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The initial problem: rolling more dice is bad, actually

With a talent of 1, casting a 1-power-rank spell, a spell-caster would expect to be immediately swept away by a demon once every 216 times on average (1/6 * 1/36).

Unless they were a half-elf, in which case the chance is every 108 times ((1/6 + 1/6) * 1/36). (Maybe that's why they're called Frailers?)

If you're in the habit of only healing your friends when they're close to being broken, by using a rank 1 Cleanse Spirit or Healing Hands spell with 3 extra willpower points, your chance of visiting wherever it is that demons come from is 4/6 * 1/36 = once every 54 times.

Why, given those odds, would anyone voluntarily become a spell-caster?

Ways to make spell-casting less lethal

You might well wonder how it is that spell-casters ever make it to maturity, given that learning magic presumably involves casting spells a lot. But OK, maybe when you're training, and not casting spells in combat-like situations, you can take your time and there's no risk of magic mishap.

And if you cast a 1-power-rank spell from a grimoire, using only 1 WP, it counts as a 1-rank-less spell, so you end up rolling no dice. This is fine.

But as soon as you want to do more than the bare minimum "yeah, the spell works" you're back into rolling dice territory, even with a grimoire. At which point you might think "yeah, but a demon might carry me off into strange lands and I'll never be the same again" and you'll think again.

Lucky is interesting but shouldn't be integral to the game

Just taking one level in Lucky (assuming it also applies to magical mishaps) is enough to multiply all of the numbers above by 36, which is good enough to take the odds of an accidentally demon swoop from "disconcertingly likely" to "exceedingly rare" territory. Lucky 2 doesn't help because it can't help you rolling a 66 twice, and Lucky 3 is arguably overpowered, unless you add Executioner 1 to all the NPCs.

But IMO you shouldn't have to spend points on a talent just to make your character concept viable.

Magic mishap is unusual and not fun

Because just one 1 on a d6 when rolling for spells is enough to trigger a roll on the magic mishap table, the game discourages players from rolling more dice, which seems odd for a dice pool game.

It's also at odds with the core mechanics, where there are two cumulative mechanics where you can decide that, goddammit, I am going to succeed at this task: (1) pushing a roll and (2) invoking your Pride.

Proposed solution: magic mishap only happens if you can push a magic roll

I have yet to actually play Forbidden Lands, but people talk about combat being brutal and fast, e.g. because when you take damage that reduces your ability to deal out damage, because damage is to your e.g. Strength attribute. It seems to me, therefore, that a spell-caster might be in a situation where they've rolled the dice and think "OK, this is OK, but it's still possible for the bad guys to pull something off that will seriously screw us over before I have time to cast another spell". At which point as a GM I might be saying "you know, you could always push that spell roll; it's not like you've got any 1s yet".

So maybe this is the solution? You encourage spell-casters to cast the Cleanse Spirit / Healing Hands spell with only 2 extra willpower points, so by default it'll give back 3 points, which might not be good enough, and maybe if you really need your fighter to be back at maximum Strength so they can really wield their warhammer, and you didn't get any sixes on your roll, you'll say "to hell with it!" and push the roll, desperately hoping that the sound you hear isn't that of a demon's wings?

To be honest, I (also) do not like the spell/magic system as presented, because it does not follow the fundamental game concepts at all. As presented, the Magic Mishap is the only risk/limiting factor (beyond having WP to fire everything, but that's a given IMHO). The fact that every spell automatically works, and that there are no defences against many offensive spells, feels totally unbalanced to me, because the outcome is totally predictable - and as an experienced spell caster with a Rank at Level 3 PLUS being a half-elf markedly lowers the risks to a ridiculous level.
IMO the spellcasting process lacks a test, similar to a melee attack, to see if it works at all - porblematic, as there is no Skill related to the task, and spellcasting is more complex than trying to hit someone with a sword.

Besides, the system propagates "to use magic only when it counts", which is basically fine. But it puts the GM in the troublesome position to enforce the Mishap results, since these are the only limit/deterrent. Andif you save your powers to save comrades, after the sh!t has already hit the fan, the druid potentially knocks himself or bystanders out (or worse...) while trying to do something constructive. Really?

I also find the cost to gain spells relatively cheap. Or, the other way around, as a GM you have to IMHO carefully monitor specllcaster progress through teachers and other sources. Gaining a Rank in some Magic Path automatically comes with several spells, and the results of this progress on the game are IMO drastic, esp. when Rank 3 (or more, with the Reforged Power supplement) is unlocked. The ghost is hard to put back into the bottle.

I have been thinking/working on an alternative spellcasting system for a while, so that it can replace the existing system, but haven't come to a conclusive solution yet. The Reforged Power supplemnet has some good ideas, though, like "buying" spells separately instead of automatically gaining an whole array of new spells with a new Rank. This makes spellcasters also more individual.

