Okay so I got this rather silly idea I adopted from a book: With gunpowder and all that, what if mages adapt themselves? I got this wicked idea of earth sorcerers now slowly learning concepts and ideas like magnetism and how to manipulate ores and such. Making them something I'd call Technomancers. Technomancers would be pilots of certain mecha's holding them together with the aid of magical crystals, magnetism but also tech like gears and such. (They'd also control steam to an extend) Another idea I have as Gunpower mages. Basically fire mages that learned to draw power from gunpowder. Basic gunpowder mages could burn gunpowder to put force behind an object already propelled by gunpowder. AKA: they can make muskets more effective with far longer range. More advanced Gunpowder mages would be able to detonate gunpowder further away from them. Very good gunpowder mages would be able to control the trajectory of gunpowder fire objects using gunpowder (like changing the direction a little or putting more power behind it mid-flight). Still, with the obvious limits like: distance, force, personal ability and available gunpowder (For those who know, I got this idea from Promise of Blood).