That's a cool rule Saturno. Do you use Vancian memorization in your campaigns then? In RAW ACKS, a caster doesn't prepare or forget spells, so he'd have all his cantrips until he spent all his spell slots. Or is that how you do it?
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Well you are correct, I misspoke and mixed the two systems! I do not use the Vancian system when I play ACKS (but I do in other systems), and I got confused. So to clarify how that would work outside of Vancian Magic: As long as the character has a single spell slot not used he can produce the cantrips related to all spells he has in his repertoire. So if I drop Sleep and take Charm Person I would exchange one cantrip for the other. If I have both on my repertoire I can use both cantrips as long as I have a spell slot left. I RP the spell slots as a abstract form of mana or magic power, so a Mage who have cast all his spells is tired, drained, etc. It has no weight in rules, it is just a description.
There is nothing 'wussy' about the mage. With the right spell in the right place and equipped with magic items, he saves the day. Some spells a better choice for a given situation, than other. When the mage is out of spells, he has his magic items to use. On early levels, low on spell and items, it is hard for a mage to survive. That is good, because you don't want to fill the world with to many high level wizards! The keyword with mages is to prepare, stock up and to create items. If done and played right, the mage rules the day.
If you as a GM give out few appropriate magic items and think it is a bit 'un-magey' to cast darts; Then I think it is a good idea to allow the mage to create a stick (wand) that can shoot dart like elemental missiles that require a hit roll and deals 1d3 in some type of damage within dart range (elderwood for poison or such). Perhaps the 'wand' has a component cost and some charges. Like a magic version of dart throwing. Consider the price. Its all about the flavor and how it feels. If the game effect is more or less the same as the dart, I think it really does not matter - only how it feels.