The initial problem: rolling more dice is bad, actually
Yes, your math is a bit off its (1-5/6^[DICE])*1/36 if you use the core rules (where rolling multiple skulls do not affect the result), but your point that rolling dice is very bad is correct!

Ways to make spell-casting less lethal
I guess that you should never cast a spell using dice, more than a few times in your life. Like only when there is no other choice and you will die if you don't.
So using the core rules, you should always strive for safe casting using a higher rank in your magic path, using a grimoire and using ingredients.

Lucky is interesting but shouldn't be integral to the game
As written, lucky doesn't even work with magical mishaps.

Magic mishap is unusual and not fun
"Because just one 1 on a d6 when rolling for spells is enough to trigger a roll on the magic mishap table, the game discourages players from rolling more dice, which seems odd for a dice pool game."
I personally think that you are correct. A dice game that strives to avoid that you ever roll dice feels, counter fun?

Proposed solution: magic mishap only happens if you can push a magic roll
This is not great. In the end you would just never push, well perhaps if you also gained WP from rolling skulls. But such a rule would even so probably cause more harm than good to the PCs.
This rule would just add a lot of power to your spellcasters.

My own house rule, as Dizzyfugu menationed, that can be found in Reforged Power (googlable) has so far worked great for us.
It basically keeps most of the core rules intact, but adds a -10 modifier to the result you read on the mishap table.
To compensate, each additional skull rolled adds a +10 modifier. This means that you using these rules actually have a higher chance of dying then the core rules if you go all out, rolling 6+ dice, but at least you will then be more likely to go with an epic bang.
With the house rule, you will not never straight out die if you roll 1 die, and you will only have a 1 in 1300 risk of instantly dying if you roll 2 dice.
You will still gain the same amount of mishaps as before, but likely receiving more "fun" mishaps.

My own house rule, as Dizzyfugu menationed, that can be found in Reforged Power (googlable) has so far worked great for us.
It basically keeps most of the core rules intact, but adds a -10 modifier to the result you read on the mishap table.
To compensate, each additional skull rolled adds a +10 modifier. This means that you using these rules actually have a higher chance of dying then the core rules if you go all out, rolling 6+ dice, but at least you will then be more likely to go with an epic bang.
With the house rule, you will not never straight out die if you roll 1 die, and you will only have a 1 in 1300 risk of instantly dying if you roll 2 dice.
You will still gain the same amount of mishaps as before, but likely receiving more "fun" mishaps.

We are currently trying this out, but it's too early to make a judgement. On one hand I appreciate that "small magics" become markedly safer while "all-out"/powerfull spellcasting bears a potentially higher risk. But that only modifies the event distribution of the Mishap Table, and does not change anything about the fact that spellcasting is a very predictable thing concerning the spell's effect.

But that only modifies the event distribution of the Mishap Table, and does not change anything about the fact that spellcasting is a very predictable thing.

Yeah, I actually didn't want to change too many things in Reforged Power. So I tried to keep it as true to the core as possible, while just tweaking some minor mechanics.
I kind of see the charm with the system as it is though. If I would change it, then perhaps add an extra +2 dice or so, make mishaps weaker and more fun (at least unless you roll a bazillion skulls), and make spells more resistible to compensate, like that you can dodge fireballs and so on. And a weak mishap could be something like "you loose your connection with magic for a day", it adds a minor problem to the party, but will not wipe them.

Keeping things close to the basics is IMHO the right move, that's why I had and have troubles with a different spellcasting system, too. No new/extra Skill, spells taken "as is", but still compatible with the Mishap tables etc. That's not trivial, esp. with such a wide range of potential power.

My players love that magic is dangerous and unpredictable. Yes the folks with Rank 3 can cast some things safely but anything impressive is going to carry risk and that's not something they take lightly. Every time the player rolls to cast a spell they feel the weight of knowing that this could be the final thing their character does and they 100% enjoy that. It makes magic different and more sword and sorcery like than heroic fantasy like.

My players love that magic is dangerous and unpredictable. Yes the folks with Rank 3 can cast some things safely but anything impressive is going to carry risk and that's not something they take lightly. Every time the player rolls to cast a spell they feel the weight of knowing that this could be the final thing their character does and they 100% enjoy that. It makes magic different and more sword and sorcery like than heroic fantasy like.

Same here! We fit squarely into this camp.

I had the exact same reaction when I first read the rules - RAW it's impossible to even learn magic without being killed.

My table fixed the issue by allowing casters to buy off 1s with WP on a 1-to-1 basis and by using the d100 Alternative Magic Mishaps.

But we like more heroic style games anyway - for instance we have no cap on WP and give a WP reset of 1d3+Empathy score at the start of each session.

To make mishaps more fun i highly recommend this . It is free

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/30 ... dden-Lands