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Mr.Sinister
After being informed about Infusion Foci from my last thread, I borrowed SOTA:64 and MITS from my GM before he went out of town.

In SOTA:64 it mentions two new foci for Adepts: Infusion Focus and Adept Focus. In both descriptions, it mentions the total number of powers an Adept can have active at one time...
QUOTE (SOTA:64 @ Pg. 68 "Adept Focus")
It increases the bonded adept's effective Magic attribute by it's Force.  This does not grant adepts additional power points, but does affect the amount they can have active at a time...

QUOTE (SOTA:64 @ Pg. 68 "Infusion Focus")
Powers gained by an infusion focus count toward the total number of powers an adept may have active at one time.

Now, I've looked through SR3, MITS, and SOTA:64 and I can't find any reference to a "total number of powers an adept may have active at one time."

Any insight? Thanks!

-Mr. Sinister
Mark McCrea
I don't have my book here to check this but I believe that it is a total number of levels in a given power cannot exceed you magic attribute. I think the limit is mentioned in the adept section of the core book.

-------
Just a random thought for the day. cyber.gif
Mr.Sinister
QUOTE (Mark McCrea)
I don't have my book here to check this but I believe that it is a total number of levels in a given power cannot exceed you magic attribute.  I think the limit is mentioned in the adept section of the core book.

Yep, read and understood that. I know that I can have a total number of power points equal to my magic rating. However, it seems like the wording in SOTA:64 on these foci is stating that there is a limit on how many powers an adept can be using (or have active) at any given point.

Right now, my adept has the following powers:

Improved Reflexes: 2 (2 levels @ 3 power point)
Improved Attribute-Body: 2 (2 levels X 0.5 power point = 1 power point)
Improved Attribute-Quickness: 2 (2 levels x 0.5 power point = 1 power point)
Suspended State: 1 (1 level @ 1.0 power point)
-----------------------------------------------------
Total Power Points Spent: 6 (Magic Rating: 6)

As you can see above, I meet that limitation with 4 powers. Let's say that I get an infusion focus with a force of 4 allowing 2 more power points worth of adept powers. I'm wondering if there is a rule somewhere that says there is a limit on how many powers I can be using at one time? The wording in SOTA:64 seems to have come out of nowhere.
Herald of Verjigorm
Toss in a point of magic loss, suddenly you have more powers total than you can have active at one time.
mfb
SR3 page 168, second paragraph under "Adept Powers". it's not a limitation on the number of actual number of powers you can have active, but a limit on the levels of powers you can have active, and also the total pp value of your active powers.
Mr.Sinister
QUOTE (Herald of Verjigorm)
Toss in a point of magic loss, suddenly you have more powers total than you can have active at one time.

Only if "total active powers" is the same as "total power points".

Depending on how you look at it, my adept, right now, has 7 active powers with 6 power points - or - 4 active powers with 6 power points.

Improved Reflexes:2 - 2 powers - or - 1 power
Imp. Attrib-Body:2 - 2 powers - or - 1 power
Imp. Attrib-Quick:2 - 2 powers - or - 1 power
Suspended State:1 - 1 power - or - 1 power
-------------------------------------------------------
Total powers: 7 - or - 4

Even if I lose a magic point and then lose, say Suspended State:1, I'll be at 6 or 3 powers off a magic rating of 5. I'm within the rules now, and losing a power point if I lose a magic point would still keep me legal.

Should I send an email to FanPro to get a clear meaning on what they meant? I thought I'd ask here first before bothering them.
Mr.Sinister
QUOTE (mfb)
SR3 page 168, second paragraph under "Adept Powers". it's not a limitation on the number of actual number of powers you can have active, but a limit on the levels of powers you can have active, and also the total pp value of your active powers.

I understand what's said there, that's not the issue. I know that I can't have any level of a power over my magic rating.

The wording in SOTA:64 is talking about how MANY powers an adept can have. Are they referring to some rule somewhere that I haven't found where an adept can only have a total number of powers equal to or less than his magic rating? Maybe the adept can only have ((magic rating x 1.5)rounded down) number of powers? That's the question I have.

