(07-03-2013, 11:07 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: I'd also suggest that it may be that some people (or all people) react poorly to large amounts of Aether until they adapt to it -- similar to people getting altitude sickness until they adapt. Or, perhaps, it's just a common turn of phrase for sickness, similar to how we say "you'll catch your death from that chill." (Though, personally, I think this last idea is pretty far-fetched.It's mentioned in the beginning of the THM quest line that some people have more natural talent for magic while others have none at all...perhaps the people who get aether sickness (us) are ones that are naturally inclined to the aetheric arts (since all PCs can learn magic, and in the storyline spoilers spoilers spoilers) and therefore have some kind of reaction to larger concentrations of the stuff until they acclimate to the new aether levels, like your altitude sickness example.)
On topic, I'd probably also go with your earlier ideas for the most part.
I would imagine that if you know a basic type of magic (fire, healing, water, etc.) then you can do more mundane things with it, but not necessarily different things with it. For instance, someone who knows water can create water to clean themselves off after a bloody battle, but might not be able to separate water from another substance (like poison) as that requires some pretty delicate re-workings of the fabric of time and space. In essence, if it is part of the original spell's function (to create something through magic, be it a bolt of lightning or a blast of fire) then it can theoretically work, but trying to manipulate what is already there would be different. Of course, I always go by the rule of "if it's underpowered and ultimately does not change the game itself, go ahead and do it." So if you were a Thaumaturge that can cast Firaga and just wanted to make the room a few degrees warmer, I'd roll with it.
I also agree that skills from DoW classes aren't inherently magical, but being the special snowflakes that we are we can unconsciously manipulate a small bit of aether to augment our physical skills. Otherwise, I have no idea how I can throw my axe at an enemy and still have it.
