encounter, or maybe they can't spend more than X number of points overall in an encounter.  Certainly something like "you can't spend more than half your maximum MP in a given encounter" is a simple and straightforward rule to remember.  It's a lot more bookkeeping, but it does limit that caster in my earlier example to 4 fifth level spells and nothing else in one battle.  (Unfortunately that doesn't seem very balanced for levels 1 and 2.)Off topic:  whether or not one thinks an MP system is necessary isn't really relevant to creating one.</blockquote>

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