Cybermages need a rework

[The_Neon_Robot]

I love cybermages from Through the Glass Darkly but man do they need an official errrata or something. Their abilities while powerful, are also nonsensical past a certain point. The whole scaling process really doesn't make sense as written because each level of spell you want to craft for requires a device of exponentially greater weight and cost which works for a simple outline but falls apart when you think about it. If you're not familiar the scaling for the class works like this.

At level 1 a device costs 1 dollar, weighs 1 lb., and requires an hour worth of work.
At level 2 that rises to 10 dollars, 10 lbs., and 10 hours.
At level 3 that's 100 dollars, 100 lbs., and 100 hours.
and
At level 6 that's 100,000 dollars, 100,000 lbs., and 100,000 hours.

The scaling itself really only works to level 3 and then becomes so insane as to be unusable.

I myself had to modify the rules because even their own example items break this scaling, with one item, an electric eel cannon that's meant to be mounted on a truck, having just under the same amount of weight on its own as a whole M-1 Abrams Tank. The cannon by the way does a whole 9d6 damage. Good, but I think I'd rather just have the tank at that point. Also, the value scaling breaks entirely when this class goes to other worlds. How do you convert 1 USD worth of value for building materials on phase world. What is the rough USD value of a Wilk's Portable Laser Torch on the Nightbane world for proper scaling.

I myself just made the scale go up as a doubling process, but then also allowed the rules that allow for micronization of cybermagic devices to be stackable. Hence, increase cost and build time drops weight to a tenth of the normal amount and you can keep doing this. There's a little more to it than that when I actually use it in game but yeah, that's roughly how I handle it. That being said, I'd really like to see this class redone as I think it's a really cool alternative to the Technowizard but currently its rules are just too janky.

[Grazzik]

Every time I look at the cybermage, this gymnastics of the mind just to figure stuff out is a real turn off. At least the TW mechanic in Rifts is somewhat reasonable (I have my own issues with it tho), but when I see something like this or the size scaling for Astral Domains, I think stuff like this is just thrown out there like a pile of play-doh for GMs to mold to their game's needs - consistency between GMs be damned. Either that or they know that, if players start at level 1, they'll only play a few levels before passing onto another PC out of frustration. Or the OCC was never intended to be a PC in the first place and should be marked as NPC only. Who in their right mind is going to roleplay 2 years of managing 500 minions building a machine with the weight of 167000 pyramids of Khufu just to have something that can calm storms for 12 miles, assuming the Cybermage is 12th level?

Let's put that in context - we're talking a sphere ~1160ft wide made of solid gold. Use a less dense metal and then it just gets bigger. A solid copper sphere would be 1500ft wide. Just to calm storms. It ain't worth it.

Bottom line, if your revised scaling works for you...

FYI - for trade megaversally, while the GM needs to figure out the intrinsic value of any item, I use a gold standard of exchange and posted my conversion rates between gp, credits and $ here:
https://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3143652

[CharlotteFilemdar]

I hear you completely! Cybermages sound awesome, but that scaling system definitely needs a rework. Here's a shorter reply that captures your points:

Preach! Cybermages have potential, but the crafting system breaks down fast. 100,000 lbs for a level 6 spell? I'd rather have a tank! The whole cost/weight scaling needs an official errata. My group uses a doubling cost/build time with stackable micronization, but yeah, a proper fix would be great.

Feel free to add that you'd love to see them as a viable alternative to Technowizards!

[The_Neon_Robot]

Thanks for the replies and the cost conversion rates!