So, parameters to fiddle with (some of them should be in worldgen, some in init, some in ENTITY, probably):[*] Frequency and distibution of world-class artifacts/secrets:
[*] how many show up per century ([0 to 1000:0 to 1000:0 to 1000])
[*] how much the game tries to spread them out ([-100 to 100])
[*] Relative weight of each sphere in world-class artifact generation e.g., "[WCA_SPHERE_WEIGHT:WATER:-100]" (range [-100 to 100])
[*] Cost distribution of world-class artifacts (measured in some unit of difficulty of obtaining materials) ([0 to 100])
[*] Flakiness distribution of W.C.A.s (i.e., how much effort does it take to use the artifact / how likely is it to up and stop working on you at a crucial moment) ([0 to 100: 0 to 100: 0 to 100])
[*] Curse distribution of WCAs (i.e., how much it stabs you in the back) ([0 to 100:0 to 100:0 to 100])
[*] Frequency and distribution of Intermediate Magics
[*] how many show up in worldgen ([0 to 1000000])
[*] how likely an IM is to be independently discovered ([-1 to 100], with -1 being the game rejecting duplicates that come up through procedure)
[*] how easily an IM is to be dependently discovered ([-1 to 100], with -1 being actually impossible, and 0 being that it only happens if an adventurer does it)
[*] Relative weight of spheres in I.M.s (as with WCAs)
[*] Power distribution ([0 to 100:0 to 100:0 to 100])
[*] Cost distribution (as with WCAs [0 to 100])
[*] correlation of cost to power ([-100 to 100], with -100 meaning that "more powerful" artifacts are always "cheaper", and 100 meaning that "more powerful artifacts" are always "costlier")
[*] Flakiness distribution ([0 to 100:0 to 100:0 to 100])
[*] Danger distribution ([0 to 100])
[*] correlation of danger to power ([-100 to 100], with -100 meaning that "more powerful" artifacts are always "safer", and 100 meaning that "more powerful artifacts" are always "more dangerous")
[*] Frequency and distribution of Minor Magics
[*] Number of MMs generated ([0 to 1000000])
[*] Geographic spread of MMs ([-1 to 100:-1 to 100:-1 to 100], where -1 means unique to a single instance, and larger numbers are the probability of spreading to an adjacent compatible biome)
[*] Secrecy ([-100 to 100:-100 to 100:-100 to 100], which is the probability of it NOT being discovered by an entity in contact with it; negative numbers indicate entities not in contact with it discovering it without hearing of it from an entity in contact)
[*] Sphere distribution (as IM and WCA)
Also, MMs could be some of the components of WCAs; just to make the world feel more 'alive'.
Entities could probably have parameters that affect their interest and/or ability {in/w.r.t} particular spheres and types of magic; e.g., Elves might be more likely to get WCAs that take the forms of creatures or plants than ones that take the forms of traditional 'artifacts'.
WCAs, IMs, and MMs would probably also be RAW-definable, for those who want to make sure their game has Excalibur or Fireball in it.
Actually, IMs as I conceive of them are basically secrets (or the tablets secrets are held on, or w/e), so once we get more types of secrets, this might be a good thing to go with that.