Can you help me by explaining how important the mental stress track is to a caster? On this thread, you've said that it's a huge deal to add extra boxes; but on another thread, you've said that an extra benefit that allowed you to clear your mental stress track (effectively adding extra boxes) was too weak. I'm confused, and I feel like I'm misunderstanding something.
Also, I'm going back to the "cast low-level spells for free" power, because while I agree that it's a plot device kind of power, I'm trying to stat out the progression of a character from apprentice wizard to Kemmler-level plot device. I still want all the powers I give my character to be reasonable individually, however (the point is to stop my character from becoming a Mary Sue by regulating her power gain). So, would the power be more reasonable if you had to double the usual discipline role to cast spells without stress (and your spells still couldn't have more power than your conviction), the way you have to double the normal rolls you need to cast spells without words? And if so, how much would it cost?