The lich custom kit that someone made is great if you think the mages way of spellcasting is unrealistic(but it IS a world where dragons and giants exist so I suppose they can ge away with it). They have a certain amount of spell points per day and the cost of a spell increases with each spell level so its more like a mana system. I forgot the link though so maybe some kind member(not THAT member rudedawg) can post the link.
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Welcome to hell.