It is easy. You could take the Arcanum and Magic World alone and whip out a quick start magic system in half an hour, fully scalable and with loads more punch and flavor than any D&D 3.5 low level mage. And from there you can scale it as low or high powered as you want.
Even the hit points are easy. An old trick from GURPS, limit fireball to 3D6 on the target hex, then add a second ring for 2D6, a third ring for 1D6, like an explosion under the CoC rules (I usually made that a 6 point spell, nonvariable). Dangerous but not always fatal, esp. with armor; but it can be scaled higher depending on how dangerous you want magic to be. Use major wound level or hit location, distribute damage evenly for the latter. An average roll does a couple of points to each location (target hex, with minor damage to other members of a group in the spells' area of effect). More power, more dice...spell damage could be very potent, but at the risk of running out of magic points, a convenient way for the GM to keep control of the game. You control it, not the rules. No out of control damage inflation..unless you want it that way. Lightning bolt, 2D6 to a targeted location, plus 1D6 from a secondary location where the bolt exits (usually a 3 point nonvariable). Again, dangerous but not overwelming. Elemental magic missile spells, doing 1D8 or 1D10 damage but with varied effects according to the type, fire, ice, stone, etc (usually 1 or 2 points, nonvariable). Sleep (1+ points, depending on how many targets the mage wants to attack at once, POW vs. Pow each). The targets may have Countermagic, in which case you have to overcome the Countermagic first to get through. Demon summoning, to have the demon teach a spell or abduct someone...but you have to strike a bargain, using the demon's true name or other form of coercion, from safe inside your circle of protection. Want real power? Mass rituals to your favorite god with high joint POW sacrifice to achieve whatever you want, as with the Elemental Lords in Stormbringer (for instance). You can let your imagination go and not be constrained by someone elses' imagination. That is the real power of BRP, IMO, just the sheer flexibility without the complexity, stiffness, or constraint in other systems. BRP allows any power level. I hope anyone who has run it outside the stock settings realizes this.
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