Interesting Topic.

To solve the Issue i would make Martials a bit better, they should get showy Warriory Stuff like Great Cleave, for free. Basically cutting down on the Insane Feat Taxes in Pathfinder for example would help a lot.

When it comes to Magic, i have a different Idea altogether. Remove Spell Slots. Casters can cast all Day. BUT Magic should be more Risky the more Powerfull it is AND require Rare Material Components which the Caster first would have to collect. Now Wizard is like the Fighter really equipment depandent. Magic should not be easy or Safe. Also no Spell stacking, you can only be affected by one beneficial Spell Effect at the same Time. Also many Spells need to be made more Interesting, some Spells like Forcecage are just like: Well unless you have a Teleport/specific countermeasure with you, you just lose. Thats boring. Or the Fly Spell. Can't Fly? Haven't invested in Ranged Attacks?

Some Examples:
The Common Fireball only needs a bit of bat Guano. Yes you have to carry a lot of Bat excrement around with you. Now getting that is trivial, but like an Archer you now are limited in the Number of Shots you can take, and enemies can take away your ammunition.

Teleportation
If you want to Teleport Safely you need 5 Casters, with at least one at a certain High Lvl, and three Days of Work, to Draw Magical Circle, to arrive at your Destination unscathed, as well as a Unicorns Horn and a Scale of a Green Dragon. If you do this alone you can draw the Circle in 1 Hour, but you have 50% chance of ending up anywehre on the World, or even another Plane.

Animate Dead
You can Make as many Undead as you want, but each Undead requires 1 Gallon of Virgins blood to animate. Also high concentrations of Negativ Energy attract other Undead. So don't be suprised if Vampires show up if you run around with a Zombie army. The more Undead you have the more Undead you Draw to yourself, which get increasingly Powerfull. Some may be friendly, others will try to kill you and take over your Army.

Dominate Person
The Person being controlled here gets a save every Rounds, and can still think/Speak, but it has to obey the Caster, on a Made Save, the Dominated Person, can act like itself for 1 Round, but the Effect Still persists, until the Rest of the Day. This makes Dominate Person sooooooo much more Interesting, and makes for Nice Drama. (I,... can't control myself! Run! Leave me and Run!), (No! I will rather die than be your Slave! *coup the Graces himself*).

Time Stop
You literally Stop Time, and you can do ANYTHING you want. But such a Disruption of Space Time, calls an Army of invitables on your Ass, very very quickly. You also need the Hour Glass of a Grim Reaper, the Howl of a Banshee, a Nail from a Lich, and the Head of a very Powerful (Cr17 or higher) Invitable being to use this Spell.


Maze Spell
You put all Enemies you can see in an Extradimensional Maze, where they trapped, until they find their way into the Middle of the Maze, where a Sphinx sits. If they can answer the Riddle of the Sphinx, the they leave the Maze, and they can decide to appear directly near the Mage that trapped them. Also since they answered the Riddle of the Sphinx they can take a Powerfull Boon/Magic Weapon with them to slay the Caster that trapped them. This Boon/Weapon exsists/stays Active for a Number of Days equal to the Caster Lvl of the Caster that cast Maze.

Summoning in general
I really hate those, "yeah i snap with my Finger and Stuff just happens" Spells. Summoning Demons Should NEVER be Safe, or quick. You can Summon and Bind Demons, but there is a 50% Chance that the Demon breaks free. During his bound time you roll a percentile Dice every Day, to see if the Demon breaks free. Though nothing compels him to Attack immideatly, he can wait until he sees you in Peril. High Lvl Demons get a Chance to break free practically Every Round. The higher Lvl you get the lesser the Chance for the low Lvl Demons, but it should never be under 10%. Also you need, the Name of the Demon, and components again.

Devils would be another matter, because they always have to keep their contracts, and will do so to the letter! However they follow the same rules.

The mightier the Magic, the Worse the Drawback.

Magic would still be Interesting and VERY Powerfull, but limited in it's practicallity. If you need a Dragons Heart, a Genies Tear, and an Angels Feather to cast Wish, just getting Components for the High Lvl Caster will be Quests on their own right. The GM can also directly intervine here, since Spells that would destroy the Story, will just not have their Components avivable. Also due the only 1 Buff Rule, Wizards and other Casters would be far more Fragile, and would depend on their Martial buddies more.

Mudanes, will get their moments of Awesome all the Time, when they slay Dragons, to get the Casters their Components, and being All around Badasses all the Time. The Magic Users will still be very usefull all the Time, and they will get their Moments of Awesome, when they worked to get those Components together, and they finally can cast the Big Fat Spell off Mass Destruction.


Magic right now in pathfinder is far too easy controlled and Safe. Magic should be more Wild, dangerous and hard to use.