I haven't had a chance to play this game yet but I was wondering for those that want to reduce the versatility of the magic system I had an idea (which may not be effective since I haven't had a chance to play the game yet ).

Would something like letting the players craft one type of spell (type, modifiers etc) per certain amount of XP work? Maybe a 25,50 or 100xp benchmark and maybe a couple of spells too start with based on starting 100xp experience?

The heroic feats made me think of the idea, where the power can be improved based on XP levels but does not become an XP sink that requires them to be spent.

What do people think, doable, ridiculous, needs refining?

Happy for all constructive criticism either way as I haven't had a chance to play yet (hoping to get my first game in a couple of weeks).

seems reasonable, but non-casters may feel left out if only the casters get to receive spells (or spell improvements) on those xp benchmarks. maybe introduce some equivalent for them, or just wait for realms of terrinoth to see how exactly heroic abilites work and then go from there.

one thing i'm thinking about doing to reduce magic versatility is to have each magic skill start with one spell (arcane: attack, divine: heal, primal: conjure) + utility, and the other spells can be successively aquired with a ranked tier 1 talent (so that each additional spell gets more and more expensive).

I think the being able to add one spell would reduce spell casters versatility as opposed to being able to cast anything they like off the bat but you are right it might be worth seeing where Realms of Terrinoth takes heroic abilities.

Having players have to buy talents is definitely another effective way to even it out with non-spell casters.