7 Meta-Level Magic Skills

1. Essence Efficiency

The Essence Efficiency or Mana Efficiency skill allows a magic user to do more with less. This is for magic systems that utilize mana points for casting magic and not memorized slots, as it is less useful in that system. As this skill increases, it reduces the cost of spells to cast. This can be a core mechanic for allowing weaker characters to pack more firepower without extreme measures. 

My Essence Efficiency Lvl VI makes my Fireball cost 30% less mana to cast. Woooooo

2. Essence Manipulation

Essence or mana manipulation allows the caster of a spell to alter the fundamental dimensions of a spell, such as changing a cone to a ray, or a ray to an area of effect spell. The larger the shift, the more the spell might cost, or is the range is reduced, the cost might decrease. Reducing a Prismatic Spray to a Prismatic Finger spell could reduce the cost by half. Turning Bigby's Grasping Hand into Bigby's Wall of Grasping Hands would dramatically increase its cost.

My Essence Manipulation III lets me turn my fireball into a projectile attack that explodes in a cone instead of a area of attack blast. The damage is the same, but there is less collateral damage risk, and the spell costs 15% less. Yeah boi!!!

3. Essence Shaping

Essence Shaping isn't so much about changing the literate shape of a magic spell, but changing the flow of magic within a magic spell. This can be done in fluff by ascribing rotation of the essence in a magic missile to on paper give it armor penetration, or accelerating the flow of essence in a spell to make it kick faster, cutting the casting time, or doubling the range. 

My Essence Shaping V has allowed my to start throwing Knuckle-Fireballs, Splitter-Fireballs, and Fast-Fireballs. I can thread a needle between two goblins to hit the troll right in the knackers for fifty paces. I've got the Gnoll Ryan's Fireball arm on me.

4. Essence Fusion

Essence or mana fusion is the fine and highly dangerous art of casting spells with not just pure essence, but corrupted, or elemental essence, or adding elemental or corrupted essence to magic spells. In the test Magic Missile is a pure magic spell, but a practitioner of this meta-magic skill can blend elements like thunder, ice, or fire with their magic missile, granting it secondary effects. This can increase the cost of a spell, but can easily be offset by using corrupted essence sources, such as tapping into a volcanic power node to fire exploding magic missiles.

With Essence Fusion, I can add the Poison subtype to my fireball spell. The flames are a wicked cool purple color, and the cloud of roiling smoke that comes after can choke and suffocate weak or injured foes. Dont use indoors without a way to cover your face or better have some good Potions of Poison Resistance.

5. Essence Condensation

This is a tricky one, very esoteric. Essence, exists in a variety of physical states, and the vast majority of magic is based around magic being fueled by essence at the lowest densities. In the general order, its vapor, mist, liquid, solid, and crystal. Magic spells are as mentioned calculated at the vapor level, or empowered at the mist level. Trying to cast spells from higher essence densities than this is Chernobyl dangerous. Having access to this means that the practitioner can tap into other sources of essence. Dungeon Cores have this as an innate ability, as they are top tier crystalline magic items themselves, and cast from the solid level of essence. Hence, they have no issue chain summoning monsters, expanding chambers and traps overnight, and other abilities. 

With Essence Condensation, I can extract the essence from a beast core efficiently and use it as a power source. Most people just fire it off, get a single spell and a handful of dungeon dust out of it. Don't get me wrong, no no no, there is NOTHING like hitting off a level 22 Fireball spell from a manticore beast core, then ripping a double barrel of beast core dust to wipe a dungeon fight. But its really better to only use like 60% of the essence in the core, fire off a level twenty fireball and sober, leave the core to recharge itself overnight in a dungeon, or in a fortnight outside.

6. Spell Mastery

Spell Mastery is generally an ignored ability because it has to be bought with XP on a spell to spell basis. The only people who follow this path are generally crafters who use magic to make specific items, and they do it to reduce the demand in terms of energy used. Adventurers who follow spell mastery are rare, because more feel that having a large repetoire of spells is better than having just a few spells that are highly variable. 

Here's the deal, there is only ONE spell that matters. It's Fireball. I've give the Lightning Bolt people half credit, and everyone else gets a failing grade. I have reached the pinnacle, Spell Mastery X: Fireball. No one can fireball better than me, ever. I always get huge amounts of damage, my collateral damage is almost non-existent, and where most people do good to get of two or three in a day, I can JUGGLE that many at one time as a dungeon FLEX. BAM!

7. Spell Transcendence

Spells and spell effects exist at different levels, like essence itself. Spells that require condensed essence cannot be cast at a lower lower, and casting mist level spells with solid essence is a dangerous proposition. This differs from Spell Condensation, because that is developing an ability to gain essence from other sources, converting it to the ideal state, and then using it. Spell Transcendence changes the essence used for a spell. This can typically be used to make spells more efficient, such as reducing their core essence level required. This is not done without a cost, as the spells are operating at a lower power level. The opposite works the same well, with low power spells being used with transcendent power being much more potent. The previous fluff entries have all centered around fireball as the example, and there are many combat spells that benefit from being ramped to a new power level. Where this meta skill shines is in non-combat spells, such as transcendent level summoning spells permanently summoning creatures, growth spells dropping a season harvest in a day, and spells related to building, crafting, identification, and so forth creating absolute wonders and legendary effects.

Yeah, I've really put the work in. My Transcendent Fireball spell can burn fire elementals, vaporize water spirits, and even burn the hair off Belial's arsehole. But somehow, I seem to spend more time using it on absolutely tiny fireballs to light my pipe, or to incinerate mosquitos,