There is a Spell Point Variant in the DMG that replaces Spell Slots with 'spell points'. It gives full casters (9th level spells) a number of points that goes from 4 to 133, and it says that paladins and rangers get half of those. Apr 13, 2017 5e already has the spell point variant that does the same thing. But spell points are more balanced because they take into account the non linear power level of spells of different levels. Compare to you mana system: A 2nd level spell is not twice as strong as a 1st level spell (it is 150% as strong).
FoundryVTT module for Spell Point System in D&D5e
Not using spellpoints for your games? well, you should, spellpoints are much better than slots!!
This module use the optional rules found on DMG to allow character to cast spells using a resource named 'Spell Points'
Installation Instructions
- Copy 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/misthero/dnd5e-spellpoints/main/module.json' into the module installer inside foundry when it asks for the manifest.
- Launch your world go to settings -> module settings and enable the module
dnd5e-spellpoints. - Choose the name of the resource to use as Spell Points (default 'Spell Points') you can change the name in module settings.
- Create a new resource with the name 'Spell Points' on every character sheet. (Hint: if any of your player need more resources you can use the module https://github.com/ardittristan/5eSheet-resourcesPlus/tree/master)
- The module will calculate Spell Points automatically when you add a new class item or level up your class (only offical rules supported, if you are using hombrew rules you should disable the automatic mode.
You are ready to go, now spells cast by player's characters will use spell points instead of slots.
Notice: Slots won't disappear from character sheets, but they will always stay full as long as this module is enabled.
Features
- Configurable resource name
- Configurable spell cost in spell points if you use any homebrew system.
- Optionally you can enable a variant rule to allow players to keep casting even when they run out of spellpoints using their own life with terrible consequences if you are using the Advanced Magic - Spell Point System 5e! available as 'Pay what you Want' on DriveThruRPG.
- Configurable healt loss for casting using the Gritty High Magic Variant.
Spell Point Variant 5e Dmg 5e
To do
- Automatic Spell Point calculations based on class and level.
- Show the sell cost on each spell somewhere?
Incompatibility
None at the moment but please let me know if any.
Dnd 5e Variant
CHANGELOG
- 1.0.0 First release
- 1.0.1 Bug fixes
- 1.0.2 Automatic spell points calculation, localization added, better code.
- 1.1.0 New Mixed Mode option to have both slots and Spell Points characters in same game.
Spell Point Variant 5e Dmg Feats
I've always really dug the whole idea of spell points. It makes more sense to me that magic would run on a generalized pool of energy instead of discrete, denominated charges. But I don't think I've ever actually tried a spell point system, not in any edition.
So, I'm wondering about the spell point variant in the 5e DMG. And, right off the bat, there are a few things that bug me about it.
Spell point costs. That's just a really weird, inelegant points-to-level conversion schedule, there. After mathing on it a bit, I guess the idea is that each level costs 1⅓ points more than the previous one, but it looks entirely nuts when simplified to integers. I really prefer the cost schedule in the D&D 3e variant: it starts at 1 point for a first level spell, and each subsequent level costs 2 more points. (Which is the same formula used for psionic power costs in 3e.)
Anyway, I couldn't begin to guess how many magic missiles one wish spell is worth, so I don't know how I'd actually evaluate these costs. But I get the feeling that 5e went with a slower cost increase in some attempt to mitigate the extent to which low-level spells become trivially cheap for casters using spell points. So there might be good reason for this seeming inelegance.
Skyrocketing spell point pools. The spell-points-by-caster-level progression looks insane, but it's clear that it was determined by looking at what a regular slot-caster could put out at a given level, and what it would take for a point-caster to do the same thing.
But you know what? I'm not buying that rationale. I have a feeling that a lot of high-level wizards go to bed at night with a lot of low-level slots left unused. So that might be way more than your average point-caster actually needs to keep up. And of course if you're not using all those 'extra' points on low-level spells, you can use them to cast more high-level spells than your equal-level slot-caster rivals can.
The 6th-level-and-higher rule. So this one weirdness—limiting point-casters to a maximum of one 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th-level slot per day—seems like a kluge to address my previous complaint. And I kinda really don't like it. In the middle of this system to avoid the gamey of quantification spell slots, we're got this rule where all of a sudden you can't do 6th-level slots anymore today, because you already did one. But hey, you can still do 7th-level slots. And you can just cast your 6th-level spell with a 7th-level slot. It is just very awkward, is all I'm saying.
So what do you folks think about all this? Has anybody ever actually used this variant? Or, for that matter, the old 3e one? How did the balance shake out? And, of course, the dreaded bookkeeping?
So, I'm wondering about the spell point variant in the 5e DMG. And, right off the bat, there are a few things that bug me about it.
Spell point costs. That's just a really weird, inelegant points-to-level conversion schedule, there. After mathing on it a bit, I guess the idea is that each level costs 1⅓ points more than the previous one, but it looks entirely nuts when simplified to integers. I really prefer the cost schedule in the D&D 3e variant: it starts at 1 point for a first level spell, and each subsequent level costs 2 more points. (Which is the same formula used for psionic power costs in 3e.)
Anyway, I couldn't begin to guess how many magic missiles one wish spell is worth, so I don't know how I'd actually evaluate these costs. But I get the feeling that 5e went with a slower cost increase in some attempt to mitigate the extent to which low-level spells become trivially cheap for casters using spell points. So there might be good reason for this seeming inelegance.
Skyrocketing spell point pools. The spell-points-by-caster-level progression looks insane, but it's clear that it was determined by looking at what a regular slot-caster could put out at a given level, and what it would take for a point-caster to do the same thing.
But you know what? I'm not buying that rationale. I have a feeling that a lot of high-level wizards go to bed at night with a lot of low-level slots left unused. So that might be way more than your average point-caster actually needs to keep up. And of course if you're not using all those 'extra' points on low-level spells, you can use them to cast more high-level spells than your equal-level slot-caster rivals can.
The 6th-level-and-higher rule. So this one weirdness—limiting point-casters to a maximum of one 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th-level slot per day—seems like a kluge to address my previous complaint. And I kinda really don't like it. In the middle of this system to avoid the gamey of quantification spell slots, we're got this rule where all of a sudden you can't do 6th-level slots anymore today, because you already did one. But hey, you can still do 7th-level slots. And you can just cast your 6th-level spell with a 7th-level slot. It is just very awkward, is all I'm saying.
So what do you folks think about all this? Has anybody ever actually used this variant? Or, for that matter, the old 3e one? How did the balance shake out? And, of course, the dreaded bookkeeping?