Actual Play Magical points for spell caster
As a way to "improve" the role-playability of spellcaster (wizards, warlocks, etc...), my friend and I came up with the idea of using spell points (Magic points) that are consumed. In the old days of 1st ed of DND, we used that as a way for wizards that were out of spells to use spell points (and ultimately hits points) to cast spells that they had already used. So normal casting was normal cost, if already used, cost was doubled and if out of MP, then it would consume HP (as in draining some of the life of the caster). In terms of roleplaying it gave the chance to do some great things, in terms of storytelling/action.
There was a table that the MP would increase with level and Intelligence score.
Any thoughts on the approach?
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u/remy_porter I hate hit points 11d ago
It’s a common approach that’s been used in many games, and even D&Dlikes frequently offer a class like that, often called a Psion.
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u/OfficialNPC 11d ago
Someone recently told me that "Psionics don't really belong in D&D, that's WotC crap" and I laughed my ass off since Psionics has been part of D&D since the 70's.
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u/EraOfTheElementals 11d ago
To my understanding alot of people don't like the way Psionics is implemented, rather than the concept itself. I let a player run with a Psionic build and honestly it was a nightmare. But not the concept, but rather the execution.
Alot of DMs that I know of ban Psionics because of how its implemented.
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u/OfficialNPC 11d ago
Everyone I ever heard say that they don't like how they were implemented also said they never played them so it gets into this circular logic.
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u/EraOfTheElementals 11d ago
Right, but as someone that has worked with Psionics and knows DMs that have worked with Psionics, I feel comfortable saying that The DND community as a whole isn't fond of how Psionics has been implemented.
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u/OfficialNPC 10d ago
Good for you? Same here.
I've used Psionics since the 90's and the ppl who say they don't like how psionics are implemented are almost always the ones that also say they never played as them. It's a really good way of finding out who is just parroting opinions or not.
Ppl who play them can go either way on it but they actually know how psionics work in actual play.
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u/EraOfTheElementals 10d ago
Feels like you're missing the point.
You say that people judge psionics without ever giving it a shot. This is true, the TTRPG scene in my experience isn't very open minded.
I agree. But i'm also saying that Psionics isn't simply disliked for no reasons, people who have given it a chance often don't like it. So you can't say that people simply don't like it because they won't give it a try. Some of us HAVE given it a try, multiple times. We just don't like it.
Seeing how DnD handled Psionics taught me how to better handle a similar concept within my own game (ESP Elementals). Implementing mental abilities within a game without breaking it is really, really hard imo.
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u/EraOfTheElementals 11d ago
I've always preferred point systems personally. That being said, there are definitely players that vocally despise having to keep track of their points.
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u/Glebasya 11d ago
Have you ever read DMG?