Use per day Staffs instead of charges?

[icedrake]

Instead of having spells be able to cast a certain number of times per day, I've liked the idea that a staff has a fixed pool of charges that returns after the caster rests for 8 hours.

Say you had a staff that can cast at caster lvl 10, fireball, scorching ray and burning hands. The lvl 1 and 2 spell each cost one charge from a pool of 10 while fireball cost 2. At the cost of another charce, you can empower the given spell.

I don't know how I could create a system to fabricate a staff with these kinds of abiliites, but I've always liked the idea. It gives a lot of flexaibility while at the same time it limits the player by preventing him from casting all the spells 3 times per day. He must instead choose how he spends his charges in a given day more wisely.

 

[coyote6]

I'd prefer much "charges per day", rather than each spell having its own "x times/day" limit.

 

[Psion]

I like charges.

From a GM standpoint, I worry much less about giving out charged resources, because I know that if they use it enough that it will impact the game, it will eventually go away. This lets me feel freer to swap in new items now and then.

That said, I like the wizard staff rules in Quint Wizard that makes them a ubiquitous tool that draws on the wizard's power.