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Temporary Boosts to MAG and Adepts

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firebug

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« on: <10-01-15/1201:22> »
Hello, yes, I have another question about Infected characters.

If a character has Essence Drain and uses it to boost extra Essence to boost their MAG, do they get free PP if they are an adept?  Would they get to choose the powers differently every time?  This would allow for an oddly flexible adept (at the expense of using a LOT of Essence) as they could give themselves 4 PP of powers almost every day if they wanted.  And of course if they drained regularly, which has its own issues.

Would you make it so they have to pick them same powers every time?  A sort of "extending their progression" type thing, maybe, where they are just reaching forward a few levels of what they'd normally grow into anyways?
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Whiskeyjack

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« Reply #1 on: <10-01-15/1320:28> »
I probably wouldn't give them free PP from Essence drain.
Playability > verisimilitude.

Sendaz

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« Reply #2 on: <10-01-15/1331:05> »
The fluctuation up and down is a bit too easy a way to go from zero to hero with adept abilities.

OR

If you are going to allow it, and again not really endorsing this, set up a tier system where the vamp has a preset schedule of powers that he has to buy up with karma to 'lock it in' and he has access to those abilities as he reaches the threshold for them.

So when he is Mag 1 he has access to power X
Mag 2 is X and Y
Mag 3 is X (two levels) and Y
Mag 4 is X (two levels, Y and Z
and so on.

He doesn't get to juggle it so he has Z at Mag 1 or decide he would rather have two levels of X at Mag 2.

It's not ideal but keeps him from just pick and choosing each time he powers up.
« Last Edit: <10-01-15/1332:49> by Sendaz »
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firebug

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« Reply #3 on: <10-01-15/1356:13> »
Sendaz's idea is probably the best way to do it, if at all, yeah.  Not getting PP means boosting MAG is mostly useless for an adept infected, but then again they may be better off boosting physical attributes with it.
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Whiskeyjack

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« Reply #4 on: <10-01-15/1359:38> »
If the options are "OP versatility," "extensive bookkeeping to maintain balance," or "QQ, this basically does nothing for you," I'm very comfortable picking "QQ" as the best option.
Playability > verisimilitude.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #5 on: <10-01-15/1502:58> »
I like Sendaz's approach because it addresses both Essence Drain and Essence Loss. Since Essence and Magic can both go down, not just up (see Run Faster, p. 141), it's not a bad idea to have a plan in place for which powers are lost if the player's Essence/Magic drop below their default levels.

MijRai

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« Reply #6 on: <10-01-15/1721:55> »
Agreed with Tecumseh and Sendaz.  Plot out your powers by the Magic Point, then have a slider or something to see what you have access to as it goes up and down.  Keep in mind that if you lock stuff in though, your advancement will be a bit restrained.  Not much of a chance for spontaneous choices excepting Qi Foci.
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Lucean

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« Reply #7 on: <10-02-15/0239:38> »
That's similar to something I did during SR4 with my adept when getting into background count. Back then it reduced your MAG attribute.

Top Dog

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« Reply #8 on: <10-02-15/0414:43> »
I'm going against the grain here and saying that yes, you get Adept Powers along with your Magic.

The rule in question is simple: Adepts get an amount of Power Points equal to Magic. Essence drain increases their (actual) Magic. Therefore it gives Power Points. There is no restriction anywhere on "temporary" Magic, or the magic from Essence Drain, not giving PP.

It being OP doesn't hold up in my opinion. Magician vampires get the full benefit from boosting Magic this way, and arguably magicians have more of a use for Magic boosts than Adepts do. Why would Adepts get the short end of the stick here? If you don't want to deal with players eating people to make them more powerful, don't allow infected characters - it's kind of their shtick.

Bookkeeping isn't really a big deal either. Yes, you have to keep track of what powers you have, but you know and accept that if you make a vampire adept. Plus, only the player has to do that - and it's not that much work, since you'll likely know what you want anyway and PP's don't tend to be overly complicated.

Besides, it's not going to change that much; it's not like a vampire will fluctuate wildly up and down over the course of a session. In fact, in-session adjustments down will practically never happen, and in-session adjustments up will probably happen once in a session, and then not every session.

So, since rule-wise you would, and there's no good practical reason not to, you get PP when your Magic increases.

~~

That said, I do like Sendaz's system, and I'd be tempted to impose that as a houserule. As a player, that's probably how I'd play it anyway.

PiXeL01

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« Reply #9 on: <10-02-15/0444:43> »
I would be with Sendaz as well. It would require Adepts mapping out their powers from 1 to 12 at creation and then possibly beyond from when they go through initiation. Initiation could then serve as both a redistribution point for the powers.
Mystic Adepts would need to predetermine which points affect the adept side or casting side or simply go every other.
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Top Dog

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« Reply #10 on: <10-02-15/0510:12> »
Mystic Adepts would need to predetermine which points affect the adept side or casting side or simply go every other.
That's not a thing anymore in SR5, unless you retrofitted the SR4 rules. All Magic increase for a MA will just increase their Magic for the purposes of spellcasting and (for those who use it) the strength of the Adept power, and so on - they'll never get PP from it.

PiXeL01

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« Reply #11 on: <10-02-15/0558:37> »
Now that I think about it, I knew that. Just got ahead of myself. However the powers they already have and gain through initiation must still be allocated, though probably in descending order from 6.
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sn0mm1s

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« Reply #12 on: <10-02-15/1638:04> »
If you can lose powers/magic due to essence loss you should gain powers/magic with essence gain.