[Tripper] an idea from last weekend

[Shawn De Arment]

This is an incompletely formed idea I had over the weekend. I think 
there are some good bits in there. I'm still thinking it through in my 
head. Is there something in there that you like?

A Mentalist has one or more of the 12 (or more) Discipline. Each 
Discipline functions like a great Scaled Meta-Spell. Once a Character 
knows/has a Disciple, she can use it for a number of Applications. For 
instance, Electro-Magnetic Control [formerly Electrokinesis], the Power 
to control Electricity, Electromagnetic Radiation, and Magnetism, can 
be used to:
1.	Cause a nearby transformer to shoot lightning a target
2.	An awareness of all the energies around you
3.	Cause energy weapons, lightning, and gamma rays to bend around you
4.	Cause energy weapon discharge to bounce directly back to its source
5.	Cause light to bend around you making you invisible
6.	Causing the sun's rays to focus on the tip of a cigar, igniting it
7.	Causing a speeding car's electrical systems including its engine to 
fail
8.	Causing machines to be fooled and Psi-Cracking computers

How does a GM quickly come up with a spell level that is consistent? By 
consistent, I mean that you could follow the GM's or a player's math to 
come up with the same level for the effect.

I envision a table for Electro-Magnetic Control that has the spell 
levels [from 0 (or 1/2) for Cantrips, to 10 (or 9)] as the rows and 
columns relating to the effects (i.e. Range, Source, Damage, Awareness, 
Shield, Shield w/Missile Return, Manipulation [Simple], Manipulation 
[Complex], Manipulation [Multiplex], Destroy, etc.). The player and GM 
could consult this table to determine the level and mechanical effects 
of the spell.

I haven't got the tables worked out yet, but below will give you some 
idea of how it works.

For application 1, the GM looks under the column Source to find the 
level of the transformer. That level is the limit to how high up you 
can go on the Damage column. The Damage column is adapted from the 
Sorcerer column of the same name. Both the Source and the Target must 
both be within range. The player chooses a level of Damage equal to or 
lower than the level of Source. The Application level is the higher of 
the Range and the Damage.  The Extras column (first column of the table 
after the one that labels the spell levels) indicates how many Extras 
are appropriate for a spell of this level. If the Damage level, the 
main effect of the spell, is lower than the range level, then more 
extras may be allowed. Extras may be different main effects, like 
"damage electrical equipment". They may modify the effect, like "area 
effect".

The Damage column, for Application 1, has duration of Instant. During 
combat, it would take 1 action for the mentalist to call up/prepare the 
Power. On her next action, she can "cast" the lightning bolt. On her 
following action she could continue, "casting" the lighting bolts.

The Awareness Column for Application 2 has increasing knowledge and 
information as you increase the levels. It is compared with the range 
to get the final level.

For Application 3 and 4, The Shield and Shield with Missile Return 
Columns are from the Wizard College.

Application 5's main effect is invisibility. If it isn't listed under 
Electro-Magnetic Control, just look under Illusions and you'll find a 
bunch of columns for Invisibility. The Player decides that some level 
of Awareness is necessary because otherwise there would be no way for 
the character to see. The Range would be the greater of the 
manipulation (the area of bent light) and the area of awareness. The 
level of the Application would be higher of the Range, Awareness, and 
Invisibility, with Awareness and Invisibility as the main effects.

Application 6's main effect is Cantrip level, but on a cloudy day, the 
size of the source, the area of the sun's rays, may kick it up to 1st 
level.

The main effect, is Application 7, is a manipulation. The complexity of 
the car's electrical system would indicate which Manipulation Column to 
use. The size of the car's electrical system under that Column would 
give you the level of the main effect. The greater of the Range of the 
car and the Manipulate would be the Applications level. Note that this 
is a manipulation, so it would not damage any thing. For that you would 
have to add destroy electronics.