@stux I always envisioned melee + magick as largely being limited by interference from metal. I always imagined that the process of absorbing energy fromt he world to replensh your mana was insulated by the metal you use, sort of like a faraday cage with a cell phone.

This worked well in my mind because denser heavier metals more apt at protecting better would also insulate raw mana absorption to a greater degree. This creates a natural dynamic where one can mix melee and magick but there is some penalty trying to overlap the two.