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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 5771229" data-attributes="member: 92511">It seems, a good amount of argument against "Vancian" magic is the restrictive nature of the spell tables at lower levels (I'm talking pre-3e here)...being "one and done" for the day is cited over and over as bad/wrong/fun.To alleviate this in my own campaigns, for years and years, I allowed mage characters to apply bonus spells per day using their Int. scores, as Clerics were allowed bonus spells for high Wisdom.Between this and the introduction of "cantrips"/0 lvl spells, which I did (and do) not require to be memorized (cantrips being the basic "tricks" first learned/known by all mages) but could be cast as circumstances warranted as long as the mage had it in their spellbook, 1st-4th level mage PCs could have a number of options to use creatively through the day. Everyone was happy and no complaints were heard.When spontaneous casting came in vogue and people complained about not being able to be sorcerers (I understood but did not like the distinction when they were introduced), I added/adjusted the arcane system such that a mage could/can spontaneously cast spells that they have in their book (i.e. have had/cast/studied for a long time) 2 levels lower than their highest spell level.So a 5th level mage (highest spell level 3) could spontaneously cast cantrips and their 1st level spells...at 7th level (gaining 4th lvl spells) they could spontaneously cast cantrips, 1st and 2nd level spells, etc...(insofar as what they are permitted per day and have in their spellbooks).Best of both worlds...keeps the Vancian fluff (which I personally do not and never did have a problem with. Mages pouring over their spellbooks in study is an integral element to the archetype as far as I'm concerned.) but allows some spontaneous casting and increased number of spells per day. Everyone's happy. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> ...and fluff-ily makes sense to me...that as you increase in power, the spells you've had/studied for years don't need to be constantly re-memorized...they become second nature/old hat.--SD</blockquote>

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