[RPM] Cost/Balance of <<Effect>> or <<Path + Effect>> Only?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Klark

I was under the impression that if a spell included anything outside of the "X Only" limitation, it wouldn't receive the benefits of the advantage.

Yeah, that's one way to do it. But I don't like punishing people for specializing. For example, if a character were casting a magical landmine spell with a Greater Create Matter + Lesser Sense Mind to damage only sentient targets, I'd definitely allow them to use their mana reserve...but sense the spell uses two effects and Path of Matter is going to be lower than Path of Mind, it sort of sidesteps "always being able to use my better skill," which is I think the problem.

Originally Posted by Klark

And looking through the effects again, more limited effects like Sense or Restore have lower energy costs than Create or Transform. A Restore Body specialist might not pay less for his advantages than a Create Matter specialist, but, going by the basic effect costs, his spells will cost significantly less on average. That means that he can get by with a lower skill level, effectively getting points back from his specialization anyway.

That's kind of the point of specializing. Some things are simply going to be a better deal in the right circumstances. Restore guy is going to be able to heal and fix stuff willynilly - but he needs something to fix or restore. Create guy can just work with nothing and get just about any tool he needs for any situation.