My broad question is, "Are magical enhancements additive?" That is, when more than one enhancement applies to a spell, do those enhancements add when calculating minimum skill? Or, does one use the highest value enhancement to set the minimum skill? In the interests of clarity, here are some specific examples.
Ex. 1
My mage casts a displace self spell to teleport some distance. The Teleport enhancement costs 5 MP, so this clearly requires a minimum displacement skill of 5.
Ex. 2
Now, she casts a version of that spell that allows her to teleport (5 MP) at will (9 MP) over a duration. Does this require a minimum skill of 9, or a minimum skill of 14?
Ex. 3
Finally, she casts a version of the spell that allows her to teleport (5 MP) at will (9 MP) and skip forward 1 round in time (4 MP) every time she does so. Does this version demand a minimum skill of 9, 14, or 18?
And, last but not least, if the answers to examples 2 and 3 are both 14, how can one tell when enhancements add, and when they do not? Is it just the "for an extra 9 MP on top of your Teleport effect" language, or is there some more general rule of thumb at work?
Oh, and two bonus questions! (Lucky you.)
Would it be possible to make the the time skip portion of example 3 optional for each teleport? If so, what would that entail?
P.S. I was pretty frustrated with the magic system at first. Now that I've played a mage through to grade 16, though, I really like the way it fits together. The character's very fun, and has been surprisingly well balanced with the other characters throughout the game. My mage brings a pile of goodness to the table, but doesn't eclipse the three melee combatants (star knight, CHI-fueled martial artist, and mutant) at all.
Ex. 1
My mage casts a displace self spell to teleport some distance. The Teleport enhancement costs 5 MP, so this clearly requires a minimum displacement skill of 5.
Ex. 2
Now, she casts a version of that spell that allows her to teleport (5 MP) at will (9 MP) over a duration. Does this require a minimum skill of 9, or a minimum skill of 14?
Ex. 3
Finally, she casts a version of the spell that allows her to teleport (5 MP) at will (9 MP) and skip forward 1 round in time (4 MP) every time she does so. Does this version demand a minimum skill of 9, 14, or 18?
And, last but not least, if the answers to examples 2 and 3 are both 14, how can one tell when enhancements add, and when they do not? Is it just the "for an extra 9 MP on top of your Teleport effect" language, or is there some more general rule of thumb at work?
Oh, and two bonus questions! (Lucky you.)
Would it be possible to make the the time skip portion of example 3 optional for each teleport? If so, what would that entail?
P.S. I was pretty frustrated with the magic system at first. Now that I've played a mage through to grade 16, though, I really like the way it fits together. The character's very fun, and has been surprisingly well balanced with the other characters throughout the game. My mage brings a pile of goodness to the table, but doesn't eclipse the three melee combatants (star knight, CHI-fueled martial artist, and mutant) at all.