[X] My Assistant

[irdeggman]

What is the advantage of getting a power focus instead of a spellcasting one?

The cost of a power focus is 25,000 per force point. It adds dice to all magic rolls (except for counterspelling - which is specifically mentioned). It does not add to drain tests, since they are not magic rolls. It does not add to force level.

Spellcasting foci on the other hand cost 15,000 per force point. They add to the dice pool for spellcasting (or drain) tests.


For less cost you can purchase a spellcasting and counterspelling focus at the same force level as a power focus.

Maybe I'm missing a lot of tests that involve magic but there don't seem to be that many others that are routinely performed to me. Spellcasting and counterspelling seem to be the main ones.

[Phobos]

You forget that Spellcasting Foci only help with one of five kinds of spells (Combat, Detection, Health, Illusion, Manipulation).
Power Foci help with all spell types.

[Brahm]

- You need one Spellcasting focus per spell catagory, Power foci are not spell type specific.
- A Power foci also add to your Summoning/Binding/Banishing tests.
- When you are casting a spell you can gain dice from both a Power focus and a Spellcasting focus. You do this by allocating the Power focus dice to the casting pool test and the Spellcasting focus dice to the drain test pool.

EDIT Also you are limited in the number of foci you can bind at one time. Multipurpose foci become very important if you want to, for example, have multiple Counterspelling focuses to cover off the different spell catagories. Personally I think Power foci are somewhat underpriced.

[Glyph]

Indeed, the ability to add dice to so many spellcasting and conjuring tests makes the power focus much more versatile than a spellcasting focus - and at char-gen, you are basically comparing a force: 3 spellcasting focus (9 points to buy and 3 points to bond) vs. a force: 2 power focus (10 points to buy and 2 points to bond). So for merely one die less, you get a lot more options.

Also, one minor clarification. A power focus won't aid you in counterspelling a hostile spell as it is cast (spell defense), but it will aid you if you try to dispel a sustained or quickened spell.

[irdeggman]

Thanks for the clarifications - I had missed the part about having a specific category of spells per focus. Gosh it is right in plain site:embarassed: Only excuse would have been that my character was focusing on Combat spells only at the time.

[Mr. Unpronouncea...]

Minor point of interest:

Buying and bonding the power focus at chargen will net you a huge karma discount relative to doing so post-chargen.

[Cheops]

I thought that only one focus can apply to a test at a time and I didn't notice anything saying that the power focus breaks that rule.

[James McMurray]

Only one focus per dice pool. Casting a spell involves multiple dice pools: spellcasting test and drain test.

[Thanee]

Actually there is almost no point in getting anything *but* a power focus (not counting sustaining and weapon foci {EDIT: and counterspelling foci, of course}). It's just so much better than all the other ones.

Bye
Thanee

[Jaid]

[Samaels Ghost]

Besides, of course, using Spellcasting Foci to use on drain tests. Being as you're likely going all out with that POwer Focus of yours that drain is gonna get up there.

[fool]

A couple of points- Counterspelling foci (for combat and manipulation spells) are just as important esp. since power foci don't effect counterspelling.
I personally would count casting a spell and resisting drain as a single action and therefore would not allow the spellcasting foci to count towards the drain resistance if using the power focus to cast the spell. I don't recall it saying specifically that you can't do this, but I feel that it would start to break down if you could use both foci.
Alll my mage characters start with a fc 2 power focus. then at least one sustaining focus and maybe a countespelling focus or 2

[irdeggman]

[Jaid]

[irdeggman]

[Jaid]

[fool]

I was objecting to using the power focus to boost your spellcasting dice and the spellcasting focus to boost your drain dice at the same time. It may be RAW to allow that, but in my mind (an unusual place indeed) you can only use one focus when casting a spell, whether you use it to increase your dice for successes or to resist drain doesn't matter; you can only use one focus. (Obviously this doesn't apply when casting a spell into a sustaining focus since the sustaining focus isn't supplementing your dice.)
As far as kicking the hacker out of the team, a mage isn't going to be as good as a decker because of the lack of BP's to get skills with unless they take analyze devise which I think is over powered anyways.

[irdeggman]

[fool]

yeah I went and looked at the rules last nite, and according to the raw you could use both. I think it's a cheesy w3ay to get around the only one focus rule.

[Demerzel]

I think the rule actually indicates that you cannot use both. Consider that you can "withold dice from your spelcasting pool to use in the drain resistance test." So in order to use a spellcasting focus to assist a drain resistance test you have to add the dice to your spellcasting pool and then withold them in order to use them for drain resistance. However the Power focus adds to your magic directly and therefore is adding dice to the spellcasting pool. Thus you would be adding dice to the same pool from both the power focus and the spellcasting focus, and nix, not allowed.

I'll have to look through the manual again to be sure. But if I were at the table I'd rule that way and require my player to look up evidence to the contrary for future reference.

[Demerzel]

To followup with specifics from the rule book:

[irdeggman]

I don't have my book with me, but isn't the actual rule that you can't apply more than 1 focus towards a single dice pool? or a test?

Not a task or action.

In which case the rules make sense, where the spellcasting focus states you can apply the bonus to one or the other dice pools (but not both)..

[Demerzel]

The rule is that you can't apply more than one focus to a single dice pool.

The spellcasting focus does not say you can apply the dice to one or the other dice pool, it says exactly what I quoted.

It specifically adds it's force to the spellcasting and ritual spellcasting dice pools, and you may choose to withold them from the pool to allow you to use them to resist drain. It does not give you an option as to which pool to add to, it gives you an option to move the dice from one pool to another.

So it does not matter if it does not say anything about only one focus per "task or action". You cannot get around the fact that a spellcasting focus adds to the spellcasting dicepool and a power focus adds to the same dice pool no matter how you try and justify it. They just are not compatable under the rules, and that is what is intended.

[irdeggman]

So if are "withholding" the dice isn't that the same as "not applying" them?

That is what the question is then - is withholding the same as "not applying"?

Logic dictates that if you withhold something then it is no longer applied.

Hence you can indeed apply power focus to the spellcasting dice pool and the spellccasting focus to the resist drain dice pool and fall completely within the rules since no more than one focus is being applied to a single dice pool.

Unless you are specifically stating that the spellcasting focus applies to both the spellcasting and resist drain dice pools - which is not what the text states.

[Demerzel]

So if your interpretation is correct it does not even need to be a power + Spellcasting it can be just two spellcasting because I'm witholding the dice of one power focus so it's never really adding to the "Spellcasting Pool".

Based on that Faulty logic I could have a magic 6 character with 6 combat spellcasting foci (say rating 6 for example) all bonded and active, and then withold 24 dice (4 foci times 6 each) to add 24 meters to the area of effect of a fireball say. Then still get 6 bonus to drain by witholding those and then 6 bonus dice to the spellcasting test.

So if witholding is like never applying then the intent is obviously missed, so that could not be correct. :proof: