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In another thread (on a different board in this forum) I proposed an optional rule for the recovery of PPE and ISP. For simplicity reasons, I will generally focus on PPE, though it often also applies to ISP recovery to.

As it currently stands, most magic and psionic classes that use PPE and ISP recover very slowly... roughly 5 PPE/ISP per hour of sleep/rest and 10 PPE/ISP per hour of meditation (which can count as an hour of sleep for fatigue purposes). There are a few classes/races where the rates are a little higher, but they tend to be the exception.

There are two problems with this.

First... this rate never changes... a 15th level wizard recovers their PPE at the same rate as a 1st level wizard. The problem with this is that a 15th level wizard should feel like they are more powerful than they were at 1st level. While he will have more spells that he can cast and more PPE to cast those spells... the fact that he recovers PPE no faster makes him feel a lot weaker... mostly because due to his higher PPE pool he takes a lot longer to replenish his stores when he expends a considerable portion of his PPE pool.

This leads to the second problem... the amount of down-time needed to replenish their energy pools. At the extreme end, it could take days... even weeks (and for some supernatural creatures, months or years) to recover a sizable portion of their energies when they expend it. While it is possible to sleep for more than 8 hours a day... very few people are willing to spend that much time unconscious... especially when thirst and hunger can come into play. This means that the time needed to recover one's energies often needs to be spread out over an even longer period of time (sure, it may take a mere 24 hours of meditation to recover one's entire pool, but since few are willing to spend more than 8 hours at a time, those 24 hours are now spread over 3 days... and even longer if he has to use any of that recovered energy in the meantime).

So... how do we make spell casters and psychics feel as of they are becoming more powerful as the level while reducing the down time they need to recover their energy? We create a system similar to the optional PPE channeling rules. The system is fairly simple and straight forward.

1) Spell casters that have the ability to learn new spells at any time regardless of level gain 2 PPE per hour per level to their meditation recovery rate starting at level 2.

2) Spell casters that are only able to learn new spells when they level (and never of a level higher than their own) only get to add 1 PPE per hour per level to their meditation recovery rate... also beginning at level 2.

3) Supernatural Creatures and Creatures of Magic automatically gain the meditative recovery rate when they rest and get to add 3 PPE per hour per level to this rate, once more beginning at level 2.

Thus a wizard character that recovers 10 PPE per hour of meditation at level 1 will see that rate increase to 12 at level 2 and steadily increase until it is at 38 PPE per hour at level 15... nearly 4 times what he could recover at level 1. This helps the player feel as if his character has actually gained a level of power with each new level as he slowly recovers a little quicker than he did before (though with his increasing PPE pool, the benefit is a little off set). Using the Sorcerer (from Nightbane) PPE pool, the base PPE pool has a maximum of 60 PPE (+PE), meaning at 1st level it would take the character at least 6 hours of meditation to replenish his PPE pool. By level 15, that pool (assuming that the maximum PPE was added each time) could grow to be as much as 228 PPE (+PE). With the standard rules... it would take over 23 hours to recover the entire pool... most likely spread over 3 days (8 hours a day). With this rule, it would only take that sorcerer about 6 or so hours to recover... easily done in a single night and remains consistent with what he could do at 1st level (though he has nearly 4 times the PPE he did back then). Thus, the character that would be more or less out of action for 3 days while recovering can now go back into action after only a single night of meditation.

For those less developed spell casters... like Mystics... the same level of consistency is also maintained even though they are recovering a fair bit less PPE (due to the fact they often have a smaller PPE pool as well).

For supernatural creatures/creatures of magic, the increased rate can help at the higher levels, though due to their often much higher PPE pools, at lower levels they may still need a fair amount of down time to recover. Some truly powerful beings may require an even greater recovery rate as even here they will only get to about 52 PPE per hour... which can still take days/weeks/months/years to recover PPE pools in the 1000s to 100,000s

Clearly this rule may require a little tweaking for some supernatural creatures/creatures of magic... though there are plenty of myths where being like dragons (especially elder and ancient ones) could sleep for weeks or even months at a time... giving them plenty of time to recover their energy reserves. Still... for most spell casters and many lesser supernatural creatures/creatures of magic... this system seems to be fairly workable.

So... any opinions and or suggestions to improve/refine the concept? Remember, this can also be applied to ISP recovery too (Master psychics gain 2 ISP per hour per level; Major/Minor/Latent psychics gain only 1 ISP per hour per level to their meditation rate. Supernatural creatures/creatures of magic that possess psychic abilities gain 3+ ISP per hour per level).

