[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

So spellcasting takes a least a minute then? If they have high enough skill levels they are going to be able to soak up the penalty for gathering faster. If they have high Magery low level spells will be able to be cast in a minute since they are simply tapping a source.

Note that you'll usually have to soak the -5 to -10 for Mana Level and a -1 to -5 for imperfectly consecrated space, when casting spells on adventures. They'll need the high bonuses from Mandatory and Significant Modifiers, Symbol Drawing and the like.

That being said, I don't really mind if spellcasting in their private sanctums, with all possible bonuses, takes a couple of minutes instead of a couple of hours, assuming they gather enough modifiers to have an adjusted skill level high enough to soak penalties for casting faster.

At the start, at least, no PC will have Magery higher than 3. So far, no one has opted for Magery without some pretty strict Limitations, but that might be because I stated that the more powerful someone is magically, the more his magic interfered with technology.

Spellcasting PCs experience problems with late TL8 devices, at minimum, with anything later than TL4 being suspect, really. It's expressed by traits like Aspected Unluckiness and Lifebane (Technology) and while the medium with minor Path of Spirit rituals and the magical artificer have fairly mild versions, a mage with unlimited Magery 3 would probably have to live as a Luddite to avoid major complications.

A side effect is that technological objects make magic use harder around them, with up to -4 possible for someone loaded up with late TL8 gadgetry. Of course, scientific laboratories and similar high-tech areas are generally No Mana anyway, unless something odd is happening.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Interesting that you're using mana for RPM. I know there is an option to do it, but I've never seen it in the wild.

I figure a general -5 to -10 penalty that applies across the board most of the time will make the extra bonuses from Mandatory and Significant Modifiers and Symbol Drawing a lot more balanced.

In the strange realms where the Mana Levels are not so limited, I guess magic is a frightening force indeed, with all of these possible bonuses and no penalties to absorb, but that's a feature, not a bug.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Magical apocalypse?

The other worlds will bleed into Earth until their eldritch energies and uncanny inhabitants have made it into something unrecognizable to us. And many of those who live in the other realms are hostile or at least callously indifferent to humanity.