I know what it is like to be a first level Magic-User in 1st edition AD&D. You get one spell a day. One. And you better make it count. Up to the point you use that spell, and for the entirety of the day afterward, your goal and sole focus is to Not Die. Not easy when you only get 1d4 hit points and aren't allowed any armor to wear. True, there were lots of spells to choose from, but you wouldn't think of wasting your one spell of the day on something like Audible Glamer (sic) or Dancing Lights. It was either Sleep, Charm, or maybe Magic Missile. There were those that liked Burning Hands, but not me.
I was overjoyed with the rules in 4th edition for Cantrips. Simple spells with utilitarian applications that could be used as often as the caster wishes! And, combined with Arcana as a Skill, you no longer had to commit daily spells to Detect Magic or Read Magic. Concept! I also liked the idea of Rituals. Now, big ticket spells could be done outside of the basic spells-per-day, but they took plenty of time to do, and included a cost outlay in required ingredients.
Here is how I chose to adapt these concepts to spell casting in my reworking of the AD&D rules:
Clerics will have certain spells that can be cast as Rituals, corresponding to their duties as agents of their Demigod and as the leader of their religious order. Such spells as Ceremony should be able to be performed for religious supplicants regardless of whatever else they chose spell-wise for the day. As such, Clerics will use some rituals, but not as many as Magic-Users. Other spells they cast may seem to be rituals (like Astral Spell) in the time it takes to cast and money outlay, but due to their powerful nature they must be chosen as part of the daily limit.
Druids have very few rituals (save Ceremony), but the nice part of their type of Magic is the utilitarian nature of it. They need their mistletoe for components, but other than that very few hard-to-find or costly material components are required. They are the bare-knuckle, less fussy alternative to Clerical magic. And they get all sorts of special abilities as they advance in levels that Clerics don't.
Magic-Users get the best of all worlds: Cantrips, Spell Magic and Rituals. A number of spells serve dual purpose as both daily spells and rituals. This helps differentiate the deliberate scribing of a Magic Circle to protect against a summoned elemental from the hastily scrawled chalk pentagram used to ward off a pursuing Demon. The first is a Ritual requiring lots of time and material outlay, while the latter is a hastily cast spell with limited materials, but both are just your basic Protection from Evil spell. For Magic-Users, choose your spells carefully, and feel free to improvise their adaptation to 'off-label' use. Have a pesky Earth Elemental? Try casting Dig and see what happens!
Illusionists are the red-headed step children of the AD&D class system. They get the fewest spells to choose from, the majority of which are described in the most abstract of terms. In my reworking of the AD&D rules, Illusionists get their own Cantrips, but do not have access to Rituals. Instead, they get something no one else gets: the ability to choose their spells on the fly. The time that Magic-Users would spend 'memorizing', or that Clerics or Druids would spend 'praying', Illusionists instead spend 'practicing'. They need to practice for a length of time to have the ability to cast a given number of spells in a day, but you don't need to choose the spell until you cast it. You get three first-level spells in a day? Great! They can be three Phantasmal Forces, or a Change Self and two Spooks. You know it, you can cast it as you see fit without declaring it ahead of time, as long as you have all the necessary spell materials. They may have the fewest spells, but now they have the most versatility of all the spell casters!
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