Project Nemesis is a fan driven website for games that use the One-Roll Engine (like Nemesis, Wild Talents, Reign and Monsters) or Chaosium's Basic Roleplay System (BRP) (like Call of Cthulhu) and the Delta Green setting.
Here's my rough guidelines for creating your own Martial Paths and Esoteric Disciplines. Creating them get easier the more you do it and you develop a certain flow for making them
after a while.
Level 1 - Always a small effect, often something with a good general
purpose usage, and very often a penalty removal. About 1d worth of
effect is right, either negates 1d of penalty or adds 1d for some
situation. 1d can also equal 2 height or 1 width to either
effect(damage) or timing(initiative).
Level 2 - Usually a more specialized manuever, or removal of a big
penalty, or the addition of a stronger effect. I think extra Armor
usually goes at 2 or 3. Often stacks with the 1, that sword school in
Reign being the perfect example of a stacking school.
Level 3 - I like the middle level to change things up a bit. You've
already got two powers that make your skill more useful and
interesting, so I like number 3 to really expand on what you can do
with that skill.
Level 4 - This is generall, for me, the most powerful technique that
isn't just going crazy. I usually like it to add something potent and
hard to reach with the mechanics normally. Like negating penalties and
adding dice can be done within the rules if you look, but what can this
technique add to the game that really changes the nature of the field
for the character? What new strategies can I unlock here?
Level 5 - This is usually the "go nuts" power. There are limits, sure,
but a Level 5 is usually not a rule expander, it's a rule breaker.
Ignoring all armor, getting very clear information, and exceeding the
10 die limit are all things a level 5 could do.
Another thing to consider is the XP cost of each level. You have to buy them in order, so it stacks.
Level 1 costs 1.
Level 2 costs 3.
Level 3 costs 6.
Level 4 costs 10.
Level 5 costs 15.
As you can see, a level 3 power costs just a bit less than a Master die
in Reign (1 skill, 1 expert, 5 master = 7 points total). So a level 3
power should be just a bit less useful than a Master die, or just about
as useful as a skill with 4 ranks and an Expert die.
A level 5 power costs as much as two master dice and then some. A
person who bought your whole path should be as well off as a guy who
bought two master dice in two different skills. He went versatility and
assured success, so what did the specialist with the path get?
Also, remember how I said a level 1 path was worth about 1d of effect?
Well, it costs about that much too! So a level 5 tech should be as
useful as about 5 dice on it's own, and about 15 dice when you look at
all the powers in a path working together.
This also ties into whether your powers stack or trump or coexist.
Stacking paths get better and better, so each power should be a little
less good, since it gets all the other powers. Trumping paths replace
each other, so each tech should be better than the previous one in most
ways. Coexisting paths have skills that don't really effect each other.
Each should be useful in it's own right, and have specific utility.
For a stacking path, look at the total cost of powers. For a trumping
path, look at the individual cost of each technique, but consider the
total. For a coexisting path, look mostly at the individual cost, but
be aware of the total cost as well.
Excellent work Admiral.
I'm still a little torn putting stuff like this into my harder games like THS or Delta Green.
Someone make stop being such a wet blanket!
ORE Rules 