I'm clear on the rules regarding the level of a power in relation to the adepts magic rating. But that's level not quantity.
mfb
the rule on SR3 p168 is what the infusion/adept foci rules are referring to. it's easier than saying "the total value in power points of the character's active powers", or whatnot.
Mr.Sinister
QUOTE (mfb @ Jan 13 2005, 03:42 PM)
the rule on SR3 p168 is what the infusion/adept foci rules are referring to. it's easier than saying "the total value in power points of the character's active powers", or whatnot.

So let's say that down the road, at some distant point in the future, I never initiate and never lose a magic point. Over that time, I could purchase and bond as many infusion foci that I could afford via nuyen and karma, and get ALL of the adept powers available to me in all of the books as long as each power does not exceed my magic rating?
mfb
theoretically, yes. in reality, you're going to be losing magic points to focus addiction before to long.
Kanada Ten
An adept can only have a number of Power Points active at one time equal to their Magic Attribute plus the rating of a bonded active an Adept Focus.

Let me see if I can find the reference.
Mr.Sinister
Ok, another question. I currently have Improved Reflexes:2 at a cose of 3 power points. Improved Reflexes:3 costs 5 power points. According to the FAQ on the shadowrunrpg.com website, an adept can improve a power by using power points equal to the difference in cost from the current level to the next up. In this case, 2 power points. Could I obtain an infusion focus with a rating of 4 (giving me 2 power points) to bring my Improved Reflexes up to a level of 3?
Mr.Sinister
QUOTE (Kanada Ten)
An adept can only have a number of Power Points active at one time equal to their Magic Attribute plus the rating of a bonded active an Adept Focus.

Let me see if I can find the reference.

Oh, I hope you can. THIS is what I was curious about.
mfb
SR3 page 168 is the reference. sinister, you'd probably need a rating 6 focus, with imp reflexes 2 in it, to do that.
Mr.Sinister
Ok, here's the exact info from SR3, pg 168....
QUOTE (SR3 @ Pg. 168, "ADEPT POWERS")
An adept who loses Magic also loses a corresponding amount of powers, so an adept who loses a Magic point must also lose one point worth of powers.  The adept's player chooses which powers are lost.  An adept cannot have more levels in a power than the adept's Magic Attribute.  For example, an adept with Magic 4 cannot have more than 4 points worth of powers, none of which can have more than four levels.

QUOTE (SOTA:64 @ Pg. 68 "Adept Focus")
It increases the bonded adept's effective Magic attribute by it's Force.  This does not grant adepts additional power points, but does affect the amount they can have active at a time...

QUOTE (SOTA:64 @ Pg. 68 "Infusion Focus")
Powers gained by an infusion focus count toward the total number of powers an adept may have active at one time

SR3 states:
Magic Attribute = total number of Power Points to be used on powers.
Magic Attribute = total level of any power.

SOTA:64 states:
Adept focus = Force added to Magic Attribute, not giving Power Points. Adds things not relating to PhysAd.
Adept focus = Affects amount (quantity) of active Power Points
Infusion focus = Gives (Force/2) amount (quantity) of active Power Points

SOTA:64 is talking about "quantity of active" Power Points. SR3 says nothing about "quantity of active" Power Points. Although SR3 does talk about quantity of Power Points. The key word here is "active" - where is this defined?
Modesitt
You expect them to define their terms? HAH! This ain't D&D. Why back in my day, we had to pay Ms. Cleo money to tell us what the rules said!

But more seriously, the general concensus on how you interpret 'active' comes from the description of how bioware affects adepts. Basically, an adept can turn powers on and off. It's never defined what kind of action this is. The reason you'd turn powers on and off had to do with how bioware in an earlier version of the errata screwed with magic. Now it works like cyberware, so that bit of errata is just a piece of non-canon history.

