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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DogBackward" data-source="post: 3618967" data-attributes="member: 50642">Right.Actually, Psionics does exactly that, based on Manifester Level. Each PP used is roughly worth one Manifester Level with the augmentations. And while they use Power Level to give the starting PP cost for a power, you'll notice the actual PP cost is the minimum Manifester level required to manifest that power.But using SP as Caster Level specifically gives more flexibility. A 9th level Wizard could prepare that Fireball at 9 CL, but that leaves him less room for other spells. If he prepares it at 5 CL instead, it'll do less damage, but leaves an extra 4 SP for a different spell. You can either go for a few of high-power spells, or a lot more low-power spells.Sorry, that was a typo, actually. That was supposed to be x1 1/2. Should have just said x150%; anyway, your Wizard example would have 21, not 11. What this means is that while your 10th level Wizard with 22 Int would have a total of 118 SP, he could only have 21 Caster Levels worth spells prepared as actual spells at any one time. This means he couldn't prepare 11 10th level Fireballs and just wipe out all opponents in a battle in one go.The effective caster level for each spell equals the amount of SP you used to prepare it. If you use 5 SP to prepare a Fireball, it's cast at CL 5. If you use 10 SP to prepare a Fireball, it's cast at CL 10.I was actually avoiding a lot of examples and such because I wasn't trying to present a finished system, just posting my basic idea. But, here goes.Let's use your 10th level Wizard with 22 Int. He has 118 Spell Points, but can only have 21 of them prepared as actual spells at any one time. So, let's say that it's morning, and he's settin out to roust some goblins. He sits down and takes a full minute to go into the trance required for him to be able to see the strands of mana that he'll weave into his spells. Each specific spell he prepares takes one full round per level of the spell. Let's say he prepares the following list;Fireball, Lvl 3, CL 7Lightning Bolt, Lvl 3, CL 5Scorching Ray, Lvl 2, CL 3Magic Missile, Lvl 1, CL 3Mage Armor, Lvl 1, CL 2Detect Secret Doors, Lvl 1, CL 1He spends a total of 11 rounds actually preparing the spells, 3 rounds each for the Fireball and Lightning Bolt, 2 rounds for the Scorching Ray, and 1 round each for the Magic MIssile, Mage Armor and Detect Secret Doors. He's taken a total of 2 minutes and 6 seconds to prepare his spells.Notice that the total of CL's equals 21, as well, and he has only 97 SP left for the day.Now, after he goes through the first few battles, he's out of spells. He's in the middle of the dungeon, so his three allies stand watch around him while he takes a minute to enter his trance and a few more rounds to prepare some more spells. If he prepares the total of 21 CL allowed again, he'll have 76 SP left for the day.No, you can't switch your spells out in mid-battle, but if that family of white dragons you were chasing down happens to be, in fact, red, you can prepare cold-based spells after this battle. While it's true this won't help you against the current dragon, it would be a big help to be able to remedy your error for the next one. Which is somethign the current system can't do.No. And this shouldn't really gimp the spellcasters (though I wouldn't be adverse to taht at later levels), since they'll still be able to do just as much in one day. But they won't be able to unleash arcane hell in one single battle. Meaning... hey! The other players will get a chance to mop up what the mages' spells didn't get. A wizard can no longer take an entire encounter out on his own with this system, which in my opinion is a very good thing. It doesn't gimp them, it keeps them from stealing the show every single battle.Also, note that the CL x150% +Primary bonus is only my first suggestion for the number. If you want your mages to be more powerful for each battle, make it a higher number. CL +Primary bonus x2 makes your 10th level Wizard have 32 available at once, instead of 21.</blockquote>

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