Wand-based Elemental Magic - feedback requested

[Varyon]

This is a wand-based magic system. It - and the making of magic items, which even mundane craftsmen can do given appropriate materials and lots of time - is intended to be the only magic available in its setting (Oubliette, a DF setting).

Wands are a special class of magic item - and while I'm calling them wands, they can actually be swords, staves, maces, rings, gauntlets, etc (probably not amulets - I think I want them to be required to be wielded in a hand, although maybe hands-free could be available, but more expensive). Unlike other magic items, wands don't do anything magical (aside from being more resilient and self-repairing, which is a trait all magic items in the setting share) unless wielded by a character with the appropriate skill (possibly needing an appropriate Advantage as well). I'm going to call this skill Manashaping, at least for now (a better name is welcome). Manashaping is a QN/VH skill (QN being Quintessence, the titular "Fifth Attribute" from Pyramid #3/120); it has no defaults. However, this skill is rarely rolled against directly - rather, you roll against the lower of it and another skill, depending on use case. Manashaping is generally useless without a Wand.

For the Wands themselves, they must be designed to be used with one of 10 "elements." Neutral (essentially, non-elemental) Wands are arguably the most common, and use unmodified Manashaping. Wands for the six proper elements of the setting - Fire, Water/Ice, Earth, Wind, Light, and Darkness - are also available, as are Poison, Curse, and Healing; these 9 use Manashaping -5 (this penalty can be reduced/eliminated with a per-element Technique; most Wand-users only train for one or two). A Wand can be designed to be usable for more than one element; additional elements add +20% to the cost (having two conflicting elements, like Earth and Wind, in the same Wand calls for another +20% per conflict; Poison and Curse are compatible with all elements other than Healing; Healing requires a +20% to be in the same Wand as any other elements, and needs an additional +20% for each of Poison and Curse that are in the Wand; an Omni-Wand that can use all 10 would be +300% cost).
(EDIT: I'm considering having Neutral Wands able to use any element, at the cost of 1 FP - or, rather, QP. Elemental Wands have the same price, and you're still at -5 without an appropriate Technique, but there's no FP cost.)

The default uses of Manashaping for a Wand are to either change a weapon to function as the element in question, or to project a beam of the element from the Wand. In the former case, the weapon's damage (including type) is as normal, but based on QN rather than Striking ST, and aside from Neutral gains the element's special effect (as well as counting as the element for purposes of interacting with defenses, vulnerabilities, etc); hitting the target requires a roll against the lower of the normal (DX-based) weapon skill and the (QN-based) Manashaping skill (or appropriate elemental Technique). In the latter case (projecting a beam), the beam has Acc 3, Range equal to 0.5xQN/QN (so 5/10 for a character with QN 10), deals thr damage (based on QN), and can be Blocked, Dodged, or Parried (the last at -2, as for a small thrown weapon). Damage type matches the element, and otherwise functions like Tight Beam Burning without an incendiary effect (so x1 typically, x2 against Vitals, x4 against Skull, can target Armor Chinks/Gaps and the Eye, and can overpenetrate). Bonuses and penalties to hit (for Aiming, Telegraphic Attack, Deceptive Attack, poor visibility, etc) apply only to the combat skill, not to Manashaping.

There's a third use against an unresisting target - you can place the Wand against the target and use a Reach C variant of the beam effect; this simply uses Manashaping, rather than having weapon skill or Innate Attack come into play.

Manashaping can also be used to add a Special Effect; this is most generally used in conjunction with projecting the beam. Special Effects match Enhancements, result in a -1 to Manashaping per +10%, and cost 1 FP per +50% or fraction thereof (optionally, you can spend additional FP - divide the penalty by the amount of FP spent per +50% to determine the new penalty). Each Special Effect can have a Technique to reduce its penalty, but not its cost. I think, rather than letting players dig through the books and come up with their own, I'm going to simply make a list of a +50% Special Effects (much as I did for my Limit Breakers).

The effects of the elements, as well as some example Special Qualities, are listed in the next post.