Psionic Powers, Augmentation, Item Creation, and Balance

[Elder-Basilisk]

Some comments on the fighter/psiwarrior thread set me to thinking:

SCRIBE TATTOO [ITEM CREATION]
You can create psionic tattoos, which store powers within their designs.
Prerequisite: Manifester level 3rd.
Benefit: You can create a psionic tattoo of any power of 3rd level or lower that you know and that targets one or more creatures. Scribing a psionic tattoo takes one day. When you create a psionic tattoo, you set the manifester level. The manifester level must be sufficient to manifest the power in question and no higher than your own level. The base price of a psionic tattoo is its power level x its manifester level x 50 gp. To scribe a tattoo, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP and use up raw materials (special inks, masterwork needles, and so on) costing one-half of this base price.
When you create a psionic tattoo, you make any choices that you would normally make when manifesting the power.
When its wearer physically activates the tattoo, the wearer is the target of the power.
Any psionic tattoo that stores a power with an XP cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the costs derived from the base price, you must pay the XP when creating the tattoo.

On the surface, this seems similar to Brew Potion right? No powers of greater than third level, same pricing difference, usable by anyone, etc. Except for one thing: A lot of psionic powers are augmentable. In the PsyWar/Fighter thread, Scion insists that maximally augmented lower level powers are supposed to be the equal of 9th level powers or spells. So, if he's right, the psionics rules let you have potions of 9th level spells. Whether or not this is good depends upon whether target: you powers "target one or more creatures." If not, it seems like Eradicate Invisibility is about the only power that can be put into a psionic tattoo. If it does allow target "you" powers, then psionic tattoos of body adjustment put serious combat healing (10d12 at manifester level 21 for an average amount that is just about equal to an empowerd and maximized clvl 15 cure serious wounds--which of course fills an 8th level slot and is ineligible to be put into a potion) into the hands of non-spellcasters for the first time. (Not that it's necessarily a bad thing).

Other items normally limited by spell level--wands for instance--lose that limitation when you apply them to augmentable psionic powers. For instance, you could make a dorje of energy ball: manifester level 20 that would do 20d6 damage and have a DC of 22. That's pretty much like a wand of heightened (8th level) delayed blast fireball at half the price. You can create a manifester level 20 dorje of Energy Ray that will deal 20d6 points of damage on a successful touch attack. That's like a wand of clvl 20 Polar Ray at 1/8 the price.

So, am I wrong or do the augmentable powers in the new PsiHB screw up item creation pricing? Do they need to be capped at certain power point costs or should the price use power point cost instead of power level?

Also, do you think psionic tattoos can store personal powers? If they can't, what good are they? (I think I counted one non-personal power that could arguably be put into a psionic tattoo).

 

[Thanee]

With some PrC you can brew potions of up to 9th level, too.

But the cost thing is right. Augmented powers should be counted as their effective power level, not their actual power level, when pricing items.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Hamster Style]

Check out page 181 of the XPH under the "Crafting Dorjes" heading:

"Alternatively, if you want to have a higher manifestor level in the dorje, you must pay for the dorje as if the power were one level higher for each additional two manifestor levels you want."

There's a discrepancy about how many additional manifestor levels can be added to a Dorje. On page 168 the book gives a limit of five additional levels, but the example on page 181 talks about adding eight levels...


On page 182 under the heading "Creating Psionic Tatoos":

"Powers with a range of personal can be made into psionic tatoos, but they cost double the price of standard psionic tatoos."

Where did you read that setting a manifestor level higher than the minimum needed augments the power on the tatoo? I couldn't find it.


By the way, I get the feeling that several people wrote the XPH and didn't look at what the others wrote.