I woke up this morning and thought...

[Ace]

One campaign setting I saw had these features - They might be appropriate for your purposes. Both of them assume you keep a Vancian magic system.

1) Memorizing spells (i.e., the process of preparing them) is an inherently dangerous process that involves literally casting your consciousness from your body in to the Unknowable Other beyond reality and capturing the spells from that space. .

Stay out of my Head! That exactly how it works IMC

 

[Ferret]

Again... Vancian?

 

[Scion]

Vancian?

Just a name for the 'fire and forget' magic system that is the d&d default for wizards and clerics

Although I always thought it was 'vanican' not 'vancian' ahh well, learn how to unmispell things everyday, time to go forget again.

 

[AeroDm]

The word Vancian is stolen from an author (Jack Vance?) who wrote of a fantasy setting where wizards memorized their spells and then forgot them after casting them. Homage was later paid to him by naming the god of magic in the default D&D setting Vecna, an anagram of Vance.

 

[questionmark]

What your aiming for also sounds alot like magic in the robert jordan wheel of time series. i know there is a game for it and (i have not played it i have only read the books) are you familiar with this setting?

For the monk another way to "cast" your chains of attacks is to couple the dex and level requirements with a physical cost. Like how a barbarian becomes tired after his rage ends. make the martial side of your world as dangerous as the magical. where certain techniques can be as deadly to the person using them as the one recieving them. as the martial character gains levels these atacks become easier to use as well as gaining new, more powerful techs.also mix and match the requirements for the different chains some may require great strength or dex where others may require int or wis this way the monks wont all be the same everywhere in the world your attributes dertimine your style of combat.

 

[Ferret]

Hmm I never though of it like that, martial could be bad for you... No, I don't think that would be good. I'm limiting magic like that because it is going to be more effective, and powerful. Martial arts should stay at the same power.

 

[Ferret]

I have just decided that the major magic user that I have talked about, will be the sorcerer and will be mainly offensive (or rather destructive); the lesser mage will be based on the wizard and be able to craft focus, the main way that they can cast spells. The focus will store there spells (except cantrips) rather then them being memorised, but a large store can be writen into a book.