There are various means in which mages and psychic-power users perform their abilities, whether they have an internal reservoir of power, an external one or magic itself is derived from physical energy. Usually one's body has enough energy to perform a certain number of spells or skills safely before it has to recharge, or it can only make a spell so powerful before it becomes too much for the body to handle.
If you go beyond those limits however, you start to get physical side-effects that become increasingly dangerous the more the character over-uses their powers. Magic and magic-like skills are often implied, if not expressly stated, to come from the brain, so many of these side-effects are concentrated in and around the head.
Stages of Power Strain Side Effects Include:
Stage One: Headaches
The first sign that a character has overdone it is usually a headache, sometimes mild, sometimes awful-migraine status, but usually benign and quickly healed. This is meant as a mild representation of mental strain, even though the brain can't actually feel pain, and headaches are usually pain sensed by nerves surrounding the brain, or even in other areas of the head or neck. The headache is a common side-effect suffered by someone who is Training the Gift of Magic, and may be used by the creator to show what a particular character is safely capable of (all the better to add tension when they are inevitably force to go beyond those boundaries later).
Stage Two: Physical Exhaustion
After the headache, the next stage is generally physical tiredness and/or exhaustion.
Stage Three: Blackouts
Stage Four: Internal Damage
Stage Five: Ability Loss
Stage Six: Death
Other Potential Side Effects
