Recharge magic variant

[Paragon Kobold]

I have been using the recharge magic system from Unearthed Arcana,
in order to make low-level spellcasters a bit more interesting to play.

This system seems to work very well, and prevents the old problem of
spellcasters (particularly wizards) wanting to go home halfway trough a
dungeon, having used up all their spells. However, I worry that as they
gain access to higher level spells this system will make the spellcasters
insanely powerful, as my experience with high level DnD is that magic
becomes very dominating anyway.

My idea for a solution for this is to tweak the system so that when
casting a 'general' spell the die roll is the time before you can cast
_any_ spell, not just a spell of the same level. I think that compared
with the standard DnD magic system this will make low level spellcasters
more powerful , while high level casters will be less formidable,
reversing the usual trend.

 

[Li Shenron]

I haven't used Recharge Magic but I definitely want to try it. My idea is to have the PC travel to a location - during the course of a long adventure - where how magic works has been scrambled, and the more the get closer to the area, the more magic gradually moves to the variant rule (don't know yet how).

The main benefit of the variant should be to avoid the D&D stereotypical situation when after 3-4 encounters the party needs to retreat and "go to sleep".

However you point out a very important problem, because at higher levels the amount of spells/day is high enough that the party usually retreats when low of HPs and not when low of spells, although the cleric is probably indeed out of spells at this time...

I don't know if that tweak of yours would help very much, because it seriously hampers spellcasters during battle, it means that after casting they have to stay "idle" for many rounds, which is not fun. Actually, I am not sure either if the variant's idea of waiting before casting a spell of same level is a good idea, but at least it gives something to do every round.

Consider also the option of just enlarging the recharge times, and/or making the best spells not recharge at all.

In any case, let us know how it goes on...

 

[Kabol]

We are playing with spell refresh system now, we are .. Mid lvl i guess you woudl say (11ish) And i have to say as a cleric, this really puts the life back into it for me. It lets me focus more on Combat then on being a Medic.

Plus, it allows you to basically be close to full strength for most fights, allowing you to keep trudging on though the adventure rather then haviong to sleep after every big/moderate combat.

 

[Paragon Kobold]

The 'not resting in the middle of the adventure' bit is the reason why
I love the recharge system. A few game sessions ago the village my
group was supposed to save was annihilated by cloud giants while
the group was sleeping...

Increasing the recharge time might work, but I worry that this would
hurt low-level spellcasters the most, and life is already hard for
1. level wizards...

In your group Kabol; the wizard should be able to cast a fairly
effective spell every round of every combat: How is this working out?
Is the wizard the most important part of the fight, acting as a one
man artillery division? Even his mid level spells will probably be doing
more damage per round than the 11. level fighter.

In my system the spellcasters would need to find something else to
do while recharging. Possibly they could use magical items, take up
archery, direct summoned monsters, (practice juggling, yell advice to
the other characters, do some embroidery on their robes... I see the
problem.) I will allow them to spend an Action Point to recharge
instantly, for those big important showdowns.

 

[poilbrun]

Doesn't this variant rule increase the speed at which you level?

With the current system, a party of level X is supposed to use up 25% of their resource on a fight against a creature of CR X. If that encounter is the first one of the day, when the party is fully rested, this encounter is normally defeated without too much problem by the party. With this system, every encounter could be like that, except for classes with abilities that can be used only a limited number of times per day (paladin - smite evil, barbarian - rage, druid - wildshape,...). Furthermore, to truly challenge a party, you could no longer use "depleting encounter" like a BBEG's minions, but you'd have to throw a higher CR challenge in front of the party, which would once again lead to more XP.

Any input on this from those who already play with this variant? Also, doesn't having to remember when you can start casting a given spell again increase bookkeeping?

 

[Li Shenron]

Increasing the recharge time might work, but I worry that this would
hurt low-level spellcasters the most, and life is already hard for
1. level wizards...

I meant to increase the recharge time of specific spells only, NOT to increase the time between different spells of the same level.

Or if you want, you can try this "variant to the variant" : apply the "general recharge time" between casting of the SAME spell instead of between casting of spells of the same level.
This makes the caster more powerful, but it helps a lot low-level casters which have few spells of only 2-3 levels, and gives a point to prepare the same spell more than once (which is otherwise completely pointless in the UA variant).

So for example, your 1st level Wizard prepares 3 spells/day (Mage Armor, Magic Missile and Burning Hands); she casts Magic Missile and rolls how many round she must wait until casting the same spell again - if the MM's specific recharge time is longer, that's how long she'll have to wait.
Normally, that first recharge roll applies to ALL 1st-level spells, but with this modified variant she can immediately cast Burning Hands in the next round.