So for my character currently as stated above by taking refinemen I could get +1 Earth Power and +1 Earth Control?That would, however, limit the caster to a max of +2 on only one of those, since they have to stack like skills, so if he wants to be significantly powerful, he'll have to either stock up on focus item slots in the future, or upgrade to full-on Evocation.
If so, that sounds good to me! Thanks for the input! :)
I'd be taking this to allow the Specialization:Err, this is worth far more than 0 refresh. Frankly, I agree with Sanctaphrax, it shouldn't be allowed. If you did allow it, I would change the cost to -1 and restate it so it only allowed one Refinement to be taken.
Focused Study [–0] Musts: Channeling and/or Ritual. Description: Experienced focused practitioners learn in time how to refine and focus their abilities, gaining a deeper understanding of their one particular area of study. Skills Affected: Discipline, Conviction, Lore. Effects: Intense Focus. You have chosen to focus heavily upon one particular application of spellcraft. When you take this power you forever give up the ability to upgrade Channeling to Evocation or upgrade Ritual to Thaumaturgy. Focused Specialization. You may now choose to gain specialization bonuses when buying the Refinement power.
Err, this is worth far more than 0 refresh.
If you did allow it, I would change the cost to -1 and restate it so it only allowed one Refinement to be taken.
And yet far less than the 1 refresh that it would cost to upgrade to full-blown Evocation.
Quite a conundrum, wouldn't you say?
And yet far less than the 1 refresh that it would cost to upgrade to full-blown Evocation.No, it's worth more than taking full evocation as written. It's probably worth more than -1 as I modified it...though that's situational.
Quite a conundrum, wouldn't you say?
Essentially charging 2 refresh and any future chance of upgrade to Evocation for the pitiful benefit of +1 power and control...Nope. It's charging 2 refresh to break the requirement for following a ladder / pyramid. The higher you are on that pyramid, the more it's worth.
For that price I could upgrade to Evocation and buy a level of Refinement, gaining +2 control +1 power (or +1/+2) to my primary element AND 2 additional elements to play with.
This all comes down to whether you think the penalization of focused practitioners supported by the early novels, and thus by the game system, is sufficiently proven thematically inappropriate by the later novels. Because it's certainly not mechanically necessary to preserve game balance.You don't think so? As written, a 7 refresh character can dump 2 into channeling, take the 0 cost focus thing, and put 4 more into refinements which don't follow a ladder. What would that be, +4 to power / control? Of course if you really want to break it you only put 3 into specializations while putting the last into foci. Then you'd have the potential for something like +3 from specializations and another +4 from a single focus. Personally, I call it overpowered.
Nope. It's charging 2 refresh to break the requirement for following a ladder / pyramid. The higher you are on that pyramid, the more it's worth.
And here's where we differ. I don't see it accomplishing that as written.If it's not breaking the ladder/pyramid requirement, I agree with you -0 would be appropriate. I wouldn't require giving up the ability to upgrade either.
To short circuit the argument, though, let's give you the benefit of the doubt that this incarnation of the power is broken in that way (which, if it were, would indeed be powerful).
Let us then envision an otherwise identical power which did not suffer from the same problem (ie. did not obviate the need to follow the pyramid). How would you price that power?
If you really wanted to make a one trick pony, sponsored magic would be a way to get a bit more oomph out of an element, and an interesting one to boot.
So is this wasted? eg. Should I just use the +1 refresh to upgrade to Evocation since that comes with a free Specialiation?
So is this wasted? eg. Should I just use the +1 refresh to upgrade to Evocation since that comes with a free Specialiation?That would be my suggestion. You can also use Sanctaphrax's idea of very similar elements if you want your mage to be thematically limited. Something like Fire, Smoke, and Ash instead of Fire, Air, and Earth.
Concentrating effects from several elements into one is a dangerous proposition, as far as game balance is concerned.Are you talking about using closely themed elements or are you talking about using just one element and voiding the ladder? Or something else?
Tread very carefully.
It's more of adapting full up Evocation to still being an Earth Focused Practitioner, aka, an alternate element set.