Spells & Magic

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The Spell Point System

Normally, wizards, priests, and other spellcasters are limited to a strict spell progression table which lists how many spells of each level they may retain in memory at one time. For example, every 7th-level mage shares the same spell capacity of four 1st-, three 2nd, two 3rd-, and one 4th level spell, although specialist wizards (or priests with exceptional wisdom scores) gain a slight advantage in this area because of their bonus spells. When a spell is cast, it vanishes from the caster's memory, and he cannot make use of it again until he has had a chance to rest and study his spell books once again.

Spell points work a little differently. Characters no longer recieve a standard spell progression table. Instead, they are assigned a number of spell points based on their character class and level. When the character studies his spell books or prays for spells, he uses these spell points to purchase the spells he wishes to memorize, with some reasonable restrictions. Naturally, higher-level spells are more expensive than lower-level spells, but high-level characters have more spell points available. Under the spell point system, a 7th-level mage may decide to memorize five 1st-level spells instead of the four he is normally allowed, and one additional 3rd-level spell, at the cost of one fourth-level spell. Or, he could choose to memorize four 4th-level spells, giving up all of his lower-level spells, or strike any balance between the two extremes that he likes.

Specialist wizards recieve the normal amount of spell points allowed to a mage of the same level, but also gain an amount of bonus points. (Note: Callers do not gain any bonus points... the special ability of callers lies in their access to call spells.) These bonus points must be used to select spells from the specialist wizard's school of specialization, but the specialist can spend them as he sees fit. For instance, a 7th-level invoker normally recieves one 1st-, one 2nd-, one 3rd-, and one 4th-level spell as a bonus for his specialization, but with spell points he could choose two 4th- and one 1st-level spell, which would give him more powerful spells.

There are three general guidelines the wizard must still obey when memorizing spells by using spell points:

• The wizard must be well-rested and have access to his spell books in order to memorize spells. He still may memorize only those spells that he knows and has available at that time. It takes about 10 minutes per spell level to commit a spell to memory.
• The wizard is limited in the maximum spell level he may cast, based on his character level (and possibly his intelligence score). For example, a 5th-level wizard is still limited to spells of 3rd-level or lower. (See Table I: Wizard Spell Point Progression.)
• The wizard is limited in the maximum number of spells of each level that he can memorize, regardless of how many spell points he has available; for example, a 5th-level mage can't memorize more than four spells of any given spell level. Even first-level spells are difficult to memorize, and even a 20th-level specialist can only memorize 9 first-level spells, even if he does have over 1000 spell points available. See Table I.

Selecting Spells

A wizard uses his spell points to choose his arsenal of spells when he takes the time to rest and study his spell books. Most wizards pre-select their spells; if a wizard can memorize two second-level spells, he picks two specific 2nd-level spells from his spellbook (say, invisibility and wizard lock) and stores them in his mind. This is referred to as a Fixed magick; once chosen, these spells cannot be changed until the wizard casts them and then studies his spellbooks again.

With the system I am allowing in my Final Fantasy campaign, wizards are allowed to memorize free magicks. A free magick is one which the wizard does not place a specific spell into. By keeping the magick open, the wizard can use it to cast any spell of the appropriate level that he has in his spell books. For example, a 3rd-level specialist wizard might spend his spell points to acquire one fixed 2nd-level magick within his specialization, (invisibility, for instance), and one free 2nd-level magick (see Table II: Spell Cost by Level(Wizard) for spell costs). With the free magick, the wizard can cast any 2nd-level spell in his book when he needs it. If the wizard found himself in a situation where he needed to probe someone's thoughts, he could use ESP; if he needed to aid a friend involved in a fight, he could use strength; or, if he needed to distract some pursuers, he could use improved phantasmal force. As long as the spell is known to the wizard and is recordedin his spell books, it's available through a free magic.

Obviously this is a huge advantage for a wizard. Instead of guessing about which of his spells may be useful in a particular adventure, the wizard may have all of his spells of that level accessible. However, free magicks are less efficient in terms of spell points than fixed magics are. Once a free magick has been used to cast a spell, it is wiped from the wizard's memory, just like a fixed magick.

Table I: Wizard Spell Point Progression

Table II: Spell cost by level(Wizard)

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