Consider, though, that these are the base rates. If the wizard has friends in the party, he can "borrow" PPE from them, which they will regenerate; he can also borrow PPE from random strangers. He can absorb PPE from sacrifices (many summoners, IMO, make use of slaughterhouses as PPE batteries), and, depending on your GM, from those slain in combat. There's also ley lines, familiars, and the like, at least for PPE.

I don't have a big problem with mages and psychics taking a while to fill up. It makes them cautious with their abilities, since they may take time to recharge.

The idea of borrowing/taking PPE from other sources is possible, but not always practical. Most non-spellcasters will have very little PPE to take... and very little of what they have can be taken without consent. As for taking from sacrifices... that is really only viable for those of Evil Alignments (Selfish Alignments may resort to such actions if they have no choice, but Good Alignments usually won't even consider such things unless the situation is incredibly dire... and even then may reject it as an option). Taking energy from those slain in combat is never viable... there is a reason for sacrifices to be performed ritualistically (to properly anticipate, control and use the released energy) that just can't be done on the fly in a combat situation. Ley Lines are also a viable option... if one happens to be close to them, but in many cases one won't be and even if they are, there are others who are also attracted to these sources of power... many of which probably won't want to share the energy these lines provide. Finally... none of these examples really assist Psychics who have the same problem... limited energy reserves and a long recovery time to replenish that energy.

Basically what it comes down to... should mages and psychic use be allowed to use their unique abilities? The obvious answer is YES... but far too often the practical answer is NO! Why? There are a number of reasons, but the one that I am trying to address is probably the most important... because it takes them a long time to recover the energy they expend in using those abilities.

Look at a typical combat situation... you have people (often a lot) that are attacking you, so the mage has to decide if he uses a defensive spell to protect himself (armor of ithan being a common spell used in this respect), offensive spells to fight back with (energy bolt, fireball, call lightning or others, depending on how much damage he wants to cause), and afterwards he needs to decide if he will cast any healing spells to aid in the recovery of himself and group. Sure... he could rely on armor for defense (provided the setting allow for the ownership of armor... and even then there are restrictions), a gun or laser to inflict damage on those attacking, and he could also use basic medical skills and bandages to aid in recovery... but then why did he even bother learning how to cast spells? If a mage or psychic doesn't use their unique abilities... why have those abilities in the first place? Mages should use magic and Psychics should use psionics to deal with the things those of us without such abilities rely on technology to do... because this is what they chose to be. These other options should be the back up when they run out of energy... not their first choice of options.

Nothing is worse to a player than not being able to use the abilities one chose. It would be like telling a Glitterboy Pilot that he can't use his armor... or a Mutant hero that he can't use his powers... or a Hardware character that using his gadgets is a waste of their usefulness. While there will be occasions where these things are true... for the most part these characters are free to use their abilities when and where they want. The opposite is true for Mages and Psychics... they are often told that they have to save their power and rely on other means to accomplish things... and are only rarely allowed to unleash their full potential at a critical moment. The problem is... that moment never seems to arrive. Far too often these characters are told to wait until the moment to use their power has passed... or when it is already too late for their abilities to make any real difference... and all because it takes so long for them to recover their energy.

Now let's take a look at this from a group perspective. With mages and psychics having such powerful potential... why then do they make up such a small percentage of a group? Because in most cases, they are seen as a liability. They are often the squishiest characters because they are told to save their energy... thus they can't effectively defend themselves which means that other characters must spend more time protecting them. The time it takes them to recover what energy they use often is seen as slowing down the group. While every character needs to rest, few are willing to wait days or weeks for the mage to replenish his energy when they could be moving forward with the quest. Many players then blame the reckless wasting of energy (even if it actually saved their character's life at the time) as the cause and tell the player of Mages or Psychics not to use their spells/abilities until the final battle... which just perpetuates this entire cycle. Mages and Psychics are not allowed to be Mages or Psychics until it is convenient for the group... which is why so few players want to play them.

