Syntactic Wizard Duel setup.
Magic would be broken down into 10pts per level up to 6.
1 - 3 The mage has understood the basic principles of his tradition. He can use the simplest types of magick, and has reached some self-knowledge. To advance further, he must overcome himself more and more. Many mages change demeanours during their seeking towards the next levels. Many mages never manage to rise above this level, and remain as lesser mages.
4 - 5 The mage apparently masters the external world. Many mages think they have reached a deep understanding of themselves. Most mages on this level have risen far into the ranks of their tradition. The seeking has become very hard, as the mage must not only overcome the flaws of his nature (note the elegant bind here: if the mage roleplays his nature, complete with flaws, he will be awarded more willpower and experience. But if he tries to overcome his flaws, he will not gain this. It is tempting to step off the path.) To raise Arete on this level, the quests can take years.
5 - 6 The mage has mastered his tradition (maybe not in knowledge, but in understanding). He is powerful, and apparently at the height of his power. Many mages on this level are leaders of their traditions. But he will begin to see the flaws, inconsistencies and outright errors of his tradition too. To continue the path, he must take the painful step away from his tradition, losing the support and help it once gave. This may take a lifetime. Many mages never do this, and remain here, trying to lead their traditions. This is probably as far as roleplaying is possible, the later levels are too hard to imagine.
Anything past 6 is perhaps theoretical
6 - 7 The mage has left his tradition, and probably changed his nature as well. These mages are outside the protection and support of the traditions, and their vision is almost impossible to understand even for other mages. Most retreat into the Umbra to escape the Ascension War. Some mages try to find the Oracles to perfect their magick. Others try to find themselves. To continue, the mage must transcend his limited view of the world and/or himself, experiencing a second Awakening. This can take several centuries to do. Many mages prefer to remain on this level, finding pleasure in their power or self-knowledge. 7 - 8 This is the level of the Oracles. They have realized that their old ideas about the spheres work was just another arbitrary way to look at reality. They are able to freely choose they way they like to see magick; in the same way a lesser mage can change reality by viewing it in an arbitrary way, an Oracle can change the way they (or anybody else) see magick. Thus they transcend spheric magick, being able to use magick in any way they want. this can take thousands of years. Many Oracles prefer to remain Oracles, but a few tries to understand the world even further. 9 - 10 These levels are so high that maybe only the most advanced Oracles can even begin
A lot of the 'power level' comes from Power levels in Mage:The Ascension in World of Darkness.
1 -> Sense and awareness
2 -> minor manipulation
3 -> manipulation
4 -> gross/strong manipulation, minor creation
5 -> major creation
6 -> mastery
I'm willing to go with any number of points, really. I would imagine that characters at the 4-6 level would hit the 300+ mark in terms of character points anyway.
1) Yes, that sounds perfect
2) All good too, though the setting would be fantasy in my game world, rather than contemporary. Though, the warrior could be modified. I would expect that the Mage would win this, however, I'd find it hard to build a 400pt warrior that was not somehow 'supernaturally enhanced'. Though there are 'agents' of the mages that are trained for war/battle/more physical aspects of the order. This could be an example of that - though these two would have magic abilities.
3) Yes, that's fine too. I expect here the mage would also win.
These all sound great.