We're doing magic a little differently.

At all costs, we're avoiding the 2 spell/level wizard knowledge approach. Despite keeping the 2 Mana/level mechanic.

All magic-using classes, including pure casters, should get their magic in useful blocks, very roughly similar to Cleric domains. That's combat magic mind--everything else should be in ritual form.

Ritual Magic

• Comes from skills (e.g. Thaumaturgy, Invocation, etc), not classes (although the classes grant the skills)
• Might take a few rounds or minutes, will involve skill checks, but most importantly...
• There is a cost! And not always mere mana

Costs

All magic has a cost. The easy stuff that just costs Mana is covered by classes. Rituals go beyond that.

The cost of magic is determined primarily by what kind of magic it is.

• Elementalism
  • The guiding principle of the elements is balance. Magic that brings the elements closer to balance is favored--that which puts them further apart is resisted.
  • Some spells place a geas on the caster, a sort of lien that requires them to redress the balance of nature, lest they suffer its wrath.
• Thaumaturgy
  • Cost is the karmic weight of the intent of a spell. Positive energy leads to positive consequences, and negative to negative. This doesn't mean it's impossible to use magic to harm anyone. Those for whom negative consequences are owed for their own misdeeds are ripe targets for hostile thaumaturgy. A clever user of this magic is "helping" karmic consequence take hold.
  • A spell that causes positive effect is generally not opposed. Negative effects cause a karmic weight to be applied to the caster, although this can be avoided if the subject is well-chosen, and the spell is well-applied to fit the natural consequences they might have expected. In fact, when done well, this can increase the effect of a spell.
• Invocation
  • It's simply not possible to get anything from an extraplanar entity without giving something in return. If one foolishly attempts to do so, they will find themselves owing a debt to that entity, and failing to specify exact terms prior to accepting power gives the entity all of the power to define them.
  • Thus, the system allows for debts of power to entities when magic is used unwisely, as well as a system of "equal exchange" where power can be granted with immediate satisfaction of payment, if the terms are agreed to.
  • A particularly nefarious option for the most immoral invokers is to use Soul Magic. All of the debts one might owe, all the costs one might pay--they are incurred to the very soul, inescapable--unless that soul isn't yours. Through powerful and evil magicks, invokers can gain the souls of others--in part or whole--and trade against those souls rather than their own. A bylaw of the laws of mortality means that mortals can take possession of another mortal's soul unwillingly, something immortals cannot do.