underpowered animal ally

[Kromm]

Perk limits are mandatory for styles – magical or martial – to give styles added value, but merely a suggestion to the GM otherwise. General perks are on top of anything specific you get for styles. If you have 40 points in the skills of a fighting style, you can learn four Style Perks for your style and two extra for all those points you spent. If you have 20 points in the spells of a magical style, you can learn two Magic Perks for your style and one extra for having lots of spells. If the GM imposes the "one perk per 25 points" limit from Power-Ups 2, that's an extra bonus . . . a lot like "any PC can have five quirks, regardless of how many points he's worth or what he spends his points on." Thus, if your 150-point PC has 40 points in the skills of a fighting style and 20 points in the spells of a magical style, he can have six general perks, six Style Perks, and three Magic Perks in total.

Magic Perks and Style Perks tend to be a lot more potent than general perks, so their limits are more important. The idea is that these perks serve as small enhancements on magic or combat capability, priced to scale with skill-point outlay rather than the cost of enabling advantages (Magery, Trained by a Master, etc.). Whereas while general perks can enhance skills, they're mainly about characterization – like quirks, but unequivocally beneficial. If the GM limits these, it's more to avoid hard-to-roleplay characters than to balance capabilities.