[Slippery_Chicken]

Power Foci say they add to your "effective magic rating". Does this mean that a character with power foci can summon higher-force spirits without "oversummoning" (i.e. risking physical drain)?


Example:
Merlin has a Magic rating of 7, so he can safely summon Force 7 spirits. He bonds a rating 2 Power Focus, raising his effective magic rating to 9. He t hen tries to summon a Force 9 spirit with his focus bound, and the spirit scores 3 hits. Does the drain inflict physical or stun damage?

[All4BigGuns]

Power Foci say they add to your "effective magic rating". Does this mean that a character with power foci can summon higher-force spirits without "oversummoning" (i.e. risking physical drain)?


Example:
Merlin has a Magic rating of 7, so he can safely summon Force 7 spirits. He bonds a rating 2 Power Focus, raising his effective magic rating to 9. He t hen tries to summon a Force 9 spirit with his focus bound, and the spirit scores 3 hits. Does the drain inflict physical or stun damage?

Unfortunately not since 3rd edition.

[RHat]

Power Foci say they add to your "effective magic rating". Does this mean that a character with power foci can summon higher-force spirits without "oversummoning" (i.e. risking physical drain)?


Example:
Merlin has a Magic rating of 7, so he can safely summon Force 7 spirits. He bonds a rating 2 Power Focus, raising his effective magic rating to 9. He t hen tries to summon a Force 9 spirit with his focus bound, and the spirit scores 3 hits. Does the drain inflict physical or stun damage?

No, your actual Magic Rating is the same - the focus just adds its rating in dice to any and every roll involving the Magic attribute.

[Dr. Meatgrinder]

They are very powerful foci that temporarily increase your effective Magic rating.

Seems to me like the effective Magic rating has changed...at least while using the focus.

[Michael Chandra]

The term Effective Magic is fluff. The actual rule-version simply raises your dicepool. No changes to when you're Oversummoning/Overcasting and no changes to when Drain will become Physical.

[Dr. Meatgrinder]

I disagree.  It seems crunchy enough to me.  And it's fully in line with the whole "getting back to old-school SR" motif in this edition.

[RHat]

Actually, I seem to recall one of the writers specifically stating that a Power Focus does not, in fact, do that.  Can't remember a source for a quote, though.

[Michael Chandra]

I disagree.  It seems crunchy enough to me.  And it's fully in line with the whole "getting back to old-school SR" motif in this edition.

But it has not significantly changed description compared to SR4. So it's unrelated to the old-school ideas.

[Dr. Meatgrinder]

By "old-school", I mean earlier than SR4.  For example, SR2 flat out says a power focus increases Magic.

If the intent is not to increase Magic, it needs errata because increasing Magic (which is what the text says) makes it really powerful.  The fact that it says what it means does not also say what it excludes.  I've seen a lot of people read what you're calling "fluff" as rules, and I don't see a convincing argument against it in any official source.  By "convincing", I mean, "What do I argue (and what do I cite), as a GM at a convention table, when a player shows up and says his mage's Magic is 7 (10)?"

[RHat]

By "old-school", I mean earlier than SR4.  For example, SR2 flat out says a power focus increases Magic.

If the intent is not to increase Magic, it needs errata because increasing Magic (which is what the text says) makes it really powerful.  The fact that it says what it means does not also say what it excludes.  I've seen a lot of people read what you're calling "fluff" as rules, and I don't see a convincing argument against it in any official source.  By "convincing", I mean, "What do I argue (and what do I cite), as a GM at a convention table, when a player shows up and says his mage's Magic is 7 (10)?"

The fact that the rules explicitly say, without any indication of anything else being included, what the term as used is meant to mean?

[ZeConster]

I disagree.  It seems crunchy enough to me.

They are very powerful foci that temporarily increase your effective Magic rating. That means they add to your Sorcery, Conjuring, and Enchanting dice pools, along with any other test where Magic is involved.

Since the rules don't say anything about power foci influencing whether Drain becomes Physical (or about whether you risk Focus Addiction), that heavily implies "effective Magic rating" is fluff, and the sentence afterwards is the "and here's what that actually means rules-wise" crunch bit.

[Michael Chandra]

By "old-school", I mean earlier than SR4.  For example, SR2 flat out says a power focus increases Magic.

The interpretation of returning to old-school editions only makes sense if the description actually changed from SR4. It didn't. So you can argue about the meaning, but an old-school throwback isn't a valid argument because it hasn't changed since SR4 and as such cannot be a returning to 3rd Edition like Initiative and such. As such, Power Foci are completely unrelated to "the whole "getting back to old-school SR" motif in this edition."

This argument has been around for eight years by the way. And if a player states it, I will state the same as I state now: The item does not state it raises your Magic, it only talks about effective Magic and then explains what that means: +Rating dice on any test that gets part of its dice from your Magic stat. That is exactly what the rules say. It says nothing about Drain, Focus Addiction or Power Points, so does not actually boost your Magic.

Of course we have the same with BDA: It does not raise your Body, and this is clear because it only talks about 1 specific element getting boosted, not about everything that a Body-boost would give you.

[Shinobi Killfist]

The language did change from 4e to 5e and the language is different from every other dice boosting focus in SR5.  The whole it raises the effective magic line is new, that was not in 4A(did not check original 4e)..  The this means line is pointless because we don't know if it is all inclusive or a list of the most common benefits, basically is it a exhaustive list or a reminder about things the magic attribute influences. 

Is it probably just a dice pool mod, sure.  But it is not what it says, it is at best one possible interpretation of it. 

[Michael Chandra]

Power foci are the most potent and treasured of all. Possession of a power focus feeds a magician’s Magic directly, making her efforts more powerful in all forms of magical ability. A power focus adds its Force to all tests in which the magician’s Magic is included. A single power focus can increase a magician’s ability to cast spells, call on and control spirits, and bypass astral barriers. A power focus does not help in Counterspelling a hostile spell as it is cast, nor can it duplicate the unique ability of a weapon focus.

Power foci live up to their name. They are very powerful foci that temporarily increase your effective Magic rating. That means they add to your Sorcery, Conjuring, and Enchanting dice pools, along with any other test where Magic is involved. Power foci can take any form, but for some reason, rings and amulets are quite popular.

No significant change, all it does is state the same in other words.

[Shinobi Killfist]

That is a very significant change because the magic attribute is a game mechanic, feeding your general magic is not. So raising your effective magic rating reads like game mechanic speak, feeding your magic directly reads like fluff.  Single words can drastically change the meaning and feel of a sentence and they changed more than one there.  If the intent it just to be a dice pool modifier this is probably one of the least clear ways to write it. Again, yeah I suspect that is what they meant.  But it just isn't clear in the slightest,