Idea for making D&D-y magic more swords-n-sorcery:

[tibbius]

Each time you cast a spell, roll 3d6+spell level. Pick any stat lower than the roll, and permanently subtract 1 from the stat. It's good if no stat is lower than the roll.

[tibbius]

If you want to be really harsh, subtract the spell level from the stat. Or pick any stats lower than the roll, and subtract from those stats a total of points equal to the spell level.

[dmw71]

That's interesting.

It will really make spellcasting a risky proposition. Powerful mages or high-level casters will be rare indeed.

[tibbius]

2d6+spell level, -1 to a stat less than the roll, would probably work better.

[tibbius]

More thoughts about this.

"Spell slots" mean how many spells you can stick in your head. As long as a spell's in your head, you can cast it. Spells don't fall out of your head when you cast them. But there's a cost (in time) to get them in there, and a risk (in stats) to cast them.

The COST: to get a spell in your head, roll 1d6 per spell level. If the total is less than your INT+level, you get the spell in your head. You can roll once per day. This means it takes a long time to learn high level spells.

The RISK: when you cast a spell, roll 1d6 per spell level. For each die you rolled, subtract 1 from a stat that is already lower than the total. This means that most of the time, when you cast a high level spell you suffer.

[dmw71]

DungeonCraft is constantly working on his own set of rules called Deathbringer. In the latest iteration (which I'll admit I haven't read yet), there's this:

"In the new version of Deathbringer, spells require HP to cast."

I'm really curious how this will work because I think it's an interesting concept.