Adept Power Points, Reassigning them as the game goes on? Options

[bibliophile20]

This has been nagging me for a while: Can an adept reassign his power points mid-game? By reassign, I mean, you have Charlie the adept who has, for example, three power points invested between Mystic Armor 2, Combat Sense 2, Killing Hands and Great Leap 2. Can he, in mid-game, just decide to shift his internal magic, perhaps with meditation, perhaps with a metamagic technique, at will? As they use their magic automatically and unconsciously, perhaps they could use a form of biofeedback technique to shift the point allocation around.

I don't see any reason why not, but my gut reaction says no, because this is potentially game breaking. While it is one thing for someone to "upgrade" their Increased Reflexes from level 2 to level three as they initiate, it is quite another for someone with Magic 6 and Increased Reflexes 2 to decide, hey, we need to track this sucker down, I'm temporarily trading my 3 points from Reflexes to 6 levels of analytics and a couple of enhanced senses to help with tracking. And that, in my opinion, makes adepts far too powerful, especially for them to just do without any sort of drawback.

That being said, though, I can't see a reason in the RAW as to why they can't do so, so I would like some opinions and comments on this.

Personally, though, I would allow it, but only as a metamagic technique that has Cognition, Somatic Control and Infusion as prerequisites, cannot be self taught, and has drain/duration effects similar to the prerequisite metamagics. That way the reassignment doesn't last forever, and has real drawbacks, unlike the hypothetical case above where the player goes, oh, the situation calls for these abilities, I'm just doing a quick exchange.

[Eryk the Red]

The rules seem to intend that each choice is permanent. I'd consider having a metamagic that lets you reassign like half of your points when you purchase it, and let it be purchased multiple times. You don't want the adept shuffling around powers all the time. They get crazy powerful if you do that. They become universal specialists.

[bibliophile20]

[Demerzel]

Well, there's nothing that says you can't change around your skills after you have chosen them either, but you can't.

I think the important part is:

[Kyoto Kid]

...and it shouldn't.

I agree with bibliophile20, Only through some form of Metamagic could shifting powers be attempted and even then, should still have some form of control to keep from getting too whacked out (such as only within physical powers or only within social powers etc.). Otherwise, it becomes to much like the Variable Power and Gadget Pools in the Hero System.

Personally, I look at an adept's initial choice of powers to be a big part of the character concept/backstory. I am also not aware of any option that allows one to shift skills around after charagen with the possible exception of houserules. For example, In our group we allow one "makeover" after the character has been played for the very first time.

[Superbum]

I personally wouldn't allow them to do that BUT if I were to come up with rules I would say that allowing them to initiate without the option of learning a metamagic and not allow them raise the cap on their Magic rating could be a good option.

This lets them respend whatever points they had and this would last until they wish to change it again, requiring them to initiate each time they wish a change. Its not game breaking because they are spending karma to initiate and getting no metamagic techniques and they keep preventing themselves to raise the cap on their Magic rating. This initiation ritual would also take a number of hours equal to the number of power points being respent.

Of course they could initiate like normal if they choose but they wouldn't get the option of respending their points.

[Fastball]

No, they can't. The rules don't say a magician can't forget a spell in exchange for 5 karma to spend on a different spell, but you wouldn't allow that either.

On the other hand, I do like the metamagic, it just gave me a character concept: The Revenge Adept. Maybe the chief's son of a wilderness tribe had spent his whole life focusing his magic to replace his father as the leader and guardian against magic threats. Then, evil corporation/government/shadowrunning team wiped out the entire village. RA (revenge adept) was helpless to stop it and is now determined to get revenge. He has embarked on a quest to refocus his magic, transforming from a social adept to a pure combat adept. In this case the metamagic would result in a permanent transferrence that would require a great effort for each change.

Alternatively, you could play the combat adept that after accidently killing somebody, decided that using his magic for violence was wrong and wants to change to a social adept.

[Superbum]

Nice examples, Fastball.

[Fastball]

Thanks. I like your rule even better than a metamagic, Superbum. It's comparable to changing your astral signature.

[Lorka]

You can also make a new power that is a powerpool: Each 1 point of powerpool give you 0.75 power points that you can change around at will, meditate for 1 hour for each point changed (point being 0.75 of power points).

That is rather powerfull tho if you concider all the small but sometimes usefull powers so maybe 0.5 for each 1 pp or something like that is better tho.

[ornot]

If one were to introduce some power or metamagic that allows changing of adept powers, I think a good way to prevent abuse would be to require something like a week of fasting and meditation (or some other ordeal that takes time and effort and is appropriate to the adepts tradition) in order to change power points around. Basically make it hard to chop and change at the drop of a hat, in the same way that it would be a big deal for a street sam to swap out some 'ware and change his focus.

[Demerzel]

The option of rearranging your powers as an option during initiation instead of gaining Magic seems familiar, was that a prior edition option?

[Superbum]

Not that I recall, I just thought it sounded good.

[Kyoto Kid]

...Fastball, ornot, & Superbum, I like your ideas.

Normally I would, as mentioned in my post, only allow the shift to be within the same power type (physical, combat, social) but the concept of the RA who goes off for several months or more of intense meditation and retraining to change her total focus due to a life shattering incident makes sense if handled well.

(KK the social adept? ...mmmm...really can't see that one though)

Not sure if I like the Powerpool, sounds too much like Shadowrun meets Champions.

[Dentris]

Well, there's already a metamagic that allows a similar degre of versatilty: Infusion.

You need Mystic Armor? no problem, there you are. Astral Perception...concentrate and tadam! you have it.

The drawback is the drain value and the fact you temporarly ''burn'' some power points afterwards.

[Kyoto Kid]

...which I see is a good balance.

[Dentris]

p.61 of Street Magic. It requires at least an initiate grade of 2, though, since there is a prerequisite.

[lorechaser]

I think the easy answer is "Only as a major plot point, with the GM's permission" ;)

[laughingowl]

I have two scenarios I have used previously to allow:



1) At initiation: You can re-assign current (new) initaite level of points, through an ordeal.


2) Have had a metamagic technique that allowed much the same. Learned technique, then you could go through one of a couple of different ordeals (obviously SR3) to refocus / re-attune. You could do a power point at a time.


Either way allowed changes to be done and/or if 'new' books came out allowed changing to fit suddenly available powers, yet was slow enough / painful enough NOT to allow changing during a sessions.