Example: Joe Schmoe has powers A, B, C, D, and E.
A = 3
B = 1
C = 1
D = .5
E = .5

Joe however, can only have 5 points active at a time. This means he could have powers A, B, and C usable, A,B, D, and E, or any similar combination of powers 'ready to use'. This could mean either giving you reaction boosts, making you walk silently, boost your stats, whatever. Since they never define what kind of action turning a power on and off is, it's up to your GM to determine. The reason this works out for the adept is relatively simple - You usually don't use certain powers at the same time. For example, it's not very often that you need to use Great Leap at the same time as Improved SMGs.
Mr.Sinister
Modesitt, thanks for the informative post!

I'm curious though where the info came from. Obviously, I'd like to read up on it more and find out what determines how many powers can be active, how that number can be increased/decreased, etc. Did it come from a particular sourcebook or compiled?

Thanks again.
Fortune
Your Magic rating determines how many Powers can be active. This number can decrease through Magic loss of any kind, and can be increased through Initiation or the use of an Adept Focus.
fistandantilus4.0
It's also limited by two other factors.
1) you only get .25/per centering success. So if you have a crappy centering skill, that infusion focus isn't going to go all that far.
2) also limited to your initiate grade.
That really limits how much you can get out of it. So really the infusion and adept focus' work best as stacked foci.
The infusion focus can give you a pre-selected extra power, but only have .... 'open slots'.
The Adept focus gives you the 'open slots' but no powers. So they're pretty much designed to work in tandem.

Example: say you don't have Inc. Reflx (for some crazy reason). You would need a stacked foci of infusion1/adept1, since you can't get more than Lv. 1 for a power you don't have.

That way, it takes more karma to bond it, and has a higher focus rating, effecting things like focus addiction, mentioned before. Still, pretty cool. Kinda like "I put on my gloves of killing hands Deadly".

It's still pretty balanced too. A weapon focus/infusion/adept power focus that let's you boost your weapon skill would be just as effective as a straight weapon focus. So there's not as much room for abuse.
Cochise
My usual 0.02¥:

1. The core rules generally limit the maximum rating any power with a rating can have to the adept's magic rating: e.g. magic 6 => improved ability stealth 6 is allowed, while improved ability stealth 7 isn't

2. The core rules limit the total power point cost of all powers to a number of power points equal magic rating. This limitation only counts at chargen: e.g. magic 6 => the sum of all power point costs may not exceed 6 at chargen. However during gameplay, the 20 karma rule allows the adept to exceed the original limitation => he can have magic 6 and a number of powers with a total power point cost of 7 or more (I know that the FAQ suggests that you don't use the 20 karma rule once you play with initiation rules from MitS, but that's not the point here).

3. There's no implicit or explicit restriction of simultanious use of powers in regards to magic rating in the core rules. => An adept who makes use of the 20 karma rule can simultaniously use all his powers under core rules

4. There used to be a rule that explicitly limited the simultanious use of powers to a power point cost equal to effective magic rating: The now errataed bioware rules allowed an adept with bioware to use a number of powers simultaniously as long as their power point total did not exceed the virtual magic rating. This rule is gone now, but back then allowed the interpretation that a similar restriction could be applied to the normal magic rating of an adept as well. This is how it was under non-errataed M&M rules.

5. The new rules on adept and infusion foci do something similar to what the non-errataed M&M rules did: While there's no explicit restriction of that kind in other current publications, these rules implicitly create such a restriction. Thus when playing under SotA'64 rules this restriction is automatically in place.

6. For the sake of consistancy it would be better to have the core rules errataed as well in that regard, because rules through implication tend to lead to discussion like this.

As always YMMV
mfb
fistandantilus, you're confusing the infusion metamagic with the infusion focus. infusion foci simply give you adept powers; no centering roll required, nor are they limited by grade.

i'm 99% sure that somewhere in SR3 or MitS, it describes how an adept who's suffered magic loss can switch between his known powers, so that the total pp cost of his active powers isn't higher than his magic score.
fistandantilus4.0
Sorry, I was going to go off on a tangent about howit would be nice if the infusion focus could give you more die for the centering test, but then I actually read my book again and got my head out butt.
Of course, that put me on a different tanget, which I rambled off on.

