Hostile Empathic Transfer - too powerful?

[Savage Wombat]

A player brought this to my attention (thanks, SteelDraco!)

50 points of damage for a 3rd level effect? Excessive much?
Are there any suggestions for re-balancing this power, or should I just beat my players with it as often as possible?

Empathic Transfer, Hostile
Telepathy [Mind-Affecting]
Level: Telepath 3, psychic warrior 3
Display: Auditory and material
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will half
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 5

You transfer your hurt to another. When you manifest this power and then make a successful touch attack, you can transfer 50 points of damage (or less, if you choose) from yourself to the touched creature. You immediately regain hit points equal to the amount of damage you transfer.
You cannot use this power to gain hit points in excess of your full normal total. The transferred damage is empathic in nature, so powers and abilities the subject may have such as damage reduction and regeneration do not lessen or change this damage.
The damage transferred by this power has no type, so even if the subject has immunity to the type of damage you originally took, the transfer occurs normally and deals hit point damage to the subject.

Augment: You can augment this power in one or both of the following ways.
1. For every additional power point you spend, you can transfer an additional 10 points of damage (maximum 90 points per manifestation).
2. If you spend 6 additional power points, this power affects all creatures in a 20-foot-radius spread centered on you.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Keep in mind that the manifester needs to have that much damage already (A Telepath 5 is unlikely to have 50 HP), it's a touch attack, and unaugmented, it only affects one target. It's also mind-affecting, which can be counteracted in various ways.

 

[Plot-Device]

Consider the following:

Psion hitpoints are d4's. With 14 con, I think I have 32 at 7th level. Not to mention a bad attack. And you can will save for half. You'd be much better using max augmented crystal shard. At 7th you do 8d6 on a ranged touch, no save, only resistances.

Psychich Warriors have awful amounts of PP so they don't manifest that often, few powers known, so they're wasting a power on this, and need high str and con to stay effective so the odds of having a good primary casting stat are slim. They want to stay away form anything that grants a save.

I'd be more worried about your players nabbing this power, and a cage full of canaries.

 

[Henry]

50 points of damage for a 3rd level effect? Excessive much?
Are there any suggestions for re-balancing this power, or should I just beat my players with it as often as possible?

If you actually manage to do the latter, you'll impress the heck outta me. I wouldn't take that power as a Psion, and POSSIBLY more marginally as a PsyWar. It's useful in one or two rather narrow instances, as it's not wise for a 5th level character with 50 points of damage to get near someone in melee combat and try to cast a touch spell in the first place.

 

[KarinsDad]

This power is not about the 50 points of damage possible.

It is about the healing of the Psion.


Vigor has a 5 to 1 ratio of hit points to PP, but it must be manifested before damage occurs. ETH has up to a 10 to 1 ratio of hit points to PP, but it can be manifested after damage occurs.

That is the true advantage of this power. It can not only harm an enemy, but it can also heal the psion.

Granted, most low to mid level psions will rarely if ever have 50 points of damage. But, healing yourself up 32 points of damage at 9th level while damaging a foe the same 32 points is still pretty cool.

For a Telepath, it is worth taking. For other psions who have to use up a feat to take it, it is more costly.


And at 11th level, it becomes really cool. When damaged, walk into a group of enemies and not only heal yourself, but harm all of them as well.


Btw, the power does not state what happens if the opponent makes his will save. He takes half damage, but do you only cure half damage? How about in the 20 foot radius case where some opponents might save and others might not? Personally, I would rule that you get the healing you want, regardless of whether the opponent saves (due to the 20 foot radius discrepency). But, I could see it ruled either way.

 

[Thanee]

Or just distribute the points over the various targets, since the effect is, that you can transfer damage from yourself to the target, if it affects multiple targets, then you can transfer damage from yourself to multiple targets. It doesn't really say, that if you transfer 1 point each of them takes 1 point of damage, or does it? Could be that way, could be not. Maybe you can transfer up to 90 points for each of the targets, healing several hundred hit points that way (if you have that many, that is ).

BTW...

You immediately regain hit points equal to the amount of damage you transfer.

It actually does state how much you cure on a successful save.

Bye
Thanee

 

[KarinsDad]

Or just distribute the points over the various targets, since the effect is, that you can transfer damage from yourself to the target, if it affects multiple targets, then you can transfer damage from yourself to multiple targets. It doesn't really say, that if you transfer 1 point each of them takes 1 point of damage, or does it? Could be that way, could be not. Maybe you can transfer up to 90 points for each of the targets, healing several hundred hit points that way (if you have that many, that is ).

True. It is not well worded.

BTW...


It actually does state how much you cure on a successful save.

This is debatable as well. How much you transfer does not necessarily mean how much the opponent took. You could transfer 50, but he only took 25 due to the Will save.

But, I can see several interpretations here.

I do think that spending an extra 6 PP just to spread around the wealth (i.e. 5 to one opponent, 8 to another, 3 to a third) is rather expensive. That's the same amount of extra PP for both Maximize Power and Empower Power combined.


However, you have gotten me to change how I rule the spell in my game. I will now rule it that you get back the max of what any given opponent takes, even if it is a single opponent. So, if you transfer 50 to an opponent and he saves, you heal 25 and he takes 25. If you transfer 50 to two opponents and one saves, he takes 50, the other opponent takes 25, and you heal 50 back.

 

[Thanee]

About the save... it only says that you transfer the points, so if the save is successful, only this number can be halved, so you transfer less. At least that's how I would read it.

But you are right, it's far from clear.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Victim]

The damage and healing per manifester level are some of the best in the game at 10/1. Only Heal and Harm can match it. And Hostile Empathic Transfer is like both of them put together.

If you actually manage to do the latter, you'll impress the heck outta me. I wouldn't take that power as a Psion, and POSSIBLY more marginally as a PsyWar. It's useful in one or two rather narrow instances, as it's not wise for a 5th level character with 50 points of damage to get near someone in melee combat and try to cast a touch spell in the first place.

The way I see it, the psion doesn't get into melee with 50 damage on him to use this power. He has 50 damage because someone got into melee with him! And now that someone needs to be taken care of quickly, or the psion needs to protect himself.

Sure, it's not the greatest power when it first becomes available given that lower level characters will be constrained by their HP. Magic Missile is nothing special at first level either.

Probably the main downside with the power is that it doesn't play nice with Vigor. If you have gobs of temp HP from Vigor, then you need to wait longer before using HET.

 

[Goolpsy]

I see this as a last way resort... "Damn im dying... oh heck.. lets try this power, or else im dead"....

And well... fail to hit the opponent... and you usually really are DEAD