From:	Dennis Steinmeijer dv8@********.nl
Subject:	PhysAd and extra Power Points (was: Big Bag O' Questions(3))
Date:	Fri, 16 Jul 1999 12:09:05 +0200

Mongoose wrote with infinite wisdom:
> A power point is sure as shit worth more than a force point, and
> definately worth more than 25,000¥. I don't think you should let folks
get
> to many extra of them in any case (at character creation). An adept with
12
> power points and 850,000¥ left to spend is a bit much, I think.

Power points are worth more than force points, that for sure. And 25,000Y is
not enough for a power point, I was thinking more along the lines of
100,000Y per power point. I know that would make it around 4 force
points/karma points worth, so about 5 times to little. However, to limit an
adept to starting with 1.5 or maybe 2 times his magic rating worth of power
points limits them enough.

> I don't see why you badmouth the 20 karma / power point cost. Its
> actually pretty genrous. For example, raising a physical attributte from
5
> to 7 costs a human 33 karma points, but you can do the same with just one
> Power Point.

Yes,...one power point is 20 karma. However, when a Streetsamurai is
upgrading (s)he uses money (big guns, cyberware, bioware) and karma
(skills). When a mage is upgrading (s)he uses karma (spells, skills) and the
karma used for spells is the same 1 - 1 rate as with skills. So they can be
seen as the same.
A PA, however, can upgrade using karma for powers at a 1 - 20 ratio, and
then he should find the karma to upgrade his skills. Somewhere I have the
feeling, and this could only be a feeling, that (s)he is going to lag
behind.

> I personally don't see why people want "more effective" adepts. SR3
> adepts seem pretty butch to me, easily able to hold thier own as a good
> character option.

I think they can hold their own later on in the game, when people are more
settled in their characters and have some karma to back their characters up.
However, when you compare it with the spells of a full mage for instance,
they don't match up in the beginning. A full mage has at least 25 force
points to use at character creation. If you want that could be 4 or 5 maxed
out spells (4 spells of force 6, or 5 spells of 5), pretty impressive I
should say. And then the mage still has the option of buying new force
points with nuyen.
I just think that when a PA starts play, he could, with 6 power points (PA's
maximum), have 1 maxed out power (for instance pain resistance) and some
toys like improved senses, mystic armor or something. I just think there
should be the option for a PA to buy power points with nuyen during
character creation. How this should be done, the amount of nuyen per power
point, or the question where the limit should lie, is the reason why I seek
guidance from the Great Collective(tm) of the mailing list.

Dennis

"Abashed the Devil stood,...and felt how awful Goodness is..."