User:66.90.104.57/Strenuous Casting (3.5e Variant Rule)

Strenuous Casting
3.5 full spellcasters are overpowered in a High balance point game, mostly because they can throw around extremely powerful magical effects each round, killing or crippling opponents who fail their saves. The general guideline from the DMG is that a single encounter with a creature of equal CR should last several rounds and use up one fifth of the parties resources: one fifth of the each melee combatant health should be lost, one fifth of the spellcasters spells should be cast, ect. However a single cast of a powerful spell like Forcecage or Glitterdust can cut an encounter short at the cost of but a single spell. Since I consider the ability for spellcasters to occasionally nova and release such high powered spells to be thematic, I will attempt to balance 3.5 spellcasters by making the spells more strenuous to cast, such that powerful spells can only be cast occasionally, and always at great cost to the spellcaster.

Rules
Every time a fullcaster casts a spell they take a certain amount of damage equal to the level of the spell in question - 1 multiplied by its level - 2 (minimum spell level + 2). A quarter (rounded down) of this damage is lethal, the rest is nonlethal. Even if you are immune to nonlethal damage you are still dealt this. This damage can not be healed or reduced by any means, except natural healing, and it bypasses regeneration of any kind. Even natural healing is half as effective. If you cast a spell, and have already cast a spell in the previous round, you have to pay an additional HP cost equal to half the cost you payed last round.