I was thinking that the traditional "physad" has been seriously nerfed in 4th ed. so I converted this metamagic from something Lady Jestyr wrote up for 3rd ed. I figure it gives them back some of the edge they lost because they can adjust their powers to suit the needs of their current mission.

SHUFFLING METAMAGIC

Shuffling Metamagic is available only to Adepts and Mystic Adepts. Shuffling allows the adept to “possess� more powers than normal for his magic attribute but only allows him to use a portion of them. He may adjust which powers he has available at any given time through some form of meditation or mental exercise.
For every 1 point of Magic Rating an adept has “spent� on powers, he gains an additional 0.25 points in bonus powers for each time he has taken this particular metamagic (up to 4 times). However, an adept may only have a number of points in powers equal to his (non-spellcasting) Magic Rating active (or immediately available to activate) at any given time.
In order to exchange any powers, the adept must meditate for a number of consecutive hours equal to his Magic Rating divided by 2. At the end of this time he must succeed at a Magic+(Will or Intuition, player must chose when this metamagic is taken)+Adept Centering (if he possesses it) with a threshold equal to one half the number of power points Shuffled. If he is successful, all powers will be exchanged as desired and are available to the adept as per the normal rules. If the adept is disturbed during meditation, the process is aborted, or the adept fails his test, then the powers will remain as they were before the meditation began. The adept may try again at no additional penalty.
The adept has the option of making only a portion of a power active if the power is available to be reduced (i.e. could have been “purchased� at a lower level). If he chooses to do so, he must do this in increments equal to one whole level of the power (i.e. powers “bought� in increments of .5 points by must be utilized in increments of .5 points). Also, an adept cannot utilize a power at any higher level of ability than he has “purchased� with his Magic Rating. Thus, an adept who has “purchased� Increased Reflexes at level 2 can utilize this power at level 2 or level 1, but not at level 3.
The adept may choose to adjust his powers through meditation as often as he likes. The powers remain in their current state until the adept successfully meditates and changes them.

Looks good, though I might suggest a couple of alterations. First, I'd make the threshold equal to half the power points transferred, or half the number of powers transferred into usable points, whichever is greater. (I.E., getting rid of a single 1 point power to acquire 4 .25 powers would be threshold 2). Second, I'd make the time for meditation equal to the same threshold number, simply because more change = more time, rather than a flat amount. It's balanced either way, really, but for fluff reasons, the meditation = threshold hours seems more appropriate.

I have something similar for my games, but my intent was to mirror the options full magicians get, while still not being too powerful; I'm still tweaking it ATM.

just a thought, but wouldn't this run into problems with the infusion metamagic?

also, i would argue that if you want the wide variety of abilities but not all at once, infusion metamagic does it quite nicely... pick up all the abilities you want, leave them at low ratings, and boost them as needed.

but heck, that's just me =S

Stolen.

Excellent idea.

Very nice. I'd also suggest allowing Adepts to purchase Power Points outside of Initiation for 15 Karma, just like Magicians can do with Metamagic (SM, p52) - allowing Adepts to rack up all the Power Points they want, so long as no one Power's level goes above their Magic rating, and so long as the total number of Power Points active never exceeds their Magic rating.

Umm... power points are always equal to magic rating. Buying "extra" but not being able to exceed the magic rating kinda renders that moot, doesn't it? Or are you thinking Mystic Adept?

Street Magic Erratta allows adepts to get more power points than their magic already (via Option Rules addition). Whenever they initiate they can get an additional powerpoint instead of a metamagic. I'm unsure how this is affected by them entering mana statics and such though, as well how reducing their magic affects it. So this allows you to get some powerpoints at a discount and then double the rate of getting powerpoints...

Example
Start Magic 5
Initiate 13
Initiate 16
Initiate 18
Magic 6: 18
Initiate 21
Magic 7: 21
Initiate 24
Magic 8: 24
...

He means Power Points used in any single Power. For example, if the Adept had a Magic of 6 and 10 Power Points, he could still only have 6 levels of Critical Strike (not 10), as the level is limited to the Adept's Magic rating.

So he did. I misread. I've really gotta spend karma on my "Reading Comprehension" skill. Sheesh.