Here are a couple of ideas the Admiral presented to me:

 

The first was to use casting dice+will+trait, but not mind, as effect dice. The second was my system where you get extra magic points based on spell based on how many points you put into spells to become adept at them. The extra points only come into effect when you are eligible for the next level of mastery, and only for spells that you are adept at. These points may only be used for casting of that college and must be used first. They would be recorded as follows:

McBeavis, basic journeyman fire mage, Will d8, Elementalist d8

Magic points 16/+5 (fire only)

If he was a fire mage and a white mage:

Magic points 16/+5 (fire only)/+16 (white only)

If buying more than the minimum for being eligible for the next level of mastery, such as adepting all spells of a given level, they also count for extra magic points. This also includes going back after attaining the next level and buying more spells to adept level. You, after hitting master, count as attaining the next level of mastery after adepting 5 spells for the purposes of getting the extra magic points, but not new spells. Finally, for the purposes of figuring these extra points, elementalism counts as 4 colleges.

EXAMPLE:

McBeavis the fire mage attains master status. His magic points were 16/+5, his spells list looks like this:

Apprentice- Scry Fire, Destroy Fire, Mold Fire, Create Fire, & Avert Fire (all adept, and they grant him 5 extra fire magic points)

Journeyman- Call Salamander (adept), Cooling the fires within (1 point), Fire ball (adept), Fire magic JP (adept), Pilum of flame (adept), The Untempered Soul (adept)

Master- Bind Salamander (adept)

So McBeavis's new magic total is 16/+20 (fire only). Five of the twenty come from the apprentice spells that are adept, the other fifteen come from the all the journeyman spells adept at. Cooling the Fires Within does not count because he's not adept at it, if he wanted to he could become adept at it and it would add another three points for fire magic use. Likewise Bind Salamander doesn't count because because he's not adept at five master spells.

The advantages of this system are that it can cause PCs to go back and become adept at spells they normally wouldn’t. Second it's fairly balanced because PC's can and will go through spell points like candy, and this doubles or triples the amount of spells the can cast, you could, in effect, think of it not as earning more points but as attaining a greater mastery of you school. Third, similar to the first reason, PC's won't pick the most inexpensive route through a college to the next level. Fourth, it may cause PC's not to horde spells points, and encourages more casual spell casting. Fifth, it makes spell casting more cinematic by causing PC's to be able to use big spells 7-10 times during combats or critical points in adventures as opposed to 3-5. And sixth, it makes spells that "lock" spell points into it more desirable. But by far one of it's greatest advantages is its simplicity, aside from adding a simple calculation it changes nothing in the core rules, in essence it's a "quick fix" that works very well, at least for me.

A third option would be to buy your effect dice for a given set of spells (set meaning Cures 1-3) and adding your Will. Things like casting and being adept are unchanged.

 

Firemane’s Note: I agree with the Admiral that some of the spells in the magic system don’t make sense for the given “special effect”  My solution was to junk most of the spells I found questionable and replace them with other spells.  Below is the Admiral’s solution to the situation.  Basically, the spells are the same for the most part as those in the IC magic lists now, but they’ve been given a different special effect.

AIR MAGIC
"Calming the Storm" becomes "Aggressive Air Shield" and works by thickening the air to form a shield that makes motion more difficult. But since it has to settle every time it is broken it only has a chance to affect initiative.

"The Haste of the Zephyr" becomes "Limited Flight" works like the opposite of Aggressive Air Shield.

EARTH MAGIC
"Breaking the Foundations" becomes "Firey Wound" as well as becoming a FIRE spell and works by causing all attacks to be considered to be red hot to the target making it harder to soak.

"The Heart of the Mountain" becomes "Stone Skin" but otherwise it is not affected.

FIRE MAGIC
"Cooling the Fires Within" becomes a WATER spell of the same level and works by lowering your body temperature.

"The Untempered Soul" becomes "Heart of the Mountain" and becomes an EARTH spell. It's FX is like Stone Skin, turning skin to stone, but more limited.

WATER MAGIC
"The Clarity of the Spring" becomes "Salamanders Eye's" as well as becoming a FIRE spell. It allows to see as if everything were well lit, spotlighted as it were, and to see night as it was day. At the Host's option the PC using this spell can see into the IR spectrum.

"Clouding the Waters" becomes "Tracking Fog". The target is encased in thin fog that clings to him as he moves. Since it's so thin and concentrated other people have no trouble seeing the target, though they may have trouble identifying him.