What are your recommendations for bedroom recessed lights in a step ceiling?
In general I think you are better off having too much light versus too little. If you plan using 50w bulbs, and it turns out to be too much, you can always use lower wattage bulbs or a dimmer.

Be sure to take into account the reflector type of the bulb as this will dictate how much the light spreads.

I disagree with Justin K because if you have too few lights, you start to get shadows and dark spots and assuming you're already at the max wattage, there is nothing you can do to improve the situation other than install more cans.