Scribe Tattoo

[JacktheRabbit]

Ok I am a little confused on how to use this feat. Basically I dont know how to figure the cost for a power that is augmented.

Here is an example to make it easier:

Tattoo of Inertial Armor from a 3rd level Psion
Level 1 power
Level 3 Manifestor
Cost = 1 x 3 x 50 /2 for actual creator cost = 75 gp /25 for XP cost = 3 xp

This gives you a tattoo that would have cost 1 PP if cast and granted a +4 AC for 3 hours.
Now the spell is augmentable. For every 2 PP added the AC bonus goes up by 1.


So what is the cost of a Tattoo of Inertial Armor that grants a +5 AC bonus for 3 hours?
The PP cost for the power has increased to 3 instead of 1, but the manifester level for the power is 3 and it is still a level 1 power.


Can any one help me?


Thanks in advance.

 

[Jack Simth]

Near as I can tell, the level of the power doesn't change, but the manifester level used does - to scribe a level-1 power augmented to 5 pp's requires a manifester level of 10 - so it's worh 25xlevel of the power (1)xManifester Level Used (5) = 125 gp. Compare to a scroll of Burning Hands - for 5d4 damage, you need a caster level of 5; it costs 25*level of the spell*level of the caster - to buy that 5d4 damage from a scroll, you need to pay the same amount.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Still not sure I understand. How much would Inertial Armor cost if augmented to 3 power points?

 

[Jack Simth]

Base Price*Level of power*manifester level* (personal range? 2, otherwise 1) = 25*1*3*2=150 gp for a tattoo of an Inertial Armor for 5 AC (to scribe, market price twice that again; 300 gp); note that the XP cost of making the "item" is based on the market price, not the materials price, so 300/25=6xp

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Technically you can't.

The manifester level of a psionic tattoo is the minimum level required to manifest the scribed power.

However I don't think it would be a problem to house rule that you can (I have IMC), but for augmentable powers you probably want to institute something similar to how dorjes and psicrown prices are calulated, namely if you want to increase the manifester level by more than five, you also have to increase the power level. Otherwise you end up with psionic items that are cheaper/more powerful than their magic equivilents.

Take a tattoo of Inertial Armor with a manifester level of 19. That gives you a +13 armor bonus and only has a market price 1900 gp (1*19*50*2).

Meanwhile you can get a similar armor class by applying an oil of Magic Vestimant +5 to a suit of full plate, but it will cost 3000 gp for the oil, plus you have to deal with the cost, and all the penalties of the armor.