So, there is always this problem with non-linear progression in d20 games between spellcasters and everyone else. At low-levels, spellcasters can essentially be PWNed by any non-spellcasting class pretty easily. However, at high levels spellcasters can snap their fingers and wish warriors away in the blink of an eye, no competition.

In addition, there is the fact that casters no longer charge up their more spells like in traditional stories. The strategy of spellcasting in combat is lost.

So I had this idea to make immediate battle more difficult for higher level spellcasters, but allowing them to keep all their cool powers:

Casting Focus
Casting spells requires casting focus. Focus is a numerical increment that determines how focused a caster is on their magic. A caster begins every encounter with an amount of focus equal to their casting modifier. A caster can accumulate up to a maximum amount of focus equal to their casting modifier + the highest spell level that they can cast. A caster can gain 1 focus by merely concentrating their magical energies as a swift, move or standard action. This provokes no attacks of opportunity. If a caster is reduced to 0 focus, all their currently ongoing spells immediately end. This does not apply to the spell that they just cast if casting a spell is what reduced them to 0, nor does it apply to permanent spells or magical item effects.

• Casting a spell costs an amount of focus equal to the spell level.
• Focus automatically drops by 1 at the end of every turn that you do not cast at least one spell or expend a standard action to gather focus.
• Metamagic increases the focus cost required to cast a spell.

Multiclass spellcasters combine their two casting focus pools together and take the average between the two to determine their starting focus. Their maximum focus is dependent on which ability and spell level is highest.

The attack spells help low-level casters compete with other classes. The casting focus really doesn't hurt a caster's ability to be awesome and powerful, but it does make it more difficult for them to spam spells and concentrate on spells meaning that even at high levels warriors and rogues can take them down. It also brings a little more party tactics to the scene where the warriors have to protect the spellcasters long enough for the spellcasters to unleash some almighty magic and if the tanks don't do their jobs then neither can the spellcasters. It encourages teamwork at the same time.

So, do I have any feedback on this idea?

In reply to Arkrim (msg # 1):

When I hear talk about the non-linear progression between magic-users and others, I habitually bring up that the progression originally dealt with the dichotomy between what is Heroic on the battlefield (army), and what is heroic in combined forces small unit dungeon crawling.
What I like about this is that as battlefield time would be larger units this still should work on both fronts.

Agreed. A spellcaster can still cast high level spells but they need to to gather their resources. So they need their rogues, bards and rangers to scout ahead and get a lay of the land and the barbarians, fighters and paladins to protect them while they gather their ungodly powerful spells together.

This was just a thought to make spellcasters more co-dependent with their allies in both dungeons and battlefield scenarios (as well as social encounters where they can't just snap their fingers and teleport across the world without a round or two to gather the focus).

How do spell completion and spell activation items get affected by or affect Casting Focus.

Also, you might consider limiting, by level, access to some of the Casting Focus actions.

Perhaps limit 1st level mages to the standard action (this might be too limiting, but I present it as a starting idea)

Then allow them access to the Move action at 3rd level.  Perhaps the swift action at 5th level.  Then you might start allowing them a to have access to a standard action at 7th that grants 2 casting focus for that action.  Perhaps extending to move and swift actions at 11th and 15th level.  Then perhaps give a 3 casting focus recovery standard action to a 20th level mage?

Some other things to consider.  How does the affect classes such as magus which are supposed to scatter their spells in the midst of their combat?

Also, how do you deal with someone saying they spent their time preparing before their battle, so they should be at the top of their magical focus?  [first example that comes to mind... after being at the top of their focus for x minutes, they are considered fatigued, after much longer they can become exhausted, etc.]

In reply to LoreGuard (msg # 4):

Spell Completion/Activation: Same time needed to cast the spell is needed to use item. You use your own casting focus.

Focus Actions: I don't see why, they still have a cap on the amount of focus they have anyway.

Magus: The magus usually only uses 1st and 2nd level spells for combat anyway. As their spells grow in level, they move towards utility anyway except for a sparse few. Honestly, I love the concept but I don't like the way that particular class is built in the first place so if this nerfs that class I couldn't care less. Plus, if they sacrifice a swift every round to gather focus, they can build up to their higher level spells WHILE fighting just like the full mages do (just not as quickly since they don't have their standard or move to waste).

Prepared Casting Focus: It doesn't matter what they say they did. You always start with the same amount before the start of battle based on your casting modifier. I even said so in the rough draft I put here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:55, Sun 20 July 2014.

I liked the way spells were handled in Earthdawn.  Spells had number of magical 'threads' that had to be 'woven' in order to power them before you could cast them.  Higher level spells tended to have more threads - though it varied depending on the power of the spell relative to other spells of the same level.  Some high-level spells were intended to be cast swiftly (as 'Power Word' spells might in DnD) and so, while they might not be quite as powerful as other spells of that level, you could fire them off quickly at need.  In order to weave a thread, you had to make a talent check (one per round) and the difficulty of doing so increased with the level of the spell.  You could try to weave multiple threads with a single check, but it was very difficult unless you were casting a spell much lower than your own level as you added the difficulty numbers together.  After you wove all the threads, you then made a Spellcasting check as your attack roll to actually cast the spell.

So, for a 1st-level spell, you might have to weave one thread at a difficulty of 7, while a 9th-level spell might have 6 threads at a difficulty of 20.

Don't know if that provides you any inspiration or not.

