Proposal: new mana system

by sngl_8 Thu Mar 12, 2015 3:25 am

The mana system has been changed practically every day since the re-opening of Thessir and the thorough testing, for balance reasons, and several of the original concepts (such as all three caster attributes counting somehow) have been nerfed or removed altogether. So instead of trying to patch the old mana system, here is one that I think would satisfy most concerns brought up:
A min-maxed caster can reach about 18+5+1+12=36 with their primary attribute (at the cost of all others) in theory, although on a low-mid magic server the total +12 bonus is not guaranteed, also, this would be the maximum level, considered epic. A level 15 character, still very high, could probably expect it to be around 27-30.
Mana pool is (8 + Intelligence mod) x Total Caster Levels, (about 420 max). Counting the combined level of all caster classes.
Mana Cost Reduction is Wisdom mod x -3% (about -39% max, +12% min). This means it is useful even on high levels.
Mana Regeneration is 3+Charisma mod (about 16 max). The +3 is to ensure that even the worst theoretical builds regenerate mana without Charisma decrease effects (but can stop regeneration when falling under 6 Cha). The minimum can be 0, or even negative so people (slowly) lose mana if they're hit by a Charisma decrease.
Spell Cost is (Spell Level+1) squared. Metamagic feats increase effective spell level for this purpose. The Caster Level of spells doesn't matter since that (and the increased damage/duration) is a benefit for being higher level, such as better Attack Bonus or saves.
This system would mean that high caster attributes would benefit all caster classes, and low attributes would hurt all of them (even allowing for new tactics by decreasing a caster's various attributes). The spell costs mean that high level spells cost considerably more mana than low levels. Casters would get, effectively, infinite low level spells, but level 0, 1 and 2 spells aren't that much of a threat at higher levels (besides, this was a feature of the other mana system versions as well).
With 8+Int mod mana per caster level, casters would have enough mana to cast their highest level spell once (with some in reserve) with even 8 or 6 Int (although 6 comes very close), but if their Intelligence drops to 5 or lower, they will lose their highest level spells.
With this system,
- a level 20 Wizard with 36 total Intelligence, 20 Wisdom and 20 Charisma (with items and buffs) will have a mana pool of 420, good for (almost) 5 level 9 spells. They will regenerate 8 mana per round, meaning it will take about 11 rounds to regenerate enough for a level 9.
- a level 20 Sorcerer with 36 Charisma and 20 Intelligence and 20 Wisdom will have a mana pool of 260, good for 3 level 9 spells. They regenerate 16 mana per round, about 5 rounds for a level 9 spell.
- a level 20 Cleric with 36 Wisdom and 20 Intelligence and 20 Charisma will have a mana pool of 260, good for 4 spells. They regenerate 8 mana per round, about 8 rounds for a level 9 spell.
(These are all epic characters, both build and gear optimized for spellcasting.)
- a level 15 Wizard with 26 Int, 16 Wis and Cha will have: mana pool 240, discount 9% and regeneration 6. They can cast 3 level 8 spells, 12 rounds to regenerate.
- a level 15 Sorcerer with 26 Cha, 16 Int and Wis will have: mana pool 165, discount 9% and regeneration 11. They can cast 2 level 8 spells (in theory, since they only get them on 16), 7 rounds to regenerate.
- a level 15 Cleric with 26 Wis, 16 Int and Cha will have: mana pool 165, discount 24% and regeneration 6. They can cast 2 level 8 spells, 10 rounds to regenerate.
(Still mostly optimized and high level characters.)
- a level 8 Wizard with 22 Int, 12 Wis and 12 Cha will have: mana pool 112, discount 3% and regeneration 4. They can cast 7 level 4 spells, taking 4 rounds to regenerate.
- a level 8 Sorcerer with 22 Cha, 12 Wis and 12 Int will have: mana pool 72, discount 3% and regeneration 9. They can cast 4 level 4 spells, taking 2 rounds to regenerate.
- a level 8 Cleric with 22 Wis, 12 Cha and Int will have: mana pool 72, discount 18% and regeneration 4. They can cast 5 level 4 spells, taking 3 rounds to regenerate.
- casters under level 6 will be able to cast without pausing, pretty much.
This means that Wizards can cast more spells with a full mana pool, but Sorcerers can cast again sooner, with Clerics and Druids being somewhere in the middle. All three caster attributes make a difference. The amount of high level spells may seem a lot, but let's not forget that in vanilla NWN, casters have a comparable amount of high level spells they can cast without pause, and an assortment of lower level spells (which they wouldn't be able to cast here continuously since they deplete their mana pool with the high level spam). With this system, they will be able to go on without resting, but will have to stop occasionally, especially when using high level spells, or use potions or rest. (They will also be vulnerable to having their spellcasting ability crippled by lowering one or more of the three caster attributes.)
The not primary spellcasters (Ranger, Paladin and Bard) will be able to cast continuously, but they get much weaker spells on much higher levels, plus they will likely have to focus on the physical attributes rather than the caster attributes (or suffer the consequences if they don't).
Level 15 Bard, with 22 Charisma, 14 Intelligence and 12 Wisdom: mana pool 150, discount 3% and regeneration 9. They can cast 6 level 5 spells, 3 rounds to regenerate.
A build with multiple caster classes would get higher mana pool (more spells essentially), but they would get lower level spells, at lower caster levels and thus power in exchange (again reflecting the principle of how it works in vanilla).
The highest theoretical mana regeneration is 16, so only level 3 (which cost 16 mana without a discount) spells can be cast continuously without waiting for mana regeneration. At lower levels this goes down to level 2 or even level 1 due to the lower Charisma modifier.

The basic idea is that the three secondary attributes of mana pool, discount and regeneration all come from the caster attribute modifiers (and caster levels in the case of the mana pool, to represent the increased number and level of spells casters get even in unmodified NWN), and that mana cost increases with spell level exponentially and independently of caster levels. The exact numbers can be tweaked easily (as evident by the +8 mana pool, the +3 regeneration and the 3% discount) if needed.