tarragon

Re: Conversion: the Cleave Feat Consider Cleave (and Great Cleave) are metagame concepts that allow powerful characters to defeat large numbers of weaker enemies faster. By that interpretation sweep is a good the match.

Re: Conspiracy X HERO I really like the Zener cards for determining success. Real psychics are better at playing psychics in the game. I would go with Derek's (and Shrike's) idea for limitation values and use the cards.

Re: Implications of single-aspect magic on game worlds Answering the generic question, and not the specific question, this is a lot like the speculation involved in any alternative history. There are a lot f resources for steam punk alternative realities that answer similar questions. What happens if Babbage finished his calculating engine? What happens if internal combustion engines never develop? What happens if the steam engine is developed 500 years earlier? You might want to look at some of the steam punk resources, like Gurps Steampunk for the kinds of things that need to be thought about to develop your history. For the gates example I like Outsiders writeup. I like the idea that gate makers needed to have seen both ends of their gates. To me that implies several things: * there would be a few incredibly well funded expeditions to discover new territories * there may never be any long range transport, so long range transport may never become "safe" * opening a new area and controlling the only way in could be very valuable until other gates get opened into it and the value drops drastically. This will make constant dangerous exploration a career for certain gate makers.

Vernor Vinge The terren Empire resembles Vernor Vinge's A Fire upon the Deep in some ways. Fire is also an incredibly good book so is definetly worth reading.