Awakened character karma loss Options

[rathmun]

Could someone actually involved with the line explain to me the logic of having ways for an awakened character to Permanently LOSE Karma?!?! Or how about setting things up so that buying the same set of improvements in different orders changes the karma cost of them?!?

Seriously, I don't understand. I can understand having to pay karma to attune to a focus, but permanently losing the karma you spent if you ever decide to upgrade, or if the focus is destroyed makes no sense. The system as written discourages the use of foci until you can afford to get one at the maximum possible rating, because if you get a small one, then the karma spent on it is a damned waste when you upgrade. It's like making the party gun bunny pay karma to be allowed to fire that pistol, and then not letting it apply to using any other pistol. Oh, and also taking the karma away permanently if that pistol is destroyed.


Another Awakened character karma FUBAR, why is it that raising an attribute that's been affected by the improved attribute adept power costs an amount of karma that is relative to the augmented attribute? this doesn't happen when you use bioware attribute augmentations, so why is the improved attribute power so gimped? For example.

Say an adept has an agility of 4, before any augmentations or Karma expenditure.

If they raise their agility with karma, and then with improved agility, they pay 25 karma, and .75 power points.
If the raise their agility with improved agility, and then with karma, they pay .75 power points, and 30 karma.

Ok, now lets use a character with bioware augmentations, still 4 agility before any changes.

muscle toner, and then raise agility with karma, 25 karma, 8,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)
raise agility with karma, and then muscle toner, 25 karma, 8,000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)

Wait a minute, I bought the same two things both ways, but depending on which order I buy them in the karma cost varies. But only for the adept power. This is BS.