The ability to create enchanted items doesn't need a balancing mechanism, because we're talking something you do like once per story arc, when other characters might be more invested in personal investment in their own skills. xD

[quote](Also I don’t understand the parentheses part)[/quote]

things are only likely to go boom if you were trying to make something that was meant to be boomy in some regard

[quote]Really it’s a hold-over from my misconception of how items are enchanted, and how magic works in this world in general. I always tend to view magic as energy, so I default to magic being wild and volatile if mishandled. Admittedly, enchanting through runic engraving should’ve shaken me free of the idea, but instead I likened it to coding, or wiring and funneling energy through a system. Enter an incorrect value in the wrong place, or make a mistaken typo, and the sequence either fails or crashes.[/quote]

That's not entirely incorrect--if mishandled it's wild and volatile, but the thing is that this isn't the same as [i]destructive[/i]. And much like 90% of coding errors, what happens if you get it wrong is "nothing happens" or "everything grinds to a comical halt" rather than "and this overcharges something and breaks thing permanently."

Mana on its own is more of a motive force.