You might be surprised at how many optional rules variations they suggest in the Dungeon Master's Guide. I think that a lot of players (myself included) memorize 5th Edition's rules and like to get it all correct to the letter to resolve ambiguities in-game, though even then there are a lot of rules that are technically optional (like flanking!) that people tend to throw in anyway.
One that I find really interesting is Spell Points.
I only came to D&D on the cusp of my 30s, and so my background in RPGs was primarily with things like Final Fantasy (and other Squaresoft RPGs from the 90s) as well as games like The Elder Scrolls, and obviously World of Warcraft.
So, to me, the natural way that a spellcaster works in a game is that you have a resource - Mana, MP, Magicka - usually something that starts with an M (though my first, Mario RPG, had FP for "Flower Points," because the magic in that game was linked to the Fire Flower found in Mario games). It was actually pretty mind-blowing to read the rules of D&D and have this whole "spell slot" system.
In many ways, the systems are similar - you have limited resources to cast spells (with the exception of Cantrips) but there are some oddities that arise from the spell slot system which, if you're used to D&D by now, will seem like the normal state while the optional Spell Point system in the DMG causes weird things to happen.
Here's how Spell Points work:
Spells that would otherwise cost a spell slot now cost a number of spell points to cast.
1st level spells cost 2,
2nd level spells cost 3
3rd level spells cost 5
4th level costs 6
5th level costs 7
6th level costs 9
7th level costs 10
8th level costs 11
9th level costs 13
So, you can see how this is kind of divided by tier. Spells a pure caster can use in the same tier go up in cost by 1 per level, but when you jump to a new tier of play for spell levels 3, 6, and 9, the price goes up by 2.
A pure caster will get a higher number of spell points with each level, and be able to cast higher-level spells, so a level 1 pure caster will get 4 spell points (allowing for two 1st level spells, just like the normal system.) At level 3, they can now cast 2nd level spells, and have 14 spell points, which similarly lets them cast 4 1st level spells and two 2nd level spells, much as they would in the normal system.
But the distinction here is that they could, if they wanted, instead cast 7 1st level spells, or they could cast 4 2nd level spells and just a single 1st level spell.
While I'm not going to do the math for every level (by level 20 you get 133 spell points) I imagine that it translates to what you would get if you traded out the spell slots for spell points.
But by breaking these into a more fungible currency/resource, it makes spellcasting far, far more flexible.
Let's actually look at that 20th level character. At 20 you're pretty godlike in power, but with spell points, this becomes insane:
At level 20, using this system, you could cast 10, that's right 10 9th level spells (and a single 2nd level.)
Now, I have never played a high-level pure caster. The highest-level character I ever played was a level 18 Artificer in a one-shot. As a half-caster, he'd be the equivalent of a level 9 pure caster, so he'd have 57 spell points and could cast up to 5th level spells. Now, as an artificer, and specifically an armorer, a lot of his most useful spells were utility. So I could do something like cast Faerie Fire 28 times in a day. Or, I could blast out 11 lightning bolts.
While spell slots are a limited resource, in intense battles at high level, time and the action economy are the bigger concern, which means that generally, you're going to want to use the most action-efficient spells.
As a DM, I've found that if you want a fight to be intense at higher levels (even just 11) you're going to want to have a few encounters to sap the players of their capabilities. The spell slot system allows players to easily conserve resources for the final fight. Let's say that you're a level 11 Wizard in such a rush to a climactic fight. You might decide that, until you're fighting the big dragon, you're going to hold on to all your 6th, 5th, and maybe at least one of your 4th level slots so that you can bring out the big guns. That's easy enough to do.
But with spell points, any cast spell is going to drain your one resource pool.
On the other hand, if you can get to that final fight without draining too much - maybe the party goes invisible and uses Pass without Trace to get by the minions and go straight to the big bad. Then, you can unload on the dragon with a 6th level spell every round for six rounds, which will probably be enough to kill the thing pretty easily.
Essentially, I think this system will force players to be more considerate in their resource management, but it will also mean that DMs have to be more aware of how much burn can happen in a short period of time.
I'd say that this will make spellcasters strictly more powerful, even if it requires careful use. But as a DM, it'll also mean that your Lich can now cast Finger of Death 11 times a day.
It is definitely a rule I'd be willing to try in a one-shot.
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