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Maximum force of all foci

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Gator Aid

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« on: <09-28-18/2217:22> »
So I have a character sheet that says the total force of all Foci bonded can add up to no more than a character's magic attribute? Is this true?

Marcus

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« Reply #1 on: <09-28-18/2232:59> »
The short answer is no, but there two relevant answers to your question and you should pay attention to both.

Focus Addiction
If you rely too much on the power granted by foci, you might
form a mental and spiritual dependence on them (Substance
Abuse and Addiction p. 413). Typically, it’s not a danger as long
as the total Force of your active foci isn’t greater than your
Magic rating. If you do get hooked, you might find you need to
bond more powerful foci, or have trouble deactivating them. In
more severe cases, you might become psychologically unable
to practice magic without a focus.

This is what that section is warning against. They Key word is ACTIVE foci. Your GM is licensed to mess with you should you have more then magic total force of foci active. So if you run around with more then you magic in foci force just make sure you keep only the ones you really need active, and only go above you magic rating when you really must. (And that really must better be counted in seconds.)

The real foci limit is this:
You can’t bond more foci than your Magic attribute,
and the maximum Force of all your bonded foci can’t exceed
your Magic x 5. Regardless of the number of bonded
foci you have, only one focus may add its Force to a
dice pool for any given test.

For most that means, no more then 6 foci no more then 30 "force" worth of foci, this should never a problem for a starting character.
« Last Edit: <09-28-18/2235:03> by Marcus »
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Kiirnodel

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« Reply #2 on: <09-29-18/0303:08> »
Was this purposefully posted in the "previous editions" sub-forum?

Which edition are you asking for, because the exact rules might be different. I believe the rules Marcus quoted are from 5th edition.

Those limitations were approximately the same in 4th edition, although the limit for Focus Addiction was Magic x2 back then. For some reason they made it easier to become addicted to foci in the transition to 5th.

I don't know the limitations earlier than 4e.

Gator Aid

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« Reply #3 on: <09-29-18/0317:01> »
Thanks for the response. We're playing 4th Edition and man our group is heavily into foci. One player has Force 6 Weapon focus and a Force 6 Power focus as well as three force 5,5,4 Sustaining foci. My magician has 2 force 6 sustaining foci and 2 force 4 sustaining foci and I am about to bond a force 6 power focus. We are probably heavily addicted.

Kiirnodel

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« Reply #4 on: <09-29-18/1352:43> »
Yeah, that's a lot of money and karma you've put into having some decent magical tools. As long as you both have at least a Magic of 6, it looks like you haven't broken any hard caps.

As far as addiction goes, Street Magic has information on some rules for it. I think it even had a separate negative quality for it. I don't have my books right now or I'd do a quick look and give you a page reference.