"Spells are usually classified by Tier from zero to nine."

"Which matches, just, my impression has been that they are not exactly the same as Golarion's circles - they're faster, is the most obvious difference."

"Faster to cast? I am familiar with the characteristics of magic from a commander's perspective, but I am not personally a [Mage]."

"Yes, faster to cast."

"How fast do [Mages] cast in Golarion?"

"I can show you if you like, most spells including cleric spells take the same amount of time." He collects his mug and fills it with water.

"That's the fastest your magic can be cast, even in combat situations?"

"A few spells are faster and some people can learn to cast them at higher circles and make them faster in the process, but yes."

"You are saying that in general, the casting time is an intrinsic property of the spell? Some of our spells have intrinsic casting times, but most are limited by skill and can be cast nearly arbitrarily fast with practice. Spells of higher Tiers are more complex and take longer, which may be another difference, as you are claiming that casting at a higher circle is faster?

"Some approximate numbers: A beginner mage may take two seconds to cast [Light Arrow], and reduce it to half a second with sufficient practice. An advanced mage may take five seconds to cast [Fireball], and reduce it to one second with sufficient practice. An expert may be able to cast [Light Arrow] four times a second, or many simultaneously at once."

"Yes, casting time is an intrinsic part of Golarion spells. Some take much longer, like the one I use to repair broken things, which is zeroth circle."

"Then it indeed appears to be the case that our magic is meaningfully different. And it was already discussed that the nature of our leveling may different. Curious. Did anything about you change when you traveled here? You said the Skills you received since your arrival were unclear in function."

"I got a 'cleric' class, and a couple of skills that claimed to affect my channeling and my prayers but have no obvious function. Also I am fond of chess and have been picking up a bit of 'tactician' from it."

"Your cleric class—abilities, previously, were not mediated by the System of Levels?" This feels perhaps less surprising than it should be, but he's not certain why. "Did you receive a [Cleric] class at a level reflective of your previous level of power, or starting at Level 1?"

"Starting at level 1."

"I would expect that to be a boon for your growth, as it is easier to level at lower levels, and even low-level effects compound. This is why many suggest a 'dip' in classes related to your main one, that is, to acquire a small number of levels without overinvesting effort. However, if your Skills appear to have no effect, it may be irrelevant."

"It could be helping me in some subtle way that I just don't have a way to feel or observe, but..."

"I cannot comment without knowing the specifics."

"You're welcome to observe my next channel if you like."

He's going to take that as invitation to speculate.

"I do not have extrasensory Skills that would provide me particular insight, and I have no baseline to compare against, so I do not expect that to be helpful. If your skills are named [Enhanced Channeling] or [Enhanced Prayer], as is common for beginner Skills, I would expect them to improve their performance but not add distinct features."

"Enhanced Channeling but the prayer one is just called Prayer."

"[Prayer] would be an activated Skill, then. It may add effects rather than merely enhance. I would expect [Enhanced Channeling] to increase your channeling radius, healing power, or both."

"The radius. Ah."

Klbkch is Not Judging.

"Is that likely to happen again?"

"Is what likely to happen again?"