Much like what PPE channeling did for actually making spellcasting easier... I hope that this can make the recovery of PPE and ISP a little easier, thus making easier for the players of Psychics and Mages to play their characters as Psychics and Mages. Yes, they still have to judge whether or not a situation calls for a particular spell... but the recovery of that energy afterwards isn't as much of a problem. Why punish a player for playing a particular class by making them wait days or weeks to recover their energy (when using the most efficient means at their disposal to do so) when there is no real reason to do so? All it really does is make the class feel less powerful than other classes that don't have such down-times and gives players an incentive not to play these classes in favor of those other classes.

If the recovery of energy afterwards isn't a problem, do you likewise give warriors free bio-regeneration and instant repairs to their armor? Free e-clips? The Glitter boy DOES have times he can't use his armor... because it's been used to absorb a few missiles, and is going to crack if he doesn't repair it.

Everyone has a limitation; for mages and psychics, it's that their stuff wears down and can't be used until it naturally, with time, builds back up. I cry for them a lot less than I do for the men at arms who have to scrounge for armor repairs (since they'll seldom kill an enemy with armor remaining). Heaven help the guy who has to pay for missile reloads, or find 1.5 million because his power armor went kablooie.

How many of those characters don't loot bodies and vehicles of their enemies for weapons, armor, e-clips and such loot they can either use or sell afterwards? Once they make it back to a town or village, how long does it take to repair their damaged armor and recharge their weapons? I'm betting it takes barely a day in most cases (more often it is done overnight).

In the case of healing the injured... very often I have seen players demand (not ask... actually demand) that a mage or psychic heal them... often multiple times (as many healing spells don't fully heal a character). This means that while the mage/psychic is restoring others in the group, they are weakening their own energy reserves. I've even seen some players berate the players of mages/psychics that they were utterly useless because they didn't have the energy to fight (because they used that energy to heal that player's character after the last fight). The number of complaints I have heard from players having to "protect" mages and psychics (so they had enough energy to heal them afterwards) is ridiculous... and, quite frankly, a little hypocritical.

There is no real need for mages and psychics to take so long to replenish their energies... especially at higher levels when they should have the experience to recover their energies faster. I am not talking about eliminating the need for them to regenerate their energy... just making it go a little faster so that they don't have the unrealistic down time they currently have. This is also good for the rest of the group since it is easier for them to recover their energy, it will make healing the rest of the party a little faster too.

This really is the last major obstacle that is holding these classes from being as popular as other classes. It doesn't make them over powered... being able to recover one's PPE/ISP in a single night (rather than taking 3 to 6 days, depending on level and pool size).

Sounds like this is a change that will work out well for your groups' playstyle. Conversely, you may be interested in a skill presented in Rifter #30 called "Enhanced Meditation." It seems like it would serve the needs of your game well.

I love that you refer to "unrealistic down time" for people with magic powers.

The fact remains that mages have a number of ways to improve their regeneration rate... from borrowing from others, stealing from the dead and dying, recharging from the land, etc., that I don't see the downtime as that severe... and I'm disinclined to give anyone anything for free. Psychics enjoy the fact that most people save against their powers (if they get to save at all) only about 25% of the time.

I would be more willing to boost the regeneration rates of psychics than mages my self.
Mages regeneration rates are in many ways one of the few limits on their powers. Its the fact that they CAN'T use their full power, all the time and instead have to husband resources for when it counts that makes them less of a walking nuke.
The fact that some groups treat mages as walking medical kits is not a game issue, its a player issue. THAT sort of inter-party interaction needs to be addressed, probably out of game and over the table. Changing the rules to make it easier for one portion of the group to continue to abuse/victimize another portion is not the solution.

PPE Recovery isn't an issue really, provided you have the right resources.

ISP Recovery is less clear cut. A Generic Minor Psychic isn't impacted to much by the established recovery time of 2 per hour of sleep or 6 per hour of meditation because they don't have all that much ISP to begin with, so a good nights sleep is all it really takes. However when you move into the Generic Major Psychic or any class/race in the main book that is even a Minor Psychic that is where you start to run into longer recovery times where a good night sleep won't cut it potentially (exception might be the few classes that have higher regen rates, but those are the exception and not the rule, and even here it is possible a good night sleep won't cut it). And this is all at Level 1, really haven't looked at higher levels where the psychic has even more ISP.

RMB PPE absorption rules make PPE recovery trivial with a little thought and preparation.

ISP recovery, however, has always been a problem.

--flatline

And I think ISP recovery is partially slow because of how powerful psionics tends to be. Many powers you cannot save against (TK generally has no save, nor does Sixth Sense), and saves v. psionics are determined primarily by how much psychic power you possess.