That being said, is there a type of focus that would give you more dice for centering infuson METAMAGIC test? At first guess I would say power focus, just becaue they seem to be the foci that cover most everything. Any thoughts?
mfb
well, a centering focus gives you extra centering die, with no restriction on how they can be used.
Mr.Sinister
I got a reply from ShadowFaq that seems to clarify things...

QUOTE (ShadowFaq email)
Here's my take on it.

First, an Adept can purchase Power Points for 20 Karma each (SR3 page 168), and they don't increase the Adept's Magic Rating. With that simple fact, it is quite easy for an Adept to have more Power Points than his Magic Rating.

Therefore the following (SR3 p. 168 lower left corner) doesn't make sense as written:
"an Adept with Magic 4 cannot have more than 4 points worth of powers"

However, if we put in the word "active" before the word "powers", then it makes total sense. I believe this is the meaning of that sentence.

With those two pieces of info it should all make sense to you.

Say you have an Adept who lost 5 points of Magic, to Cyberware and Deadly Wounds, and then purchased 5 Power Points with 100 Karma. With a Magic Rating of 1, he may have no more than 1 level in any single Power, and may not have more than 1 point worth of powers active at one time. But if you get him an Adept Focus 2 he can now have 3 points of powers active at one time. He'll also have at least 3 points of powers always turned off.

I will submit the addition of the word 'active' for consideration in a future errata / FAQ entry. Thanks for pointing out the problem.

Good luck,
-- ShadowFaq


He also replied about this question:
"I currently have Improved Reflexes:2 at a cose of 3 power points. Improved Reflexes:3 costs 5 power points. According to the FAQ on the shadowrunrpg.com website, an adept can improve a power by using power points equal to the difference in cost from the current level to the next up. In this case, 2 power points. Could I obtain an infusion focus with a rating of 4 (giving me 2 power points) to bring my Improved Reflexes up to a level of 3?'

QUOTE (ShadowFaq email)
The book doesn't describe the Infusion Focus as working that way, so check with your GM to see if he'd allow it.

For my 2 cents worth ... I wouldn't allow it in my game. I'd make the Infusion Focus hold 'complete' powers only.

Good luck.
-- ShadowFaq

mfb
hm. just so everyone's aware, that clashes with the current FAQ ruling:

QUOTE (SRFAQ)
SR3 allows adepts to purchase additional power points at a cost of 20 Good Karma points each. Does this mean that an adept can have more power points than his Magic attribute? Or does the purchased power point increase the adept's Magic? Can purchased power points be lost due to Magic loss? What happens if the adept's Magic is reduced to 0, but he still has powers left?
Adepts who purchase power points with Karma do not get an extra Magic point with that power point. You only get that with initiation.
The power point for Karma rule was specifically included for players who do not use the advanced magic (initiation) rules. It is recommended that this rule be ignored if the initation rules in Magic in the Shadows are also being used. Any extra power points purchased with Karma do not count against the character's limit of (Magic attribute) number of power points.
When an adept loses Magic, he chooses which powers are lost; powers bought with Karma can be chosen instead of others. If an adept's Magic reaches 0, the adept loses all magical ability, period.
Mr.Sinister
Which part clashes?
mfb
the older FAQ ruling states that purchased power points don't count towards the limit. in other words, if you've got 6 magic, and you buy a power point, you can have seven power points' worth of powers active. in the newer FAQ ruling, if you have 6 magic, and you buy a power point, you have to juggle which six power points' worth of powers you have active at one time.
Mr.Sinister
I'll have to look at the FAQ again, because I don't recall anything being an issue.
Kanada Ten
Um, it's in his quote of it.

"Any extra power points purchased with Karma do not count against the character's limit of (Magic attribute) number of power points."

