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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RFisher" data-source="post: 2041677" data-attributes="member: 3608">The "slots" system is really just a complex points system. You have multiple point totals instead of just a single point total, & (in some cases) the prep/memormize requirement. (My group used to play clerics & mages 3e-sorceror-style in some OAD&D campaigns.)The slots system has some advantages in that you can give fairly easy but still limited access to some pretty powerful spells. The prep requirement enchances this. (Do you want to memorize the really powerful but potentially not applicable spell or a less powerful spell that may be more generally useful.)The thing that I really like about D&D magic is that it is reliable. Professional wizards shouldn't have to worry about spell failure or backfires unless they are doing something really unusual.I like to include Vance's idea that magic is a lost science. Wizards learn to cast the spells that were created in antiquity, but maybe none really have the understanding to create new spells. When a wizard does manage to create a new spell, it was probably just blind luck in modifying spells he already knew.I like having a system for creating spells. Like Hero or the Codex Mysterium. On the other hand, D&D's approach of letting the spell designer do almost anything & then just trying to figure out what level it should be has its advantages too.Free form magic, like Ars Magica or GURPS Magic's runes is lots of fun, if you like free form systems. Free form doesn't work for everyone, though.I tend to like magic systems that take lots of time to cast spells, although this tends to limit its usefulness in the dungeon.I like the idea of not letting PCs be magicians, so then magic in the game can serve much the same role it does in literature. Or the idea someone had for Fudge of making PCs spend Fudge points (a mechanic for giving the player a bit of narrative control) to make almost anything happen "by magic".& then there's the UMana system for GURPS. Brilliant, but not suited for every campaign.</blockquote>

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