I love the fact that "Sixth Sense" can be triggered whether the psychic wants it to or not. If you're more mobile than your adversary, you can drain his ISP faster than he can regenerate it.

As players, we NEVER voluntarily took Sixth Sense for fear that the GM would use it to drain our ISP from us.

--flatline

Sixth Sense is one of those powers that I think would work better as a permanent reduction of ISP, rather than a per-use expenditure... similar to Mind-Block Auto Defense. I'd pay 10 permanent ISP to never be surprised again.

Mark Hall wrote:Sixth Sense is one of those powers that I think would work better as a permanent reduction of ISP, rather than a per-use expenditure... similar to Mind-Block Auto Defense. I'd pay 10 permanent ISP to never be surprised again.

I think it's worth reworking the power. Your suggestion is a good one. Also, the description could be reworked to make it clearer what kinds of things cause it to trigger.

--flatline

flatline wrote:I love the fact that "Sixth Sense" can be triggered whether the psychic wants it to or not. If you're more mobile than your adversary, you can drain his ISP faster than he can regenerate it.

As players, we NEVER voluntarily took Sixth Sense for fear that the GM would use it to drain our ISP from us.

--flatline

I can't believe I failed to realize that downside to Sixth Sense, could be because I haven't yet had to deal with running an ISP-using character and dealing as a result with the slow ISP recovery rates.

flatline wrote:I love the fact that "Sixth Sense" can be triggered whether the psychic wants it to or not. If you're more mobile than your adversary, you can drain his ISP faster than he can regenerate it.

As players, we NEVER voluntarily took Sixth Sense for fear that the GM would use it to drain our ISP from us.

--flatline

Off hand I would say that sixth sense would not go off unless the adversary means to actually attack and try and kill you. Just ploinking at some one to drain some ISP would not set it off IMHO.

eliakon wrote:

flatline wrote:I love the fact that "Sixth Sense" can be triggered whether the psychic wants it to or not. If you're more mobile than your adversary, you can drain his ISP faster than he can regenerate it.

As players, we NEVER voluntarily took Sixth Sense for fear that the GM would use it to drain our ISP from us.

--flatline

Off hand I would say that sixth sense would not go off unless the adversary means to actually attack and try and kill you. Just ploinking at some one to drain some ISP would not set it off IMHO.

Attacking with the intent to press the attack opportunistically would certainly set of SS. Just because we may decide to break off the attack before someone dies doesn't make the attack any less "life threatening".

Also, if you're playing with MD, then each "plink", as you put it, is the equivalent of sniping with a modern tank round. If that doesn't trigger SS, then what would?

--flatline

flatline wrote:I love the fact that "Sixth Sense" can be triggered whether the psychic wants it to or not. If you're more mobile than your adversary, you can drain his ISP faster than he can regenerate it.

As players, we NEVER voluntarily took Sixth Sense for fear that the GM would use it to drain our ISP from us.

--flatline

I would question any GM who used that approach. It makes little sense for any NPC opponent to attempt that, and requires the NPCs to have a near omniscient knowledge of the players. Seems like pure meta-gaming from a jerk GM.

Mack wrote:

flatline wrote:I love the fact that "Sixth Sense" can be triggered whether the psychic wants it to or not. If you're more mobile than your adversary, you can drain his ISP faster than he can regenerate it.

As players, we NEVER voluntarily took Sixth Sense for fear that the GM would use it to drain our ISP from us.

--flatline

I would question any GM who used that approach. It makes little sense for any NPC opponent to attempt that, and requires the NPCs to have a near omniscient knowledge of the players. Seems like pure meta-gaming from a jerk GM.

Wouldn't have to be an NPC opponent though Mack, such a GM just has to send threats at them, so a variety of hostile wildlife would still trigger the Sixth Sense and drain ISP without having to use NPC that are either too well informed or just treat every opponent as if they're Sixth Sense-possessing enemies. Still a jerk GM but hiding behind the facade of 'well the area's just naturally dangerous'.

Higher level guys can store more energy, as for slower regen, I dunno how to help the psychics but I thought higher-level guys could draw energy from other people faster or something.

Even if not, you could RP being better at mining people for PPE.

Razorwing wrote:In another thread (on a different board in this forum) I proposed an optional rule for the recovery of PPE and ISP. For simplicity reasons, I will generally focus on PPE, though it often also applies to ISP recovery to.

