Tbla,

     I see I'm not the only one awake at this hour.  Unless someone else had a similar idea, I was the one who experimented with the Sanity cost for successful Spell casting notion.  It actually works well, primarily because it doesn't inhibit Investigators from using Spells.  I'm not a big fan of insta-devour options in the game nor do I like a mechanic (Spells, as written) in which you suffer a consequence with no benefit.  I know, the other side will argue, your Honor, that why play Arkham Horror, when so much is out of your control.  For Spells, it just seems like an easy tweak which doesn't significantly unbalance the game.

Well when I wrote it it was actually in the middle of the day over here (Sweden).
I guess that's the good thing about different time zones, they increase the chance of other people beeing awake in odd hours.

Personally I have no problem with the cost-for-no-gain mechanic. What I don't like about the spells is that there's really no reason to use them very often. And I think it's a shame that such a big part of the components and rules rarely gets used. Same with the Strange House in Kingsport. I want there to be different choices in the game, not just "go to locations with clues, use weapon to fight".
I agree that your spell rule is an easy tweak to make and it doesn't really make it easier, it just gives the option to use spells as a viable alternative. And I think it's a great idea.

Tbla said:

I'm considering lowering the cost to become Changed to 1 gate trophy / 5 toughness worth of monster trophies: considering the fact that to climb up and down the Kingsport head requires 5 turns, the time investment should be considered part of the cost of the card

Tbla,

     Thanks for the review of the Spell variant.  By the way, I'm back to using Gate Bursts, as advertised.

Cheers, Joe