You know how there's options to view characters in-game, like Players only or NPCs only? There should be an option for seeing friends only, or friends + NPCs like if you want to shoot a movie with friends in a public area or you don't want to be distracted by others.
Also, maybe Tc's that are not real spells and just do initial damage that can be cast by people who cannot gain Shadow Pips. (For example, Harvest Lord is a small TC that deals around 200 damage. I'm suggesting TCs for like that where you do not need shadow pips, like The Rat or Titan Experiments.)