As it currently stands, most magic and psionic classes that use PPE and ISP recover very slowly... roughly 5 PPE/ISP per hour of sleep/rest and 10 PPE/ISP per hour of meditation (which can count as an hour of sleep for fatigue purposes). There are a few classes/races where the rates are a little higher, but they tend to be the exception.

There are two problems with this.

First... this rate never changes... a 15th level wizard recovers their PPE at the same rate as a 1st level wizard. The problem with this is that a 15th level wizard should feel like they are more powerful than they were at 1st level. While he will have more spells that he can cast and more PPE to cast those spells... the fact that he recovers PPE no faster makes him feel a lot weaker... mostly because due to his higher PPE pool he takes a lot longer to replenish his stores when he expends a considerable portion of his PPE pool.

This leads to the second problem... the amount of down-time needed to replenish their energy pools. At the extreme end, it could take days... even weeks (and for some supernatural creatures, months or years) to recover a sizable portion of their energies when they expend it. While it is possible to sleep for more than 8 hours a day... very few people are willing to spend that much time unconscious... especially when thirst and hunger can come into play. This means that the time needed to recover one's energies often needs to be spread out over an even longer period of time (sure, it may take a mere 24 hours of meditation to recover one's entire pool, but since few are willing to spend more than 8 hours at a time, those 24 hours are now spread over 3 days... and even longer if he has to use any of that recovered energy in the meantime).

So... how do we make spell casters and psychics feel as of they are becoming more powerful as the level while reducing the down time they need to recover their energy? We create a system similar to the optional PPE channeling rules. The system is fairly simple and straight forward.

1) Spell casters that have the ability to learn new spells at any time regardless of level gain 2 PPE per hour per level to their meditation recovery rate starting at level 2.

2) Spell casters that are only able to learn new spells when they level (and never of a level higher than their own) only get to add 1 PPE per hour per level to their meditation recovery rate... also beginning at level 2.

3) Supernatural Creatures and Creatures of Magic automatically gain the meditative recovery rate when they rest and get to add 3 PPE per hour per level to this rate, once more beginning at level 2.

Thus a wizard character that recovers 10 PPE per hour of meditation at level 1 will see that rate increase to 12 at level 2 and steadily increase until it is at 38 PPE per hour at level 15... nearly 4 times what he could recover at level 1. This helps the player feel as if his character has actually gained a level of power with each new level as he slowly recovers a little quicker than he did before (though with his increasing PPE pool, the benefit is a little off set). Using the Sorcerer (from Nightbane) PPE pool, the base PPE pool has a maximum of 60 PPE (+PE), meaning at 1st level it would take the character at least 6 hours of meditation to replenish his PPE pool. By level 15, that pool (assuming that the maximum PPE was added each time) could grow to be as much as 228 PPE (+PE). With the standard rules... it would take over 23 hours to recover the entire pool... most likely spread over 3 days (8 hours a day). With this rule, it would only take that sorcerer about 6 or so hours to recover... easily done in a single night and remains consistent with what he could do at 1st level (though he has nearly 4 times the PPE he did back then). Thus, the character that would be more or less out of action for 3 days while recovering can now go back into action after only a single night of meditation.

For those less developed spell casters... like Mystics... the same level of consistency is also maintained even though they are recovering a fair bit less PPE (due to the fact they often have a smaller PPE pool as well).

For supernatural creatures/creatures of magic, the increased rate can help at the higher levels, though due to their often much higher PPE pools, at lower levels they may still need a fair amount of down time to recover. Some truly powerful beings may require an even greater recovery rate as even here they will only get to about 52 PPE per hour... which can still take days/weeks/months/years to recover PPE pools in the 1000s to 100,000s

Clearly this rule may require a little tweaking for some supernatural creatures/creatures of magic... though there are plenty of myths where being like dragons (especially elder and ancient ones) could sleep for weeks or even months at a time... giving them plenty of time to recover their energy reserves. Still... for most spell casters and many lesser supernatural creatures/creatures of magic... this system seems to be fairly workable.

So... any opinions and or suggestions to improve/refine the concept? Remember, this can also be applied to ISP recovery too (Master psychics gain 2 ISP per hour per level; Major/Minor/Latent psychics gain only 1 ISP per hour per level to their meditation rate. Supernatural creatures/creatures of magic that possess psychic abilities gain 3+ ISP per hour per level).

