"Dogs bark, bugs sting, bears go for the throat."

"......Maybe if I really need more points later."

"Cannot do magic without props? Prop can just be your stave that comes free with rank zero witchery, though other things also work, but if you were not otherwise going to be into witchery, can be inconvenient, low ranks make it a little slow to re-arm after you drop it or something."

"...Maybe, a bit more maybe than the black thumb one."

"Twice as many points as black thumb one, gets you four. In the shopping cart?"

"If I need more points, revisit. How many points do I need to make up with my current set? Actually what even is my current set all told, hold on..."

She peers at various metaphorical bits.

"Right now basket says you are a luxal sorceress, one rank in all the sorceress things, three in hexes, with a witch mark; you have 36 left over if the witch mark is for spending allowance today, but the complications points can also go to long term power cap."

"Complications points can either take me from, say, 20 out of 100 today to 21 out of 100 today, or 20 out of 101? I'd rather the latter, if so. Where's the alchemy and runes?"

"Unclear how much you wanted, you did not say after I mentioned the price."

"Let's maybe go with two ranks of those and hexes? Do I also pick what my ultimate potential is in each now or can that be focused down later? I'm... Going to have plenty of fun fucking around with elementalism even at rank one, right, and rank one and two stuff is probably still employable, right?"

"You can spend ultimate potential any which where. And yes, practicing elementalism is fun. You are putting back rank three of hexes?"

"Yeah I can deal with starting in twos for everything. And I- Oh, wait, shifting and animating stuff is rank three hex. Okay, yeah, keep that. Blergh."

Two ranks each Alchemy and Runes go in the basket. "Next complication, if there is magic you never want to touch, get four points to not be able to. Can take three of if if you want. Has to be something you could do anyway, so, no restricting faction magic for factions you shan't have anything to do with anyhow."

"...What's the redeeming value of curses, necromancy, and demon summoning?"

"All popular selections for this complication! Curses are basically just another combat magic to most people, it is not much friendlier to set someone on fire than to give him a sickness or make him have an accident or give him the nature-hates-him feature or send him to go berserk for a bit. Big draw of the curse format is conditionality - curse a guy to trip over and fall if he says slurs or violates restraining order or something. Attaching other magic to curses lets other things be also conditional. Rank three gets you voodoo dolls. Rank five gets the curse of immortality, which is perhaps heaviest duty out of all forms of immortality, and soups up the voodoo dolls, though for big curses you need full moons at some point in your process.

"Necromancy has combat features mostly redundant for a sorceress - not much better to throw bones at somebody than metal slugs - but also a rank zero effect you would lock out if you restrict it to let witches see ghosts and spirit creatures. Buying ranks would get you talking to dead people as though on the phone at one, sprucing up feral ghosts so they can think straight and go to a nice safe afterlife at two, stick volunteer spirits to constructs so they can go around revenanting at three, by rank five you can be a lich with your soul hidden in an egg or whatever strikes your fancy.

"Consortation gets you demons who will trade favors with you. Many witches use this up to midrank no problem as a magic Craigslist, starting with little six inch imps at rank one - I think these are possibly more useful to tiny witches - on up through foliots, succubi, nabasus, balors, astarothi, all want you to do appropriate classic sin things for their labor, I know a very nice spa staffed with sloth demons who like it when you lie around doing no things. Rank five is only good if you want to give a boss demon a soul at least every month or refinance with also souls in some other configuration. Which I am neutral about you doing. If you do want to do that it's another immortality method, gets you a big whack of more power points or another standard wish but people usually go for the power points one, also you keep your loot if your boss demon should die in some way though they do not do this each Tuesday. Some witches turn into demons their own selves in this way also."

"...Mmh. I might want some necromancy for the tending to the dead aspect. It's... It doesn't sound fun, but... It sounds like it needs doing."

"Does need doing, does not specifically need you doing if it is not your best life."

"But like. If I don't who will."

"Necromancers! I give out necromancy like candy here, you know, and I am not the only awakener."

"...I can at least confidently say 'no curses'. If I have to smush a monster I can do that with Avatar stuff and ideally I won't ever fight people... If I can help it. Maybe if they're up to evil stuff. I know, I know, before you remind me, neutrality."

Sigh.

"Consortation does not spark joy either."

"Two restrictions in the shopping cart for now. Boop boop. Here is one that makes you socially offputting. Exact presentation varies so it is not like you only have to go find the other people who have this same thing."

"Meh... I've dealt with being the weirdo. It's not so bad. Solid maybe? Like, let's not confirm it but put it in front of anything else if I need points."

"One that makes you very delicious looking to monsters?"

"-Ooh. It'll save time on hunting them down if I decide fighting is in my blood. Which. It sounds appealing in a way just like crafting-type work, but also dangerous. This is- By 'monsters' you mean things that will pretty reliably kill people, right, not like, magic geese minding their own business in a magic pond?"

"Such a time saver for a monster hunter, yes. Not magic geese, not normal bears, big things with too many heads or paralyzing screeches or what have you. Three ranks of any elementalism will put your usual monster down hard if your wits are where you last saw them."