"The mage needed to memorize the spells, and we used the standard table from the Player's Handbook for how many and what level spells the mage could memorize. The power cost of a spell was the square of the level of the spell, and "mana points" came at about 8 per level of the mage. (We had a formula to calculate it but the answer was always 8.) We also had a rule that a mage could cast a spell "out of his books" without memorizing it, but it was really, really slow. And in dire emergencies, a mage could use points from Constitution as mana points (only the very low level mages ever did)."
Holy crap. . . that was more or less exactly our fix as well. Squared spell points, standard level bonus, Constitution backup, everything (except the casting out the book, though I like that addition as well). The other fix we included was the ability to cast spells that were your own level: second-level mages could cast second-level spells, and so on.
Maybe they meant it was "too radical" in the 80s sense of the term.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, you'll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. . . .
. . . they're Tinkle Togs! Like the astronauts wear! (Per Camp Lazlo.)
In Soviet Russia. . .um. . . crap. I got nothing.
Sorry. I'm new here.
"The mage needed to memorize the spells, and we used the standard table from the Player's Handbook for how many and what level spells the mage could memorize. The power cost of a spell was the square of the level of the spell, and "mana points" came at about 8 per level of the mage. (We had a formula to calculate it but the answer was always 8.) We also had a rule that a mage could cast a spell "out of his books" without memorizing it, but it was really, really slow. And in dire emergencies, a mage could use points from Constitution as mana points (only the very low level mages ever did)."
Holy crap. . . that was more or less exactly our fix as well. Squared spell points, standard level bonus, Constitution backup, everything (except the casting out the book, though I like that addition as well). The other fix we included was the ability to cast spells that were your own level: second-level mages could cast second-level spells, and so on.
Maybe they meant it was "too radical" in the 80s sense of the term.