Would it be disruptive to allow everyone spontaneous spells?

[blackshirt5]

Well Dawnforge doesn't have Clerics and Druids, so it isn't a problem; I'll just give it to every caster class and modify as necessary.

 

[LordAO]

OK, here's a problem I've got in my games. I dislike the prepared spells. I like being able to spontaneously cast, or alternately, having them prepare spells and then have "spells per day" where they cast from the spells they've prepared that day(and not forget the prepared spells; i.e., if they've got Fireball and Lightning Bolt prepared as their level 3 spells, they could cast Fireball once and Lightning Bolt once, or Fireball twice, or Lightning Bolt twice), similar to Arcana Unearthed.

Do you think that it would be unbalanced to allow all casters to work like this? I know it would eliminate the Sorcerer class, which wouldn't bother me much, but I'd like to get other opinions on this before I implement it in my next D&D campaign.

We have actually beend oing that very thing in our game. It is very fun. Perhaps a little too fun. We are most likely going to go back to using the traditional magic system. Doing spontaneous casting for everyone has made spellcasters far, far too powerful in our game.

Look at it this way. Just having the ability to cast spells at all is a huge advantage over those who can't. Magic is incerdibly versatile and powerful. A single spell can easily exceed the power of a feat, ability or skill. A rogue could spend an infinite number of points in Hide and not be as effective as a single Invisibility spell. A Fighter can get Whirlwind Attack and Cleave, and yet can't even approach the ability to clean up the house in one round like Fireball and Cone of Cold do. And spellcasters get quite a few of these joyous wonders.

Without balancing facotrs, like preparation, spellcasters can quickly rule the game. Of course, this is all just in my opinion. But it is an experienced one.

 

[Vigilance]

My recent book, Excalibur, uses a spell point system, and all spellcasting is spontaneous.

So far in my playtesting it has worked out great, however, let me point out the following things included in the system to balance out the spellcasters:

Many of the direct "artillery" offensive spells have been eliminated.

Spellcasters can in general cast fewer spells per day.

However, they can regain some spell points with just a few hours rest, as spell points are more like psionic strength points. Still, they are casting fewer spells.

It has been our experience that this spellcasting system is very flavorful, and allows spellcasters to be important and versatile, rather than just powerhouses, and it has been a big success.

Chuck

 

[isoChron]

We play a system where every caster can cast spells spontaneously. Sorcerer isn't of any use anymore, so we dropped it.
We use spellpoints which depend on the casterlevel and ability bonus.
It works roughly similar to the psionics tables but the costs for higher spells are not linear.
0.Level: 1/2 Point
1.Level: 1 Point
2.Level: 2 Points
3.Level: 4 Points
4.Level: 7 Points
5.Level: 10 Points
6.Level: 14 Points
7.Level: 19 Points
8.Level: 24 Points
9.Level: 30 Points

Spell point regeneration after nights rest is dependend on level. Nearly 100% at low levels, 70% around mid levels and max.50% at high levels. So you can blast many spells per day but if you are low on spell points you have to wait 2 to 3 days to be at full power again.

Metamagic feats are used as in 3.0/3.5. Standard action->full round action. But quickened spell is really quickened (1 free spell for +4 level per round).

We dropped all cure xyz wounds instead we have a cure wounds spell at first level. With this spell you can cure 1d4+1/casterlevel (9.level cleric 9W4+9).
The costs for this spell raises 1/2 point for every additional dice above 1.
We have a similar system for damage dice spells like fireball.

We are now at level 16 and haven't encountered problems with this sort of casting.

Only Problem with an unmodified spell points system is that you can cast a lot of cure light wounds instead of more expensive cure serious wounds.
The great benefit is that spells that you need very rarely are now cast more often. There is more interesting spell casting instead of the standard spells memorized because they are the most useful in every situation.
You need a minor creation ? Cast it at once instead of waiting 'till next morning. Adventures run more smoothly and DM's don't have any problem with it yet.

BYE

 

[Varianor Abroad]

I also really like the way AU does things...

There are some big potential problems with making all spellcasting spontaneous.

One, you make prep casters much more powerful. Not just wizards, but clerics, too!

Two, sorcerers are significantly weaker. This might not bug you too much, but you also make bards significantly weaker. Both classes rely on their freedom to cast as part of their 'power.'....

I'm looking into converting my D&D 3.25 PBMB game to use spontaneous casting a la Arcana Unearthed. (Naturally.) The one area where AU limits powers of the casters and D&D doesn't is in the simple vs. complex spells. Everyone uses the same list, but only magisters get automatic access to all complex spells, which includes most of the powerful ones that don't require a feat just to use.

So the way I'm thinking of approaching this for D&D is to have a "basic" list of those spells common for all classes, and then class specific lists for each caster. This gets slightly painful to figure out because it's a lot of work, but it's an interesting exercise. Basically, the cleric has "divine" spells instead of complex, the druid has "nature" spells, the ranger has certain nature spells by descriptor, and the paladin has certain divine spells. I'll retain any spells unique to a class to add some flavor to it. A few spells will probably be eliminated. Some spells (such as Miracle) will probably become Exotic spells just to limit them. (If that doesn't work for your game, that's cool, just leave them on the list where they are.)

Again, one of the real issues comes down to bards. They need something to boost them up because their flexibility in casting is one of their only assets. (I've played one several times in 3.0.) The first thing is to expand the list of bard only spells, the "musical" list. I'm thinking of adding materials from other supplements to do this. Giving them more options when other PCs don't get them gives them more "value." The second thing that I'm thinking of doing for bards is to really boost their "spells readied." In Arcana Unearthed, you get about more spells readied than spells per day that you can cast, but not a lot more. So I'm thinking of giving bards a lot of spells readied.

 

[jasper]

In my 1 and 2 Ed games I allowed off the cuff casting. If it was on your spell list and you a had the power left cast it. If I was going to do this is third ed, eliminate the sorcerer and wizard is now able to free cast along with divine casters.
I had no problem in first ed doing this in fact the spell casting got a little more variety instead the standard fireball/lightning bolt.

 

[Liolel]

Perhaps a feat that can be taken multiple times and each time would allow you to choose a spell from each level you can or will be able to cast and when you can cast spells of that level you can spontaneously cast that spell like a cleric casts cure spells. This would add some flexibility but would still wouldn't out-shadow socercors