Have you actually played a Mage extensively? Overcoming this is quite easy and quite frankly very fun when playing. My GM allows me to tap the PPE of those slain in combat as long as I say before the death I am reserving an action to do it. That has been a lot of fun.

Drawing PPE from those killed in battle isn't as easy as you make it sound (that your GM makes it easy to do this is your own house-rule).

In almost all cases where one takes advantage of the increased PPE of those killed, it is done through a ritualistic sacrifice... usually with a restrained target. Drawing on the PPE of someone you are fighting just isn't possible... even if you kill them. The release of PPE at the moment of death is too quick to tap into when one is in the middle of combat... and even then... only those of evil alignments will even consider using blood sacrifices as a method of replenishing their power (any player who tries WILL see their alignment slipping towards Diabolic... in my games at least).

As for drawing PPE from others... well, even that isn't easy. Most people will only have 3d6 PPE... which really isn't much... and at most, one can only draw 1d4 points from unsuspecting targets... assuming they fail to save vs. magic. If they resist in any way... there is no chance of drawing that energy (yet another reason one can't draw on an enemy's PPE in combat... by definition they are fighting you... resisting you).

Not every wizard will have access to a ley line to help rejuvenate their PPE stores... and there will be others who covet the sole use of such places of power (so they have exclusive access to the PPE energy).

Much like how PPE Channeling allowed for a better casting of spells (compared to what was allowed at the time... and is still better than current rules), my goal here is to reduce the down-time spellcasters and psychic require to replenish their energies. They can still burn through their reserves very quickly... but with this method it should only take a single night's worth of meditation to replenish their energies. This brings the characters to a level of play that can be maintained without having days of downtime between fights.

The more experienced the Mage/Psychic, the more powerful they become... yet with the current rules it also means the longer it takes for them to recover their energy reserves... how exactly does that make a character feel more powerful? Sure... I have more spells and greater reserves of energy... yet I recover energy at the exact same rate as a 15th level wizard as I did at 1st level... which means it takes me even longer to recover my energies at 15th level than it did at 1st. One is supposed to get better with experience... yet in this case it feels as if one is getting worse. At 1st level I could recover my energies in a single night of meditation... at 15th level it will take me 3 nights to recover my energies... true I have more energy... but still it feels like I am doing worse the more experienced I get. The same is true with many psychics... and they don't have the other options for replenishing ISP that mages have for replenishing PPE.

If you have RMB (or BTS), there are rules for drawing PPE from people who are unaware (not cooperating and not resisting). For some reason, RUE left it out, but even with the boost that RUE gave ley lines, drawing from unaware people (and animals, potentially) can yield far more PPE once you gain a few levels.

Killing people for their PPE isn't worth the effort or the risk when you can simply go to a mall or subway station and absorb as much PPE as you can handle.

--flatline

flatline wrote:If you have RMB (or BTS), there are rules for drawing PPE from people who are unaware (not cooperating and not resisting). For some reason, RUE left it out, but even with the boost that RUE gave ley lines, drawing from unaware people (and animals, potentially) can yield far more PPE once you gain a few levels.

Killing people for their PPE isn't worth the effort or the risk when you can simply go to a mall or subway station and absorb as much PPE as you can handle.

--flatline

Yes those can be pretty good sources for mages inclined to that sort of thing, and if your GM is using the RMB or BTS rule set then they are an option. If, as appears to be the case here, the GM is using the RUE rules, then that is no longer an option, unless the GM house-rules them in. Which brings us back to the idea of a better regeneration rate.

Even strictly using RUE, getting 1d4PPE from half of your attempts as people walk past you in the mall is still way better than meditating.

Psychics don't even have that (excepting Mind Bleeders).

--flatline

flatline wrote:If you have RMB (or BTS), there are rules for drawing PPE from people who are unaware (not cooperating and not resisting). For some reason, RUE left it out

I figure it was an intentional nerf. For those of the RMB=RUE same-dimension stance, must've been some kinda weird ley line shift, huge increase in energy output at the lines, but somehow causes interference with unaware-mining of mundanes.

I think ultimately mages have enough canon ways to deal with the limitation of regenerating P.P.E. at such a "slow" rate. But psychics don't have their luxuries, and for them I think a good system could be to have all psychic's I.S.P. pools work in a similar manner to how psychics in Beyond the Supernatural, second edition, work their I.S.P. pools. Managed properly, there will be almost no downtime. Conversely, without a supernatural threat around, their powers are much more limited.

