So you're specialised by Order, say Celestial College. What does that mean?

Channelling gains Power which is generic not "branded", it's spells that are divided by College. What effect does being specialised in your Order have?

It's about the Wind of your College more than the College itself, i'd say.

Narratively winds are different Azyr etc., however mechanically "power is power" and is never differentiated (even if you take the risk of learning spells outside your college).

I just re-read it in the book.

I'll houserule it (i don't have a Mage in my players yet) so Channeling is like Piety. Spec will be the same and the "by order" will be replaced with "Urgent Need" equivalent, Quickcasting.

(Channeling or Piety) Specialisation options: Below capacity, overchannelling, conservative, reckless, (urgent need / quickcasting)

I like your houserule.

I asked FFG and this was exchange (congrats to them on quick turn around).

Question : The Channelling Skill has "by order" as a specialisation. Since power is generic, chanelling is never really "by order" - only spell use (or identification) is - so what does this really mean?

Answer: While power may be considered generic mechanically, in the setting it is a combination of the eight winds of magic. Each wind fuels a certain type or category of spells so a Channelling specialisation of Aqshy, for example, would allow a Bright Wizard to roll an additional fortune die when channelling, since he relies on that wind.

I have a Wizard and he channels pretty well without an extra fortune die all the time (you get one for the Attuned item, there's a card for one etc.) A generic specialisation that applies to all uses of the skill seems too powerful to me. So I think I will use your houserule about "quickcasting" (which he does loads of).

Rob

Same here, i don't like the specialisation to apply ALL the time because it is an Order spec (same problem with Spellcraft/Invocation). A specialisation is a bonus to some uses of a skill, not all uses, for a character. Thus, a Red Wizard whom will only cast Aqshy spells, shouldn't have a permanent bonus. (you cannot argue it is the same for weapon specs, as a Mage can't change his College like a warrior can use both a Hand Weapon and a Great Weapon depending on the situation)

For Spellcasting and Invocation, there are already specialisations that gives a Fortune to casting for each spell Rank.
I would ruled (if/when a Mage joins) that the College/Church spec is a bonus to Knowledge type rolls for those skills.

The Knowledge part of the Spellcasting/Invocation skills is being, to me, equivalent to Education skill for the subjects of Magic and/or Religion. Education covers History, Philosophy, Geography, some sciences or themes not covered by other skills (1st Aid / Medicine / Tradecrafts, etc.). Then, as for Education, you can spec by Order/Faith for extra knowledge, not for actual casting.

Piety is sometimes used, from what i've seen, as a Knowledge skill (Eye for an Eye, TGS), so we could keep Faith specs on it for Knowledge purposes. By extension, you could have Wind specs on Channeling for deeper knowledge on each Wind.

Spellcraft is used as a 'knowledge magic' check I believe. To quote the rulebook:

Advanced skill. Covers knowledge and understanding of basic magical principles and history as well as the fundamental concepts of the Winds of Magic.. Also used to take arcane power and convert it into a spell effect, thus spellcraft is used for the casting portion of arcane magic. The arcane equivalent of the divine skill Invocation.

Also as a point of note, because Quickcasting is common (so you don't sit there doing nothing half the rounds in a fight), the spells tend to have heavier purple costs. This is a way to 'mitigate' that partially by spending XP. You are in essence advancing your skill in your school's magic without having to raise a stat directly or sit on your hands till you tier and can pick up a spare yellow. Most warriors with their greatsword spec are seldom not using their favored weapon, and moreover they tend to have fewer purps on every action (not to mention black dice for being in engagements). I haven't really seen a balance issue with this in our game (ymmv). Also - chaos stars and miscasts keep double-challenge dice bad, even if your fortune dice outweigh it in terms of success/failure mechanic. Keep it in mind when you are considering 'fairness' ^_~