Oh... question:  Wouldn't this focus system greatly reduce the utility of the Quicken Spell metamagic feat?  (Which may or may not be a good thing...)

In reply to Verisimilitude (msg # 6):

Quicken Magic would need to be altered to fit. There are several possibilities. I like this one:

QUICKEN SPELL [metamagic]
Benefit: You can decrease the focus cost of casting a spell by up to 4 in exchange for increasing the spell level by 4. If the spell is 4th level or below, you can instead reduce its casting time by 1 step instead of decreasing a point of focus cost (to a minimum of a swift action and 1 focus cost).

I mentioned the concern about people feeling like they would be justified in starting with a higher focus because I think you would run into that issue.  (I certainly saw your rule, that is why I brought it up.)

Basically, your rule relies on a completely arbitrary decision on 'when' to consider the beginning of an encounter.  If a player believes they started gathering focus as soon as the party entered the haunted house and expected trouble, and the GM imagined it was when the Orc opened the side door into the foyer.  Obviously... the GM wins, but at the cost of the player's being pushed back from a ease with the game.  You system relies completely on that arbitrary point.

I'm sure if presented with that rule... in a published game, my brain would immediately see it as problematic, and internally inconsistent from my perspective, so I would almost immediately begin trying to find an adjustment that would make more sense to me.  Something that would better explain the thresholds and their implementation.

Would the following potentially be workable?

Casting a spell requires bringing a spell to mind, as well as having gathered magical energies and being prepared to focus into that memorized, and brought to mind pattern.

In order to bring most spells (ones with at least 1 standard action as a casting time) normally take a basic of one round, per level of the spell before it is 'ready' to be cast.  Spending a swift, move, or standard action will reduce this time by one round each action taken.

Your casting attribute, among several thing controls how good you are at being able to understand and manipulate things.  This means that if you change the spell you are focused on, it determines how many rounds of preparation originally used towards your old spell may be re-directed toward your new spell focus.

There are some spells which you can cast without completely losing focus on your currently brought to mind spell.  Cantrips are one example.

Spells which are not the highest level spell you can cast for the class and are ones which your casting attribute gives you a bonus spell for, are easy enough for you to bring to mind, and cast, without completely losing focus of your original spell.  Casting such a spell only sets you back the number of rounds equal to the level of the spell cast.

Spells which the class has the ability to spontaneously cast out of another slot.  (not all spontaneous caster) have the ability to cast a spell allowed by that class ability, and that ability to spontaneously convert can be used again like a second 'focus' slot after the number rounds equal to the cast spell.  (so a cleric could choose to cast a Cure Light Wounds, without affecting their focus of another higher level spell, and could cast another spontaneously converted Cure spell next round if they pleased.  Druids could do the same with their summon spells.)

Swift spells don't have to be brought to mind and focused consciously (some of the extra magic required to cast them, making them higher levels, is actually used to bind them to your mind in a way that they are quickly accessible)

Casting a spell clears the focus from your mind, so even if you had two fireballs memorized, after casting one, you would need to refocus to bring the spell back to mind.

Net result, a wizard might be able to be prepared to cast one of his higher level spells at the start of an encounter, but would need time to refocus if he decides he needs to change which spell first.

The spending moment to reduce the time until achieving necessary focus for a spell is applied to a particular focus.  If a spellcaster casts a 3rd level healing spell spontaneously, and they decide to use two actions to regain focus, the following round they could cast another spontaneous cure spell, but those actions don't add to the other spell defined by their normal focus (although they could have applied those actions to that focus instead of the spontaneous focus).

Anyway, just a thought for you to mull over.  It would make your next spell choices much more strategic, and additional requirements of time between spells to make protecting the mage more important.

Otherwise, as I mentioned, I think that you would need to define some 'limit' of how long someone could maintain a spell focus over their highest casting attribute.  Past say one minute, they would have to make some sort of fortitude roll or become fatigued.  Then you would have a mechanic, where is someone wants to 'as a player' mark a particular time, they can, and work to get their focus up to a higher than usual level, but if they do it too early, they risk becoming fatigued.  This would make your 'normal' static situation of starting with that value of focus the 'standard'.

In reply to LoreGuard (msg # 8):

The beginning of an encounter IS arbitrary and up to the GM unless the characters sneak up on someone and even then, it's STILL up to the GM. It's supposed to be. Haven't you ever heard of an INITIATIVE roll? That's just a fundamental aspect of the dungeon crawl. It is a scenario that the GM declares or doesn't. Any GM or player having trouble with something that small is probably not all that bright or simply a "that guy". :/

It sounds like you're the type of GM to tolerate "that guy" in his game. I recommend that you stop being that type of GM. It's not worth your time. Let people like that die alone and friendless, it is what they deserve. :P

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But seriously, I couldn't care less. If you feel the need to have an extra rule that defines the transition between "in" and "out" of initiative, go ahead.

Personally, I think it would just be easier to say that they just need to rest every X # of minutes without gathering focus and if they are not rested they cannot gather focus.

"You can only continue to gather focus/cast spells consecutively up to a number of rounds equal to your casting score, after which, you cannot gather focus until you've rested. The duration of your rest must be at least a number of minutes equal to the number of rounds you were casting, even if you only gathered/cast for a shorter duration than your maximum."

That would probably be a simpler way of getting what you want.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:54, Sat 26 July 2014.