QUOTE (Shinobi Killfist @ Jul 30 2010, 01:11 PM)
Well technically lets say you are sustaining 3 force 6 spells, that saves 12 karma apiece or 36 karma. And that is for 1 PP. How much does it cost to improve your magic so you got that PP for "free" Assuming you currently have a 6 magic, you need to initiate so lets say 8 karma(its around here after groups etc.) but the magic attribute will cost you 35 karma. So 43 karma to pay for saving 36 karma and it has other uses. .
For this purpose alone it does not seem inherently broken, but it covers a wide range of additional effects and it also saves wads of cash. I'm not sure I'd go with TJs ruling, but I am biased against it since it grates on me that a mystic adept with the adept power sustains and maintains spells better than a pure mage.
That's not the full equation though. Remember that when you're at 7 magic you get an extra point worth of penalty negation, which means you can half sustain a 4th spell, not to mention you're now higher magic, which has other benefits, and you initiated, which has several benefits, including a metamagic.
Also don't forget the.. what, 180k? Or is it only 90k? that you saved on foci, and that you aren't at risk of focus addiction, and you have that many more free focus slots to use on other foci.
I mean, the mystic adept is going to spend that 43 karma to increase their magic anyway, so it isn't that great of a direct comparison on cost anyway. This is one of those things (like metamagics) that just keeps getting better and better all on its own without any more effort directed at it.
But yeah, don't really want to start a debat about this here, so I should likely just shut up