Henry
Autoexreginated
True Sorcery is my FAVORITE FREAKIN' SPELL SYSTEM of all time. 
I enjoy the feel it gives casters -- it gives casters the feel of shapers of magic, not just super-heroes or gadgeteers who whipped out the right device to create a special effect. They alter the forces of magic to do their bidding, and the more "unnatural" the effect (the bigger, stronger, wider, etc.) the more taxing it is. Also, casters never run out of energy; using nonlethal damage to track it, if they rest but a few hours they have enough energy to start their spellshaping again. I definitely get visions of Raistlin from the Dragonlance novels, or similar, where magic is taxing, but powerful, and even more powerful when used in combination with capable warrior allies. You can blast them yourself, but it's just as effective and less taxing to incapacitate the enemy, and let the warriors coup de grace them.
Also, real wounds sap your strength and cut down on the amount of magic you can perform before passing out, making magic not only for the smart, or those who have forceful wills, but also for the strong of body, too.
I also love what they did with prestidigitation, and detect magic, and the resistance skill, too - a trained mage just naturally EXUDES magic, and is sensitive to it, all the time. Also, the fact that the skill system doesn't have auto-successes or failures on 1's and 20's means that as the mage increases in competence, there are some things he just automatically can do -- lesser magics that a level 1 mage would struggle with become child's play with the level 10 or 20 mage. A level 10 mage could whip up a stunning blow of force against an opponent as a swift action, and suck up the energy drain like it was a hop up a short stair. That same effect might wind a low level mage, and take a standard or even full action to do.
DOWNSIDE-- this system is NOT for the casual gamer. As noted, it does require a good bit of playing with addition and subtraction, and someone just looking to fling spells like a 4e wizard will not like this very much. For me, however, it strikes an ideal balance between finite resources and long-term stamina without the "15-minute day". It does, however, push casters to pace themselves and not fight too many combats in a period of just a few hours -- they will burn themselves to the point of unconsciousness if they do...
I enjoy the feel it gives casters -- it gives casters the feel of shapers of magic, not just super-heroes or gadgeteers who whipped out the right device to create a special effect. They alter the forces of magic to do their bidding, and the more "unnatural" the effect (the bigger, stronger, wider, etc.) the more taxing it is. Also, casters never run out of energy; using nonlethal damage to track it, if they rest but a few hours they have enough energy to start their spellshaping again. I definitely get visions of Raistlin from the Dragonlance novels, or similar, where magic is taxing, but powerful, and even more powerful when used in combination with capable warrior allies. You can blast them yourself, but it's just as effective and less taxing to incapacitate the enemy, and let the warriors coup de grace them.
Also, real wounds sap your strength and cut down on the amount of magic you can perform before passing out, making magic not only for the smart, or those who have forceful wills, but also for the strong of body, too.
I also love what they did with prestidigitation, and detect magic, and the resistance skill, too - a trained mage just naturally EXUDES magic, and is sensitive to it, all the time. Also, the fact that the skill system doesn't have auto-successes or failures on 1's and 20's means that as the mage increases in competence, there are some things he just automatically can do -- lesser magics that a level 1 mage would struggle with become child's play with the level 10 or 20 mage. A level 10 mage could whip up a stunning blow of force against an opponent as a swift action, and suck up the energy drain like it was a hop up a short stair. That same effect might wind a low level mage, and take a standard or even full action to do.
DOWNSIDE-- this system is NOT for the casual gamer. As noted, it does require a good bit of playing with addition and subtraction, and someone just looking to fling spells like a 4e wizard will not like this very much. For me, however, it strikes an ideal balance between finite resources and long-term stamina without the "15-minute day". It does, however, push casters to pace themselves and not fight too many combats in a period of just a few hours -- they will burn themselves to the point of unconsciousness if they do...
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