[peterb]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

Actually, it's a bit wonky since technically skills that are a 0% are just that, and you have to buy them from there. Spells would, assumedly, start at 0 unless you bought them, at which they become 30% or whatever the new base is.

You could perhaps do something like the MRQ version, wherein you spend 10 skill points at which you gain the skill at INT+POW, and VHard Spells at (Int+Pow)/2. Then add Magery perhaps?

Well, that would certainly work. The main thing is to not make it too easy nor too difficult to play a inexperienced mage.

Originally Posted by Tywyll

At what point would you become immune to those penalties though? As I understand it, you simply can't cast those spells without doing those gestures and rituals, until a certain level of skill at which point you lose those requirements, but you aren't able to cast without the rituals. Or would you simply use the limitations instead?

I'll use the penalties. At high skill levels mages will be able to afford those penalties.

Originally Posted by Tywyll

Lower casting cost? The spells cost seems about the same between the two systems. Sometimes mush more (Protection costing 2xpt of protection and only lasting a minute!).

I'm referring to the lower cost to maintain spells that good casters get. See below...

Originally Posted by Tywyll

That doesn't seem particularly fair to the casters, unless you are keeping the rules that at a certain level of skill you can reduce the maintenance cost of a spell (15 or higher in gurps reduces the maintenance by 1 per round, allowing many protective spells to be maintained for free, ). When would that kick in? 75% for -1(15)? 100% for -2(20)? 125% for -3(25)?

I would use the reduced maintenance cost rule. Multiplying a Gurps skill level by 5 (as you did seems the right thing), so yes: at 75% the maintenance cost is reduced by 1, at 100% by 2 and at every additional 25 percentiles of skill by an aditional one point. The minimum cost would, still, be 1.