And it is the damage modifier that tips the scale to charging more. This gets even more out of whack when the mages have PP multipliers. Up the damage on ball spells, or bolts for that matter, and fighters essentially become porters for the mages.
In that case, why not remove those options from the Spell Mastery discription altogether, and re-introduce the optional rules from RM2 where ANY caster can simply expend a multiple of PP to do a multiple of damage
without resorting to Spell Mastery to do so.?
And the suggested amendment
still makes the fighters porters, because the Mages will simply be exhausted faster...and need to be carried everywhere
.
The disparity in power levels of the various professions at various levels aside (in which the balance is reversed at mid to low -levels from fighter to spellcaster), I feel that Spell Mastery is the Spell casters equivilent of Combat Manuevers for the Arms classes. It adds interest for the player and encourages imaginative use of spells. Magic is meant to be imaginative after all.
While it is true that the power levels are adjusted upwards it should not be forgotten that the character has sacrificed other safer options in order to effectively specialise. That character will be weaker in some areas, which is the balancing factor.
At lower levels it is an extremely risky proposition (close to suicidal...) to even attempt the simplist things (let alone with any penalties). At mid-levels some of the simpler modifications become managable (but even then no certainty).
At high levels (Lord Level) some of the modifications could threaten to be come easy... but by that level the base damage of Fireballs and Bolts hasn't changed noticably from when the caster could cast them for the first time and by that level the foes tend to ignore such piddling spells.
My earlier suggestion (one that I use myself) is that if the targets/radius is increased then the overall effect (mainly damage) be reduced proportionately does work well. True, it doesn't work with Non-damaging spells quite as well, but they really aren't that much of a problem, at least according to the responses here.
Example: a Magician casting a Fireball at x2 area (-20) does half normal concussion damage. (I also lower the effects of any resulting criticals as well, perhaps a penalty of a step (from B to an A, A to A-25) or more depending upon the magniture (eg x3 would be a 2 step decrease) . If the Magician wants to do the same damage as a normal fireball then he would have to accept a further penalties in order to increase the damage.
The thing to remember is that to achieve this supposedly
unbalanced ability that caster would have diverted considerable resources throughout their career in order to reap the rewards at a higher level. If a GM allows a Pro-rated 20th level character this option, then THAT is the problem, since the player simply hasn't suffered for his art. This sort of thing leads to the powergaming munchkinism that gives the Spell Mastery skill a bad name.