Now we need the dicepool ranges that are to be expected from chargen:
Ideal Generalist
- Magic 6
- Spellcasting 6
- Power focus 2 (restricted gear 4)
- mentor boni
- spellcasting specialisation
- spell category foci 3 (restricted gear 5)
- Aid spell services 3-5
- Edge 2-7
Conclusion: The maximum chargen generalist spellcasting pool is 16. Category boni go up to 9, boosters up to 13 dice. Unless I´m missing something.
Derivative: If you look how samurai are usually build, a mage will have at least magic 5, spellcasting 5, a mentor spirit, and a power focus.
Hypothesis:
Mages were previously simply able to do anything without trying very hard. (Annectotal evidence: My own mage has magic 4 and spellcasting 4, and I´m certainly not playing gimped chars.) It was suggested that low magic, low skill mages that don´t have any foci are now out of luck on the hardest targets for their spells. I would assume that a change that makes foci way cheaper, and gives mages something to spend their money on, will improve the mundane/awakened balance. Each part of the ruleset has a "working range" of dicepools and thresholds, and the changes have made the system able to deal with dp´s of 15-20. (Some loss on the lower end is unavoidable, but spirits and many spells on many targets continue to work as before.)
Any statistical judgement on the new balance has to include that mages receive an effective 33% rebate on everything they ever used to buy before, excepting even more magic.
QUOTE
"Should characters right out of chargen be the benchmark for measuring whether the toughest OR objects in existence are defeatable?"
Honest answer? Yes, they should be able to be used as that. This would follow from the balance of the other parts of the ruleset. As per the analysis above, they can be, too.