Working on a new magic system.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

I've been kicking this basic mechanic around for a while, and I need some more input before I can go any further.  For lack of better terms, I'm going to be calling the system "Flux", and users "Originators".  The idea behind it is to have a character who can adjust between being more warlock/binder-like and more Vancian-like, depending upon how you prepare at the beginning of the day.

The basic mechanic is that each character has two statistics, Refresh and Capacity, which combined determine your Flux Points (FP).

Each round, you regain a number of FP equal to your refresh, up to the total of your capacity.

At this point, this sounds a bit like a faster-recharging version of psionics.  However, powers work in a slightly different, incarnum-like, manner.

At the beginning of each day, you can "slot-in" different powers.  Each power has an Upkeep and a Reserve; Upkeep reduces your Refresh for the day, and Reserve reduces your capacity for the day.  Costs and benefits can be scaled upwards based upon your Originator Level.

For example, pulling numbers out of nowhere, a second level originator has a refresh of 3 and a Capacity of 10.  He can slot-in "Vestments of Acid", which has an Upkeep of 2 and a Reserve of 5.  
This gives him acid resistance 5, acid splash at-will for free, and the ability to spend two FP to add d6 acid damage to his next attack (which could be his acid splash).

A power that you've slotted-in can also be "burned", which gives a one-time effect, but then prevents you from using any of its benefits for the rest of the day.  So you could burn Vestments of Acid to deal 2d6 acid damage in a 10' spread, for example.

So here's a few examples of different powers using this mechanic.  Just playing around at the moment, trying to feel out the concept; balance isn't exactly expected.

Vestments of Acid (first level)
Upkeep 2, Reserve 5
Scaling: X starts at zero, add one to X for each additional 3 points of reserve invested (to a maximum of X=5)
Granted abilities:
Continuous: All attacks that require an attack roll add X acid damage.
Continuous: Gain acid resistance 5+X
At will: Acid splash, as the spell, with your originator level as the caster level.
Investment: Spend 2FP to add d6 acid damage to an attack, up to a maximum number of FP equal to your Originator Level.
Burn ability: Deal (1+X)d6 as a 10+5X' burst, at a range of 30+10x feet.

Telespam McMuppet(Fifth Level)
Upkeep 6, Reserve 0
Scaling: X starts at zero, add one to X for each additional 5 points of reserve invested (to a maximum of X=5)
Continuous: Anyone teleporting into a square within your reach provoke an AoO.
Investment: You may teleport up to 5X feet as a standard action.  This distance increases by 5' for every Two FP you spend.
Burn ability: Teleport (as the spell) with Originator level as caster level.  Subtract X from your familiarity roll.

Mutability of Flesh(Third level)
Upkeep 0, Reserve 20
Scaling: X starts at zero, add 1 to x for each point of upkeep you add (to a maximum of X=5)
Continuous: Gain DR 1+X/--
Activated: Gain Fast Healing X for a number of rounds equal to your OL.
Investment: Move action: spend 1 FP to add 1 damage to all your melee attacks for X rounds, up to a maximum of half your OL(doesn't stack with itself, duh)
Investment: Swift action, spend 1 FP to increase your land speed by 5' for this round, up to a maximum FP of half your OL.  
*If X is 1-2, gain a climb or swim speed at your base land speed.  
*If X is 3-4, gain a fly(average) or burrow speed at your base land speed, and your speed increases apply to climb and swim.  
*If X is 5, your fly speed is perfect, and your speed increases apply to fly and burrow.
Burn Ability: Gain X temporary HP per OL, DR 2X/--, fast healing 2X and you can move double your speed for OL rounds with any movement modes you could access with the investment.

So, yeah.  It definitely seems like it could be cool (I suppose I could start off by making a slightly-inferior set of powers that mimic the warlock, then shifting around options), but coming up with a whole list of abilities is going to take a while, and I'd prefer to get some feedback before I did anything else.

[jojolagger]

I'm going to be calling the system "Flux",

Anything but that, the TV show with that as the magic equivalent in it was horrid.

The stuff seems interesting. Low powers usable at will, slightly higher powers based off spending regenerating energy, and a high power boost for when shit hits the fan.
Just as a note Max X = 1/2 OL seems a bit more scaling friendly.

P.S. First!

[The_Mad_Linguist]

That's a good idea - keeping the pseudoaugmentation mechanic consistent across everything gets rid of paperwork.

Anyways, Upkeep is the obvious choice for how to the number of abilities you can have slotted-in at once.  I'm thinking of having first level characters start with about three refresh, and, about ten capacity, since that seems like an easy way to limit you to one or two abilities at a time without inhibiting customization too much. 

Scaling refresh with a base 3 refresh, plus one point of refresh for every three levels seems reasonable.  You'd end up with a total of 9 refresh at level 20, which would be enough for three or four level-appropriate slot-ins. 

Determining how capacity should scale is rather trickier. 

Mechanically, I want you to be able to say "I'm going to be teleporting all the time, and if I spend 20 FP for reserve I'll save 10 FP each teleport, and come out ahead on the the third teleport of the combat (or if I need to go farther)", and then later on say "Oh no, my capacity is low enough that I can't acid blast all these trolls!  I shouldn't have invested so much into teleport".

The PP formula seems to scale too quickly for how I'm thinking this will work; ideally you'd be able to reduce your Capacity and Refresh to zero if you really wanted to, and play essentially a pure invoker.

I want burning to serve both as the "'oh shit!' button" and for completely out of combat usages. 

[bkdubs123]

What a great, and unique, casting system. I'm really impressed with what I see here mechanically.

So you have a set of "power points" which you then spend to slot in very toned down "vestiges" whose powers you can either "augment" by "investing" more PP, a la essentia, or totally unleash by "expelling" the vestige. You really married several disparate concepts into a fun-looking and cohesive whole (supposing I actually understand the mechanics ).

[The_Mad_Linguist]

Sounds like you understand it.

If you squint, it's actually just meldshaping with powerpoints stapled on.

the main issue is it's a lot of time and effort to make different powers (come to think of it I need a unique name)

[Gods_Trick]

Novel! 

  But do you really need many different augments? D&D spells always suffered from 99 ways to skin a cat, and CO to find the best ones. An easier solution maybe feats that customise individual augments, with a free customisation feat when you take the class so theres a non-generic feel to it.

  I'm assuming its meant to run in D&D, so what Opt' Tier are you aiming for?

[RobbyPants]

It's interesting.  I've never seen or used incarnum, so I don't have that as a base-line.  Also, this looks like a less arbitrary version of 4E's at-will/encounter/daily paradigm.

[bhu]

Neat!

[MasterVega]

Holy crap! This is really close to something I've been working on. It's not ready to be posted as its own entity yet, but you might be able to steal stuff from it. lol.

Note: Most of the powers were part of an older version of the idea. Not all have been revamped to the new version, hence the lower tier ones (which have been redone more recently) having Passive and Discharge options where some of the higher tier spells have a "cost".