candid aspen
Magic potency is a similar mechanic to "critical hit chance", reimagined to be much more subtle.
Currently There is only an accuracy roll in combat, followed by a damage roll typically.
With magic potency, the odds of the damage roll become weighted. Your average hit shifts higher as your potency increases. This mechanic could solve the issue of magic combat being too simple to balance effectively and control power creep.
molten crystal
I don't really get your graph, but I agree that "Hitting consistently higher numbers rather than the low ones" is a very interesting design space & reward
I was wondering about that in context of slower vs faster weapons
For example, give 3T weapons low potency, 4T weapons what we have right now, 5T weapons some potency, and 6T weapons a ton so they hit high more often