Magic and Alchemy - the essence of a compromise

Not sure how the agriculture system is going to work but I was thinking there might be 3-4 quality types of reagents:

1. Standard NPC reagent supply, cheap, basic quality, non-durable, non-potent.
2. Player Farmed reagent supply, sold for the same or slightly higher than standard NPC reagents, basic quality, 20% durability. (gathering skill, agriculture)
3. Player Farmed reagent supply, expensive, pristine quality, 40% durability, potency/efficacy modifier. (agriculture)

Beginning and mid level mages can attempt casting spells with no reagents, but experience a high degree of failure, and I would even add side effects. NPC reagents are cheap (2-6gp), widely available and mainly used for training and utility purposes. These basic reagents serve as a gold sink, and to greatly reduce the side effects and fizzle chance of casting spells. So if a spell requires 4 types of reagents and you only have 2, there is a chance you could experience a side effect. As a mage trains the spell, the fizzle chance and side effects of casting without reagents is reduced, and the efficacy goes up. But casting with reagents will always affect spell potency.

When the mage reaches Master (80) in a spell, standard reagents are no longer required to cast the spell, as these spells become truly known to the mage. Side effects are also eliminated. If common reagents are used to cast the spell there is a small efficacy/potency bonus. As a Master in a spell, now it's about tailoring the spells to your needs (customization), and increasing their power. But in order to do this, you will have to harness the power of pristine reagents. Pristine quality reagents are required to gain skill beyond 80, and carry terrible side effects for mages below this skill because they are unable to handle the additional potency of the reagent.

Pristine reagents adds another layer of complexity to the spell. By using these pristine reagents, a Master is now able to use side effects to his advantage through experimentation. I was also thinking that new spells/glyphs should be in order - such as Greater Lightning, and they have pristine reagent requirements.

I had this idea that the 'side effects' would lead players in the direction of unlocking different variants or effects of their spells to customize them. By casting the spell with only 2 out of 3 reagents, it has a chance to unlock a new effect of the specific spell they are casting. Or if the player tries overloading the spell with reagents (2 black pearl instead of 1), it also has a chance to unlock new effects. Players can experiment with the different reagents and the game would give them different messages or hints about what skill might be unlocked. Or perhaps the player must consult a Grandmaster NPC of Air, Death, Life, etc to help the player discover their own unique reagent formula for unlocking these powers.

Also I think I would rather see a parent 'focus' skill similar to Shadowbane, but a bit different. You might have one main focus skill, lets say Air. Based on how many total skills and spells you have trained will determine how high the focus skill is. If I train 2 skills to 80, under this idea, this means those 2 skills would no longer require common reagents. But this would only bring my Air focus skill up to 40 (or whatever). If I trained 4 Air skills/spells up to 80, then my main Air focus skill would be 80 and now all of my air skills would not require common reagents. (considered Master of Air) But you could still cast these spells with reagents if you want for the efficacy bonus. (or perhaps it just adds to the durability factor of reagents and reagents aren't destroyed as much when I cast spells, indicating that the mastery of these spells has conferred much more efficiency in spell casting) Also, you'd be granted the title of Master Tempest or something similar. Grandmaster should have it's own title and prestige as well. Just some ideas

 

@Ancev
I like how you are thinking.
Will respond in full when I have more time.