One of the problems I've seen with low-level casters is that they can run out of spells very easily. Of course, to some degree they're designed to follow a limited ammunition model, but the current rules seem a little too harsh. After all, didn't Complete Mage introduce reserve feats to keep arcanists from having to fall back on using their crossbows all the time? The only problem is that there aren't any reserve feats to help those who are most prone to running out of spells: 1st and 2nd level casters.
In this thread Goblyn proposed a magic system based on gaining and expending something like psionic focus. I wonder if, instead of basing an entire magic system of this, we could find a way to give casters a way to avoid running totally dry. Just as a starting point for discussion:
Mystic Focus is a use of the Concentration skill available only to those who can cast spells. A spellcaster can become focused in the same way a psionic character can (DC 20, standard action, etc.). The spellcaster may expend the Mystic Focus to generate exactly 1 of the following effects:
1) Take 15 on a Concentration check.
2) Generate a single level of spell energy, thus allowing the spellcaster to cast a 1st level spell even if she has no spell slots or prepared spells to use.
3) Generate a single level of spell energy, thus allowing the spellcaster to apply a single metamagic feat to a spell at a spell level 1 lower than usual (minimum adjustment +0). Yes, this is meant to allow the caster to tack on a single +1 level metamagic effect without preparing it as part of the spell. The only reason this is here is so that Mystic Focus remains at least a little useful after characters gain enough spells/day to not care much about effect 2.
The idea here is that a caster can continue to throw around 1st level spells indefinitely, but in order to do so they have to use a standard action (and provoke attacks of opportunity) and make the DC 20 concentration check before they can even start casting (a 1st level caster probably will probably have a bonus to Concentration checks between +5 and +12, so this isn't guaranteed, but neither is it terribly unlikely). At the level where the caster can make the check easily, she should have enough spells per day that she doesn't need to fall back on Mystic Focus all that much. The other part of the idea is that the character can't "bank" an unlimited number of spells to cast - at best, she can become focused between encounters, and again each round after she casts a spell.
In this thread Goblyn proposed a magic system based on gaining and expending something like psionic focus. I wonder if, instead of basing an entire magic system of this, we could find a way to give casters a way to avoid running totally dry. Just as a starting point for discussion:
Mystic Focus is a use of the Concentration skill available only to those who can cast spells. A spellcaster can become focused in the same way a psionic character can (DC 20, standard action, etc.). The spellcaster may expend the Mystic Focus to generate exactly 1 of the following effects:
1) Take 15 on a Concentration check.
2) Generate a single level of spell energy, thus allowing the spellcaster to cast a 1st level spell even if she has no spell slots or prepared spells to use.
3) Generate a single level of spell energy, thus allowing the spellcaster to apply a single metamagic feat to a spell at a spell level 1 lower than usual (minimum adjustment +0). Yes, this is meant to allow the caster to tack on a single +1 level metamagic effect without preparing it as part of the spell. The only reason this is here is so that Mystic Focus remains at least a little useful after characters gain enough spells/day to not care much about effect 2.
The idea here is that a caster can continue to throw around 1st level spells indefinitely, but in order to do so they have to use a standard action (and provoke attacks of opportunity) and make the DC 20 concentration check before they can even start casting (a 1st level caster probably will probably have a bonus to Concentration checks between +5 and +12, so this isn't guaranteed, but neither is it terribly unlikely). At the level where the caster can make the check easily, she should have enough spells per day that she doesn't need to fall back on Mystic Focus all that much. The other part of the idea is that the character can't "bank" an unlimited number of spells to cast - at best, she can become focused between encounters, and again each round after she casts a spell.
