More things to spend XP on.

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Should there be a talent that gives you a couple or three "minor talents" instead, so you can start your career with a few signature moves. Or should you be able to buy them directly from the start instead of other things. Or should they only be available with XP gained later?

[Chris Goodwin]

How about improving your ability to use a spell that you already know?

Spell Improvement: You can spend XP on spells that you know, to improve your effective knowledge of them. The first level of this on a particular spell costs 100 XP; the next level costs +200 XP; and so on, up to a maximum +500 XP for the fifth level (Rule of Five). Each level either reduces the effective minimum IQ of that spell, for the caster only, or grants you +1 to DX for purposes of casting it. Reducing the minimum IQ alleviates the need for gestures, incantations, materials, and whatnot, that the caster has to perform for that spell. This amount is tripled for non-wizards, but otherwise works the same way. You have to already know the spell in order to make use of this; you can't use XP to reduce the IQ requirement for learning it in the first place. If your IQ drops for whatever reason, you can still use the spell, though you'll find it more difficult, potentially requiring the additional accoutrements.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by Chris Goodwin

How about improving your ability to use a spell that you already know?

Spell Improvement: You can spend XP on spells that you know, to improve your effective knowledge of them. The first level of this on a particular spell costs 100 XP; the next level costs +200 XP; and so on, up to a maximum +500 XP for +5 levels (Rule of Five). Each level either reduces the effective minimum IQ of that spell, for the caster only, or grants you +1 to DX for purposes of casting it. Reducing the minimum IQ alleviates the need for gestures, incantations, materials, and whatnot, that the caster has to perform for that spell. This amount is tripled for non-wizards, but otherwise works the same way. You have to already know the spell in order to make use of this; you can't use XP to reduce the IQ requirement for learning it in the first place. If your IQ drops for whatever reason, you can still use the spell, though you'll find it more difficult, potentially requiring the additional accoutrements.

I like this.

[JohnPaulB]

Originally Posted by Nils_Lindeberg

Should there be a talent that gives you a couple or three "minor talents" instead, so you can start your career with a few signature moves. Or should you be able to buy them directly from the start instead of other things. Or should they only be available with XP gained later?

PARTIAL TALENTS or TALENTS IN TRAINING
During Character Creation,

Perhaps start a figure partially knowing a Talent as they are learning it. (buy it at half cost, just put it in your beginning character IQ slot) You cannot use partially learned spells.
You risk fouling it up if you use Talents partially learned.

Do your normal Die Roll for that Talent.

• If you Fail, you Fail.
• If you Crit Success, you succeed.
• If you Crit fail, you CRIT fail.
• But if you succeed, you still have a 50% chance that you still failed. Sort of an UnSavings "Roll": Flip a coin and on Tails you actually failed.

Once you gain enough XP to pay for the other half of the Talent, you do so and you don't need to roll UnSavings Rolls any more.

Perhaps to keep Training Talents from become too common, boost up the up the crit-fail to 15 auto miss, 16 Drop Weapon, 17-18 Break Weapon or the talent's equivalent.

A figure rolls more dice for unskilled roll. But since the figure is becoming 'skilled' in this talent, he rolls as if he knows the spell (with a bit more crit fail and no Crit Success. Joe says "I was this close..." as his charred hair smolders.)

This gives your character some background, helps handle the problem some posters in other threads have about characters needing to be learning their Talents in advance, and it allows the character to give advice that is only partially learned (being obnoxious and perhaps faulty in doing so.) Or even have the GM goad the partially trained into using the half-learned talent because, sure I know how to drive a car... smash.