Purchased pre-game. The GM allowed it and everything. He said, “Are you sure you want to use Practical sorcery? It’s kind of weak.”
Yeah, he changed his mind after 6 sessions.
It actually stopped being fun after a little while. Social, Martial, Craftsman, Peasant, and one other category that I can’t remember. Or maybe it was just 4. But whatever the case, I could substitute my G6 Sorcery for something like 100 different skills. I could easily manage 8 gray dice for almost any roll. 10 dice was within reason, too.
Oh, plenty, though this was in our earlier days of playing BW. This was specifically a short-term high-powered side-vs-side scenario that he set up just after the MagBu was first released. We had taken a break from our current game to do a different scenario. [-Kasra-The-Palm-%28Hands-of-the-Sultan%29-Roden-Sorcerer"]I posted the original version of the character a while back.](http://www.burningwheel.org/forum/showthread.php?7660-[BW)
I didn’t actually expect Practical sorcery to be as cheaty as it wound up being. I figured I’d use it for a handful of surprises, but it was so effective with such minor consequences that I abused the hell out of it.
I don’t think either of us have ever used Practical sorcery in another game since then.
I think the GM said that the Tools for Practical Magic would be whatever tools were required by the skill I was substituting for. I don’t have my MagBu on hand, so I don’t know if that was the RAW. Generally, I used my Circles to get what I needed, or I convinced another character ("Oh hi, all my social skills are at a G6) to loan me what I needed.
I think I took some tests at double ob penalty, though.