Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27245696-20160528173422

I discovered we've been playing a few of the Magic rules incorrectly; energy cost and magic rituals.

Casting and maintenance cost is discounted by 1 energy according the the base skill level, not the effective one as we've been playing thus far. The only override for this according to Magic (M8) is a low mana zone. That makes it less necessary to raise spells beyond level 15 because maintained spells only impact the effective skill level, not the base one.

The ritual magic rules, however, may make players decide to get some of their base spell levels to 20+. Here's a brief summary of those rules from Magic (M8, M9):
 * 9-: Firm words and dance using both hands and both feet
 * 10-14: Quiet words and gestures
 * 15-19: Quiet words or gestures; reduce cost by 1
 * 20-24: No rituals; reduce cost by 2 and halve time to cast

There's an optional rule for rituals that lets spell-casters avoid using them for a penalty or include them for a bonus. This is detailed in Magic (M8) under the "Optional Rule: Alternate Magic Rules" section. Of course, taking a penalty is only necessary if your base skill level would require you to use dances, gestures, and/or words. 