Opposing Magics
I think part of the confusion is that they didn't stay within scheme when forbidding schools. Schools of philosophy should only oppose philosophies, schools of effect should only oppose schools of effect, and schools of Thaumaturgy should only oppose schools of thaumaturgy.
My proposed new oppositions (for non-philosophy schools). Since there might be some overlap, always assume that a spell that is both in the person's specialty school and in an opposition school is castable by the wizard... if its in an opposition and peripheral school, it is not.
Effect
Elementalist - Opposite Element
Dimensionalist - Force
Force Mage -Mentalist, Shadow Mage
Mentalist - Force
Shadow- Force
Yes, that's quite a few that forbid force, but it is the least like any of them, and it didn't seem right to forbid them the elements. Besides, given the power of that school, it seems appropriate. Force has the two forbidden that it does because those deal in hazy unrealities... while the philosophy of a force mage might allow for aberration in its application (Dimensionalism), neither you can't use force to influence either Shadow or the Mind.
Thaumaturgical Schools
Alchemist - Song
Artificer - Song
Geometer - Song
Song - Artificer
The weird part of this group is that Song really is the Odd Man out in this case. While Alchemists, Artificers, and Geometers can all be assumed to work within a strict formula, Song mages seem to have a more naturalistic approach, trying to make the song sound good as well as achieve the effect. I would have forbidden all the other schools to a song mage, but that would have limited them too far, so I concentrated on Artifice, which seems to me to be the least changeable.
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