So a Mystic Adept starts with Magic 6 or permanently loses (6-Starting Magic) PP?
That's just not acceptable to my players - they've looked at this thread and declared we will not be transitioning to 5th Ed.
No. it's not lose,
it's somethings you don't have because you're not spend your priory to earn them at chargen.
- Non-Awaken characters don't have magic because they're not spend priory to earn them at chargen.
They're not permanently "lose" magic.
- Adept characters can't shoot fireball because they're not spend priory to earn them at chargen.
They're not permanently "lose" ability to shoot fireball.
- Aspected Magician can't cast magic outside of their field because they're not spend priory to earn them at chargen.
They're not permanently "lose" ability to cast other magic.
- Mystic Adept with less than 6 magic can't have more than magic PP because they're not spend priory to earn them at chargen.
They're not permanently "lose" PP.
Everything has a price, chummer.
Take the following example:
A Mystic Adept PC 'Larry' starts play with magic Priority C, Essence 6, Magic 3 and spends 15 karma to get their max 3 PP.
He
did take it as a priority at chargen - he just didn't
max it at chargen.
Once play begins and Larry starts earning more karma, and so long as he does not lose any essence, he can raise magic to 6
without initiating.
BUT his PP remain at 3 and he can never get those extra 3 PP that he could have bought in chargen if he started at magic 6.
We're not talking about starting off without magic, and trying to become a mystic adept post-creation. We're talking about it being possible to accidentally permanently cripple your character during creation.
Low stats or skills - even skills you do not start play with - can be increased. Negative qualities can be bought off, or positive qualities bought. Cyberware can be replaced, and new spells learned.
The Mystic Adept is the only case where an option is presented in the priority table that lets you start with a low-but-nonzero rating in something that can never be improved. In this example Larry can raise magic to 6 without initiating, but by RAW, he cannot get any more PP unless he takes them in lieu of metamagics.
The worst part is that there is no warning in the rules that this is the case - it's a trap waiting for an unaware player to fall into, thereby permanently ruining their character.
What my players want to see happening in this example is that each time Larry increases his magic rating (up to his Essence rating of 6), he should be able to buy a PP with Karma. Once he hits the Essence cap, the only way to increase magic is to initiate, and PP cannot be bought with karma from that point on.
eg. Larry initates, despite only having bought magic up to 5. He picks up a shiny new metamagic - no free PP for this grade. He then slowly raises his Magic rating up to his new limit of 7. He should still be able to spend karma to raise his total PP to 6. He cannot buy a 7th, because that magic point was only possible due to initation.
Larry then loses a point of magic. His PP drop to 5, and he cannot buy another because his limit is now 5 plus initiation.