Dynamic Spell Creation System

[David Jackson]

Although this may not be appropriate for this list, I am posting it here to
get the opinions of the obviously intelligent fans of Powers and Perils.

My own game, Dark Fantasy, is based almost entirely on Powers and Perils,
although, at this revision date, it looks almost nothing like Powers and
Perils.  One of the elements of this game is the dynamic spell creation
system - a system where the spellcaster can, ahead of time and before the
game, create spells suitable to his own level of experience and expertise,
given the time and the resources.  The spells that he can create are truly
customizable; i.e. he can create any sort of spell that he desires.  Of
course, once again, this is limited by his level of experience, and
expertise in the magical arts.

The system as it has been playtested has remain unchanged (with minor
balancing tweaks) for the last 3 revisions (I am at revision level 5 now).
I am at the point that I am going to have to scrap it, as it is functional,
and has been functional so far, but the spells that it creates are very
generic, and the system is far too complicated and contains far too many
objective elements and requires many arbitrary rulings by the gamemaster.

So, I present it here.  How would _you_ handle this problem?

David Jackson