It Slices! It Dices!

Please note that I am actively soliciting comments and game-design questions here on this post, so if you're feeling like you've got something that'll work, or even work "better," please chime in!

edited to add:comments now work [sigh]

So we completely reworked the way we had been doing magic, as a skill roll combination that didn't really fit the comic's view or the system very well. Number of successes and effect weren't really rolled together.

I don't think it's necessarily munchkinism that has some of our players taking advantage of the fact that several "standard actions" in the system rely on a couple combinations of rolls, and putting all their points in those combinations, but it's close enough to give me a frown. Does that count?

So our new methodology is based off a couple of things. First, the number of "magic points" you're willing to devote to an action. Every point spent means there's an effect (we never see a scene in the books where there's a "fizzle"), but the dice rolled in the skill roll can affect the overall success of the event.

The GM was quick to say that built-in story trumps point cost. I don't have any problem with that: maybe it'll work to push people to write their background stories.

The overall scale for the points is a 1-to-10 scale. Ten was told to me to be "world changing events." I got to create the rest:

1. Minor Uses
   
2. Common Uses
   
3. Common Uses with "Oomph"
   
4. Uncommon Use
   
5. Difficult Use
   
6. Life Changing Event
   
7. Rare - Community Changing Event
   
8. Environmental Changing Event (Permanent)
   
9. Large Scale Historical Event
   
10. World Changing Event
    

All fine and dandy, so far. They're fairly differentiated and levels three-to-four feel "magical" whereas one and two are good, basic uses of power.

So what does it actually mean?

We have three "shapers" in the crowd. (So much for, "Not a very magical society." Well, it's what people wanted to play so we suck it up.) One flesh, one rock, one fire. (Which sounds like a funny variant of rock-paper-scissors, doesn't it?)

So here's what I have, and what I want more input on, particularly.

Fleshshaping/Healing

1. Aches, sprains, bruises, minor wounds, remove scars.
   
2. Moderate wounds ("need stitches"), and basic breaking of bones, basic decorative scarring.
   
3. Punctured lungs, organ failures, minor plastic surgery.
   
4. Loss of limbs, cure medium poisons, major plastic surgery.
   
5. Change type of organ (skin to fur, etc.), cure major poison.
   
6. Moderate mind-healing, knowledge of the elf-spirit and its relationship to body, hold spirit in flesh.
   
7. Large-scale shaping, such as limbs to wings, heal the mind/spirit.
   
8. Heal the land, bring back from death.
   
9. [...at a loss. Heal all elves? Heal continent?]
   
10. Heal the world? Settle soul in another body?
    

Fireshaping

1. Match, spark, flicker. Low heat.
   
2. Lighter - longer time, torches. Low-medium heat.
   
3. Hearth/cooking fire. Medium heat.
   
4. Burning flame, medium-high heat, can set wet things aflame.
   
5. Flamethrower effect, burn people.
   
6. Conflagration, high heat.
   
7. Firestorm, direct pure flame.
   
8. Maelstrom and lightning.
   
9. Draw magma from the Earth
   
10. Envelop world in flames.
    

Rockshaping

1. Draw pebbles from ambient earth.
   
2. Draw rocks, make basic tools, or basic designs in existing rock.
   
3. Ornamental tools, detailed designs in existing rock.
   
4. Obelisks, fine tools, draw from bedrock.
   
5. Draw metal from the earth.
   
6. Large-scale building with rock, or draw rock away (to build tunnels, etc.)
   
7. Call boulders from distance.
   
8. Shift bedrock.
   
9. Earthquake, tectonic plates.
   
10. Bring mountains from the Earth.
    

We also have a person with a "Hypnotic Stare" that I'm working on, but it's more a matter of story than points at this stage.

Oh, and finally, any ideas on how to "restore" magic points?