Fortune
The quoted FAQ entry makes no mention of active Power Points. It merely covers the number of Power Points possessed by the character in relation to their Magic rating.
mfb
except that if you add the word "active" into the rules in SR3, then you have to add it into the older FAQ ruling as well, since that rule is what the older FAQ ruling refers to.
Fortune
Neither the question nor the response in the FAQ quote you provided have anything to do with the amount of active Power Points an Adept can have at any one time, but rather the amount of overall Power Points an Adept can possess in relation to his Magic rating. Two seperate issues.
mfb
the newer FAQ ruling modifies the text on page 168 of SR3. the older FAQ ruling annuls that same text in certain circumstances--the same circumstances that the newer FAQ ruling deals with (ie, what happens when your total power points exceeds your magic rating). these are exactly the same issue, answered in two different ways.

the basic issue is this: the new FAQ specifically says that power points purchased with karma count towards the limit on power points; the older FAQ specifically says that power points purchased with karma do not count towards that very same limit. both deal with the same sentence on page 168 of SR3, but each deal with it in a different--opposite--way.
Fortune
I don't see the problem.

Power Points purchased with the '20 Karma rule' are not limited to a character's Magic rating, but do count towards the limit of Power Points active at any given time.

I admit that two seperate FAQ entries would make it clearer though.
mfb
yeah, but that seriously hurts adepts, if you're in a BBB-only game. without that limit, adepts are on a roughly even footing with cybered combat characters; with it, adepts can't even begin to compete, beyond chargen.

besides, you're talking about a house rule. there's only one limit on power points--the limit mentioned on page 168. both FAQ rulings refer to that same limit, and modify it in seperate ways.
Fortune
A BBB-only Adept with a Magic of 6 could have 14 Points worth of Powers, but could only use 6 at any one time. I don't see this as being limiting in any major way.

To me it's just incentive to use the full Initiation rules.
mfb
you don't see that as limiting? he can only use half his powers at any given time; how is that not limiting?
Fortune
As far as I know, that has always been the case. Really, how many Powers do you think are necessary to have active at any one time? The Adept in question would be limited to having only 6 levels of Improved Ability (or any other level based Power) anyway, and it isn't likely he's going to need much more than 6 PP worth active at any one time.

As I said, it's incentive to use all the relevant rules for Adepts, instead of gimping them with only the inane '20 Karma rule'.
mfb
it wasn't the case until this newer FAQ ruling came out. as for not needing more than 6pp active at one time... well, honestly, that sounds like a pretty boring game, especially for an adept that has 14 total power points. then there's the matter of figuring out what type of action it takes for an adept to switch out active powers, and how many active powers he can switch with a single such action. and the deep, abiding joy involved in having to re-calculate your power point usage every few rounds.
toturi
Not necessarily. Choosing whichever adept power is active is not an action by Canon. Therefore you could have have Magic 3 and enjoy the benefits of Combat Sense 3 and Improved Reflexes 2. For most things you rarely require more than 1 power active, or more than 2-3 power points of abilities.

Slow... what Fortune said.
mfb
maybe it's just the GMs i play under--i doubt it, because i've played under a pretty wide array compared to people who play SR on tabletop--but i've never taken an adept on any run where he hasn't, at some point, required the use of at least half his powers. and it's an infrequent run where the adept doesn't require nearly all his powers--often more than 6pp worth--at some point.
toturi
How often have your PC needed all his adept powers at the same time? Improved Reflexes is needed when you calcualte initiative, but other then that you can drop it for the rest of the round and reactivate it when initiative time comes round again. Pain Resistance may need be active for long durations, but not many other powers I can think require you to have then active for such long durations.
mfb
dropping the IR power should drop your init score. IR allows you, on a constant basis, to perform actions more quickly; turning it off means that you can't perform actions as quickly, which means your init score should drop. besides which, IR also boosts your Rea, which keeps you from being surprised. surprise can occur at any time in combat; what's the use of being faster than eveyrone else, if a guy with six init can step out from behind a corner and catch you with your pants down?

and the number of powers which will probably be 'on' for long periods of time is not insignificant: astral perception, blind fighting, combat sense, enhanced perception, improved reflexes, improved sense, magic resistance, magic sense, magical power, mystic armor, pain resistance, rapid healing, sixth sense, spell shroud, temperature tolerance, traceless walk, and true sight.
toturi
No, it doesn't. Initiative is not recalculated in the middle of the turn. When you test for Surprise, turn it back on because you are not testing for anything else! So things like thermo, Killing Hands or Improved Abilities can be dropped. And because turning it back on is not an action, you can declare it is on for Surprise and off when you go back to your regularly scheduled programs.

