[Murezor]

Hey everyone - I hope all of you are healthy and happy.

I'm creating a new custom setting for an upcoming solo RPG. I think it's best described as Burn Notice meets fantasy and Cthulhu in the steam era. It's heavily influenced by the second Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson.

So here's the concept.. This takes place on a different world, like Earth but not Earth. The solo campaign centers around a mage who was trained in a school specializing in counter intelligence. He takes on all kinds of spy-oriented missions and gets pulled into all kinds of intrigue.

A little history on magic - It reappeared on the planet after disappearing for a thousand years - the result of some powerful spell that hid it from all life on the planet. Humans had been abusing magic for so long that they damaged the "magisphere" (thanks Spellmonger) and the side-effect was that it allowed for a horrifying old one to start entering this world. He's already sent many minions which will be the main enemy that our solo mage faces.

Here's where I need help. My friend and I are both a little tired fo the standard magic system. We'd like something a little more fresh but also something that represents how misuse in magic can damage the magisphere. Imagine abusing magic too much one day and having a wraith come from the void and start hunting you. Threshold magic seems like an obvious choice but I really don't want to go back to the standard system. I like incantation magic from Dungeon Fantasy 19 but not sure how to handle the abuse effect... I like the idea of a central skill driving all derivative magic (like with Path, RPM, incantation, etc) but I worry a little about all the flexibility it provides. I can envision lots of "can I do X?" kind of questions that might slow the game and make my head spin. All ideas are welcome.