Have anyone tried using a spell point system for D&D 3.x?

I remember using some slightly complicated systems for AD&D 2.Ed., but never really got far with it.

My problem playing spellcasters is that I always end up having the wrong spells memorized for the situations we get into - and there is no easy way to change spells.

A spell point system would of course make the sorcerer less attractive, and the cleric would have less use of his ability to convert any spell into a healing spell.

So alternatively is there a set of feats for an instance that would allow a wizard or cleric to erase a spell from memory and substitute it with another one?

- Jesper

You probably know this, but most people in 3.5 get around this by scribing scrolls and carrying tons of them around.

I don't know of a sysem like the one you describe in 3.5, but I have played in a game in AD&D that was heavily houseruled so that it closely resembled 3.5 (before 3.5 came out). One of the ways it was different, though, was the magic system. A caster could have access to all of his/her spells at any time, but if s/he cast the same spell more than once in a given period (10 minutes I think, so basically during a single battle) s/he had a chance of the spell going off wrong, basically due to mental fatigue. The DM decided the outcome by a random roll, it could be of a stronger or weaker level, the target might change (that one happened to me a lot), the spell might fizzle, or it might randomly change to some other spell altogether. The more you cast the same spell the higher the chance that it would misfire. Something like 5% the first time, then 10%, 20%, 30%, 50%, etc. It meant that the caster had a lot of flexibility but was also forced to be creative, s/he could not just count on throwing fireballs and magic missles at everything that moved.

It was fun to play! Even when I misfired a fireball and hit myself, or another time when a misfire hit the party paladin. He would have survived the fireball blast, if only he had not been carrying around those two potions of fire breathing. OOps! Paladin go BOOM!

The Unearthed Arcana book has rules for this. They use a system wherin the Cleric/Wizard /Paladin/Druid memorize their daily spells as usual, and this is their available list for the day. What changes is that they can spend the points in any combination they want, and on any spell in their 'daily' selection, just like a Sorcerer. Points are based on the key stat, and the level. They have a wierd convention by which you have to spend an extra point per die of damage beyond the base (so a FIreball stays at 5d6 unless you add points to boost it up. I believe it costs 5 points to cast normally, so would cost 20 points at 20th level). I'm not sure I like that feature, and would probably try it without that extra feature.

I think in that system, spontaneous conversion of spells to a healing spell would have to be a permanent effect for the day, thereby allowing the caster to still choose what spell they lost to gain the other ability instead, and still loose the use of the sacrificed spell as if it was mem'ed as normal.

As to feats, there is a book with feats for Spontaneous Healer, Wounder, Summoner, etc. I don't see why you couldn't create other feats with the same idea for other types of spells.

I do like the 'boosting' that Psionics can do with Power Points, but then you have to sit down and figure out boost effects for every spell. I also like the idea of pushing yourself being risky. I've heard of systems that if you crank too many points in to the spell, something bad could happen. Sort of a control for when players got too many points I think.

A point system does have one drawback. Justa s you have (X) amount of more times that you can cast a whammy spell...so do the monsters! All those 1/day powers could become 2 or 3 times per day! I suppose it self balances...but for monsters with lots of SLAs...yikes!