IQ to power spells

[Shoug]

Higher IQ wizards casting higher IQ spells isn't an effect of any house rule, it's how the original rules work, so I don't see your point in mentioning this.

In each of those examples, increasing the attribute being used to power spells by 1 point gives you 1 more point to power spells. That's not a new rule either.

RAW, increasing the attribute to power spells by 1 point gives you 1 more point to power spells, but it does not give you any increased access to more powerful spells. In this system, you get double value for every single attribute point. I mean, it's crazier than that, but I'll get to that.

The last of your 40 point wizard examples is the one I already addressed as my own extreme case example (by a difference of 1DX). It's still just as true that to evolve to that point of having 20 points of spell power, the wizard has to increase the pertinent attribute 8 times. That's on average about 16 adventures.

No, RAW to get the same effect you'd have to increase your attribute points 16 times, except even then you'd have less effective casting power than in this house rule, because if you use all of it RAW you die. If IQ is used to derive a completely independent of anything casting limit, then you've more than doubled the efficiency of XP for wizards.

If a starting wizard of only ST 8 can last 16 adventures, while staying ST 8 the whole time, he or she deserves to put that 800 XP wherever they want.

I wouldn't be that impressed if he did it in a system that improved his constitution as much as one where he no longer had to spend ST to cast spells. ST 8 goes a lot further when the only way for it to be damaged is by being attacked.

Okay, but the the higher-ST wizard would be exactly as much better off too if spell power was coming from ST. And if we decided to power spells from DX, then higher DX or Aid to DX would be helpful too. Power spells by rubber bands, then you'll want/need more rubber bands. Again, this doesn't address play balance itself in any way.

It does because those stats govern other things too!

And that very same arena wizard in an IQ-based mana system would have 1 more point to power spells. 1 point. What's the worry here?

That he'd also get to cast 1 point more complex spells, and that he'd get to have all of his ST for damage and never have to worry about the danger of casting a spell because that whole mechanic has been excised from the game.

And I wouldn't call 4 points of survival advantage "only", I think it's pretty large in this game.

Which I think it's strange that you don't think it's an extreme advantage to not have to lose 4 points of survival advantage after casting 1 or 2 spells.

The Mana spending limit based on IQ isn't that much of an enhancement for the more advanced, experienced wizard. It's much more help to the brand new, typical starting wizard -- the anemic ones who always die young! Yes it's rather counter intuitive. You'd think the higher IQ wizard would be over-advantaged by the Mana limit set at IQ, but in fact it's the lower wizard who benefits much more, proportionately to a ST based limit.

It is possibly the most radically empowering change to how wizards work that I have ever realistically imagined I would see somebody suggest. I suppose that's the crux of this whole discussion: Do you think that RAW starting wizards are too weak? If you do, all of this discussion of mana limits and whatnot makes sense. I personally don't think the original rules for wizards failed so catastrophically that I feel the need to give them 1000+(200*IQ) free XP upon character creation. In fact, the mechanic that you're suggesting is considerably more powerful than a fully charged level 2 staff, because manastaffs take much longer to recharge than fatigue and can be lost or destroyed, etc.