[quantum_mechani]

I played around with creating a pretender cost formula during the Dom3 bets test, but finally decided it was just far to rigid- you needed more exceptions than rules. Part of the problem is so many abilities/stats/magic paths synergize with each other in odd ways. For instance, the protection value on a cyclops is many times more valuable than on an immobile, fear is better on pretenders that can easily get awe, trample is mostly a downside for a pretender with hand slots but not bad otherwise, etc.

But the hardest part to account for is magic paths. Some paths/combos are simply much more valuable to start with than others. Death and blood are very weak paths to start with due to lack of good early buffs spells and blesses. Starting with fire, astral, or earth and decent dominion instantly makes a great bless chassis, making it more valuable. The value of pathcosts also vary a lot depending on whether the path makes it a bless pretender or not.

Good luck with the project, but I hope you aren't hoping for a breakthrough in balancing.