You can turn Mystic Armour for soaking damage but turn it off for Killing Hands when hitting your opponent. In combat, once you use up the Combat Sense dice, you can drop it and declare it active the next time Combat Pool refreshes. Rapid Healing is only necessary when you roll the Body for healing. Similarly, sixth sense is only turned on for Surprise tests and dropped immediately after.

All this is possible because deciding which Adept powers are active is not an action. The only time I can think that you need a Magic 6 at one time is during Surprise and you want to use your Combat Sense, Improved Reflexes and Sixth Sense simultaneously.
mfb
losing the power that makes you faster in the middle of combat, but not losing the initiative boost, is just stupid. same with activating the fast healing power just long enough for the roll--healing is a time-intensive process; if the power that speeds up healing isn't active during the time you're trying to heal, it shouldn't work. i'm not going to bother arguing it on a rules basis--it's just retarded. anybody who allows it in their game deserves what the overpowered munchkins they're going to get.

besides, your argument makes the power point limit basically impotent--it will almost never come into play. why have it at all, if it has that little effect on game mechanics? all it does is clutter up the game with useless crap; you may as well just go ahead and say that all the adept's powers are always active.
toturi
I don't make the Canon rules. I just live with them. smile.gif
mfb
but these aren't canon rules--or, at least, it's debatable whether or not they're canon. the two FAQ rulings conflict; power-switching is canon by one of the rulings, but not the other, and they're not compatible.
Mr.Sinister
I don't see where the issue is at this point. As ShadowFaq's suggestion of adding the word "active" is just a way to clarify some things. Let me try to explain using my adept.

Stats:
Magic 6 (6 power points = magic 6)
Improved Reflex:2 - 3 power points
Improved Quick:2 - 1 power point
Improved Body:2 - 1 power point
Suspended State:1 - 1 power point
(Total power points used: 6)

At this point, I have access to all of my powers because (1) the power points for each power does not have a rating higher than my magic rating, (2) the total number of power points does not exceed my magic rating, or magic rating plus points purchased via 20 karma each.

Now let's say I spend 20 karma to get 1 additional power point for Improved Ability(Assault Rifles):2 for the cost of 1 power point. My stats would now be:

Magic 6 (7 power points = magic 6 + 1 bought from karma)
Improved Reflex:2 - 3 power points
Improved Quick:2 - 1 power point
Improved Body:2 - 1 power point
Suspended State:1 - power 1 point
Imp. Assault Rifles:2 - 1 power point
(Total power points used: 7)

My character can still use all of his powers because of the two reasons above. Let's say that I take a deadly wound and lose a magic point, bringing it's rating down to 5. Because of this magic rating decrease, I have to lose 1 power point worth of abilities - and it's my choice. I decide to lose Suspended State:1 so my stats now look like this:

Magic 5 (6 power points = magic 5 + 1 bought from karma)
Improved Reflex:2 - 3 power points
Improved Quick:2 - 1 power point
Improved Body:2 - 1 power point
Imp. Assault Rifles:2 - 1 power point
(Total power points used: 6)

I can still use all of my powers because of the rules above. However, things have changed a little bit. Now, if I took a geas to offset the magic loss and the loss of Suspended State, I would have to satisfy my geas before I had the Suspended State power active and usable. My stats would now look like this:

Magic 5/6 (6 power points = magic 5 + 1 bought from karma)/(7 power points = magic 5 + 1 bought from karma + 1 from satisfied geas)
Improved Reflex:2 - 3 power points
Improved Quick:2 - 1 power point
Improved Body:2 - 1 power point
Suspended State:1 - power 1 point (from satisfied geas)
Imp. Assault Rifles:2 - 1 power point
(Total power points used: 7 = 5 from magic 5 + 1 from karma + 1 from satisfied geas)

