The under appreciated expendable spell focus. Options

[tisoz]

Maybe it is exclusive so that it can not be used to augment a spell cast into a sustaining focus (another exclusive action).

[Jrayjoker]

Well, that is certainly possible, but I can't see why you would need to limit that.

Here is how that is broken(IMO): I take the spell as exclusively cast with a fetish, I can never cast the spell into a focus now. I don't think so, but the rules seem to differ.

[Fortune]

The 'Fetish' limitation isn't considered 'exclusive' though. If you took a spell with the 'Exclusive' limitation, you could never cast it into a Sustaining Focus.

[Sharaloth]

Personally, I've always played it that the Expendible spell Foci do not require an action to activate, as that is included in the Exclusive Complex Action it takes to cast a spell with the focus. Similarly, it does not take an Exclusive action to cast a spell using extra dice from a Power or Spell Category Focus, but you have to activate them beforehand, I see the activation of the Expendible Spell Focus as part and parcel of the spell being cast with it. The focus is only good once, and if you're using other foci at the time the sneaky bastards can hit you with Focus Addiction before you even know it, so I see this as fairly balanced. You can't use one of these to cast a spell into a Sustaining Focus (since that would also be an exclusive action. You can use either the sustaining focus or the Expendible focus, but not one to augment the other, where a Power or Spell Category focus would be completely fine here).

The best thing about Expendibles is that they are cheap (on the pockets and in the Karma) compared to the other Foci, you can buy them in bulk, and they can provide a very much needed boost of power for some of the more important spells.

I actually run a Combat Sorceress who uses these things all the time, and is so far the only one in the group to have anything to do with them. A Force 8 Expendible for a Ritual Sustaining of an Enhanced Aim spell goes a loooong way, and when healing that damn Street Sam who can't seem to stay out of the way of the bullets, an Expendible Health Focus is rediculously handy. The only problem I run into is that in combat she usually has a Force 6 Armor and a Foce 3 Inc. Reflexes + 3 both in sustaining foci, so any expendible over Force 3 puts her in Focus Addiction range (which isn't quite as bad as the six doses of Kamikaze she's got in her pocket 'just in case', but close).

[Kelson]

I believe that the rules suggest it's an Exclusive Complex Action to cast a spell using Expendible Foci. You do not need to activate them prior to using them.

You can use as many as you like for one spell (assuming they're of the correct type), but keep focus addiction rules in mind. Also, I don't have a problem with using as many as you'd like since the cost adds up quite a bit for that one spell cast.