Sorry for not listing my full house rules for spellcasting earlier. Didn't have enough time
Well, I posted the house rules for my campaigns on an earlier thread, but here goes...oh, and disclaimer: these rules are very unorthodox, and well, not everyone will like them.
The concept of spell slots is thrown out the window. We are lazy, and don't like to keep track of that stuff. That, and really, we felt that it makes more sense for a magic-user casting spells to get mentally/spiritually exhausted, rather than running out of set slots. "Oh no I don't have any more 1st lv spells today, but I'm dandy to cast some 7th lv spells!" does not make much sense to us. In other words, a mage that casts some big spells will be just as exhausted as a mage that casted a bunch of weaker spells. So, instead, we use a spell point system, akin to videogame RPGs, if you will.
1) Every spellcasting class casts spontaneously.
2) Each class gains a certain amount of spell points per level, based on class and their casting-stat modifyer. Wizards and sorcerors are blended as one class. We will call it the Mage to keep things simple.
Bard: Cha mod.
Cleric: Wis mod. + 1 domain spell per spell level, (domain spells remain by slot since they are already pre-set.)
Ranger/Paladin: Wis mod. minus 1, minimum 1 spell point per level.
Mage: Cha or Int mod. +2 (player's choice)
These spell points are used solely for spells per day, except in the case of mages and bards.
3) Spell points accumulate as levels go up. A mage with a +6 total modifyer gains 6 spell points per level. Each spell point equals one level of a spell cast. In other words, with 6 spell points, you can cast 6 1st lv spells, 3 2nd lv spells, or 2 3rd level spells,and so on. That same mage at lv 2 would have 12 spell points, 18 spell points at 3rd, and so on.
4) Cantrips/orisons are automatically known (except for those in opposition schools, see rule #6), and cost no spell points to cast. Cantrips may not be cast, however, if all spellpoints are used for the day, in which case all magical/spiritual energies have been exhausted for the day. Cure minor wounds is banned
5) Bards and mages learn spells through spell points. Spell points are allotted in the same manner when learning. So, a bard that gains 4 spell points per level starts out knowing 4 1st lv spells. Once he/she gains the ability to cast 2nd lv spells, he/she may learn 2 2nd lv spells that level, or 1 2nd lv spell and 2 1st lv spells. Upon reaching 3rd lv spells, that bard could learn 1 3rd lv spell and 1 1st lv spell, using his/her 4 spell points. Upon gaining a new level, if a caster hasn't sufficient spellpoints to learn a spell from their highest spell level, their spellpoints for learning spells is raised to that spell level. For instance, a caster with 4 spell points/lv gains access to 6th lv spells. That caster's spell points (for the purposes of learning new spells ONLY) for this level is raised to 6, so that the caster may learn 1 6th lv spell, or 1 5th lv and 1 1st lv spell, and so on.
6) All casters, divine and arcane, must specialize, similar to how wizards do. All benefits of specializing are granted to the caster's main school, with the exception of extra spells per day. Depending on the magic level of the campaign, greater or lesser degrees of specialization can be required. Low-magic campaigns will require casters to forego all schools unadjacent to the caster's specialty school (eh can't remember whether or not the spell school chart and how they are aligned are in the 3E books, but you will need it for these restrictions), mid level magic campaigns may require all opposition schools to be given up, and high magic campaigns will only require the school's direct opposition school (and maybe one other adjacent to the opposition school) to be forsaken. This places a check on the enhanced flexibility of all casting classes, and makes casters more diverse. Domain spells are exempt from the specialization penalties, and thus may be cast whether or not the domain spell is in an opposition school.
7) All metamagic feats that raise the spell slot of a spell, instead raise the spell point cost accordingly. In addition, the feat cannot be used unless the caster can cast the spell at the raised spell level normally. Thus, you cannot maxmize a 3rd lv spell unless you can cast 6th lv spells (since by normal rules it would take up a 6th lv slot), and that maxmized spell will cost 6 spell points. All spells that are enhanced by metamagic feats follow the same rules sorcerors and bards use to cast metamagic-feat enhanced spells.
8) Spell components without a large gp cost are unnecessary, but DM's discretion always applies. The magic-level of the campaign may change this rule. Low magic campaigns may require spell components, no matter how mundane.
I might have forgotten something, but I think that is it. Also there may be a few things which may be exploitable, but we have never had any problems using this system, and it has sped things up for us during our campaigns. It isn't perfect, but it works =p If you need anything that needs clarification, just lemme know.