If I then initiate to a grade 1, I'll choose to shed my geas. From this, I regain the magic point from the geas I just shed, allowing me to now have my Suspended State power available/active at all times again. Stats would now be:

Magic 6 (7 power points = magic 6 + 1 bought from karma)
Improved Reflex:2 - 3 power points
Improved Quick:2 - 1 power point
Improved Body:2 - 1 power point
Suspended State:1 - power 1 point
Imp. Assault Rifles:2 - 1 power point
(Total power points used: 7)

If I obtain an Adept Focus with a force of 2, when activated, it increases my magic rating by 2 only for additional powers, that I don't already know, that were obtained by an Infusion Focus. I then get an Infusion Focus for Improved Strength:4 which costs 2 power points. Since Infusion Foci need to be 2x the power point rating it's being bonded to, my Infusion Focus needs to have a force of 4. I won't be able to use the Improved Strength:4 power until I activate the Adept and Infusion foci I just got. When I do activate them, the Improved Strength:4 power would now be active and my stats would be:

Magic 6/8 (7 power points = magic 6 + 1 bought from karma)/(8 power points = magic 6 + 1 bought from karma + 2 from activated Adept Focus)
Improved Reflex:2 - 3 power points
Improved Quick:2 - 1 power point
Improved Body:2 - 1 power point
Suspended State:1 - power 1 point
Imp. Assault Rifles:2 - 1 power point
Improved Strength:4 - 2 power points (from activated Adept Focus + Infusion Focus)
(Total power points used: 7/9 = magic 6 + 1 bought from karma / magic 6 + 1 bought from karma + 2 from active Adept Focus)

Does that help explain the powers and the use of the word "active"?
mfb
that's not how the new FAQ answer works, though. for instance, in the second part of your example (when you have 6 magic and 7 power points), you would--according to the new FAQ ruling--be limited to having only 6 of those power points active at any given time. to use IA:Rifles, you'll have to deactivate 1pp worth of your old powers. this much is made clear in the example the new FAQ gives.

i'm not sure why this is so unclear. to me, simple logic shows that the two FAQ answers are incompatible. the old FAQ answer states that power points bught with karma don't count towards the limit on powers. the new FAQ answer says that they do; the inclusion of the word "active" is irrelevant, because if you put the word "active" in there, it applies equally to the old FAQ ruling. both FAQ rulings modifiy the third and fourth sentences of the second paragraph under "Adept Powers" on page 168 of SR3. each FAQ ruling modifies the text in diametrically opposed ways--the older FAQ ruling says one thing, and the newer FAQ ruling says the exact opposite of that.
Mr.Sinister
QUOTE (shadowrunrpg.com FAQ)
SR3 allows adepts to purchase additional power points at a cost of 20 Good Karma points each. Does this mean that an adept can have more power points than his Magic attribute? Or does the purchased power point increase the adept's Magic? Can purchased power points be lost due to Magic loss? What happens if the adept's Magic is reduced to 0, but he still has powers left?
Adepts who purchase power points with Karma do not get an extra Magic point with that power point. You only get that with initiation.
The power point for Karma rule was specifically included for players who do not use the advanced magic (initiation) rules. It is recommended that this rule be ignored if the initation rules in Magic in the Shadows are also being used. Any extra power points purchased with Karma do not count against the character's limit of (Magic attribute) number of power points.
When an adept loses Magic, he chooses which powers are lost; powers bought with Karma can be chosen instead of others. If an adept's Magic reaches 0, the adept loses all magical ability, period.


Reading the quote from ShadowFaq in my post towards the bottom of page 1, I can see the confusion now. The ShadowFaq quote says that an Adept can only have active powers equal to the Adept's magic rating - even though he can know more powers than his magic rating allows to be active. The quote above from the website FAQ says that it's reccommended that the 20 karma rule be ignored if using initiation rules from MITS - it does not have to be ignored.
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