To be honest... I am more than a little surprised by how little people like this idea.

I have played Mage (and Psychic) characters in Rifts, Heroes Unlimited, Nightbane, and Palladium Fantasy and loved every minute of it... except when it came time to recover my spent energy.

You would be surprised how often in these games one finds oneself hundreds if not thousands of miles from any known Ley Lines (Texas has very few Ley Lines... as do many other areas). You would also be surprised at how often one finds someone or something else at one that doesn't want to share the energy. It is also hard to draw energy from others when one is days out from any village or town (less common in a Heroes game, but still possible for a nationally sponsored team). I rarely play an evil character, so blood sacrifices are only considered in the most dire circumstances... and even then it is usually rejected (and contrary to what some have said above... one can not partake of the doubled PPE of a opponent's death in the middle of combat). More often that I realized when I first started playing Mage and Psychic characters, the most reliable and viable methods of replenishing PPE/ISP is through meditation, yet even here it can take a long time at a mere 10 PPE/ISP per hour.

Comparatively, other characters rarely saw the same length of down time I did. Even when they had to replace armor, buy new weapons or recharge a blaster, they were rarely out of action for more than a few hours. A the most extreme, we would have to wait over night for an armor to be repaired. It was even more pronounced in Heroes where many of the players chose to play characters with actual super powers... and never had to worry about running out of energy.

When looking for a possible solution, I investigated other game systems to see how their mage/psychic characters recovered their spent energies... and in many of them I saw that these types of characters while just as powerful as those in Palladium games rarely had the same negatives they do here. In nearly every version of D&D, mages can recover their full range of spellcasting ability with a single night's rest... whether the cast a single spell or all the spells they could... at level 1 to level 30. Recovering magical energy in most White Wolf/Onyx Path games were fairly easy.

This lead me to the conclusion that it is difficult in Palladium games because Palladium makes it so. This was true with casting spells originally where it could take an entire melee round to cast a single low level spell (and even longer to cast higher level spells). This was why PPE channeling was first developed... to make things a little easier for spellcasters because the system was unfairly balanced against them. Even after the changes to spellcasting were made with RUE (which did improve things), PPE channeling is still the preferred method in most of the games I've played in. Yet with easier casting comes a new problem, burning through PPE/ISP faster than before... and since the recovery time hasn't changed, this means that things are really not that balanced in regards to these classes.

That is why I worked on this method... to make using Meditation a viable option. It still requires one to rest up... which is natural for these clases., but one doesn't have to spend days at the highest levels doing so. A single night of Meditation can bring even the most powerful Mage back to full energy ready to fight the good fight and cast spells like a true spell slinger should.

And mages should cast spells... it is the nature of the class. Mages shouldn't have to hold back just so the rest of the party doesn't have to wait for them. If a mage isn't casting spells to deal with the situation they are in... why did they bother becoming a mage in the first place?

To be honest the original proposal is pretty reasonable IMHO. The boost to regeneration rates isn't all THAT high, which means that it will still take a day or so to recover full power. Mages will still have to be frugal with their spell casting unless they are near a source of PPE, which to be honest I don't have a problem with. A few games I have been in even used the old BTS1 rate (full nights sleep was worth 100% of your PPE pool, regardless of size) which worked fairly well for all but a few situations.
I play a lot of mages (not just in Palladium either) and I will be one of the first to admit that energy can be one of the big problems. As a GM one of the most important things is to match recovery with the tempo of the game.
In 13eowulf's The Hunt our characters were expected to perform at the peak of our abilities, constantly, with little down time. Ergo he allowed 'energy bars' to give us a recharge, thus the mages and psychic's were useful, and not weighing the rest of the group down. Later hunts didn't always have these....meaning that your mage may have to be more frugal with their power....

Glistam wrote:mages have enough canon ways to deal with the limitation of regenerating P.P.E. at such a "slow" rate.
psychics don't have their luxuries

Just give them Amaki-trained Gizmoteers some time to mass-produce their stuff They can build "restore ISP" devices powered by PPE.

Mass-production of superior protection circles would also help. I mean... if you stepped into 1, used the bonus ISP, then stepped into another, would you get another bonus?

Then you have those entities who can convert PPE into ISP. If we figure a way to give them the Restore ISP power then they could convert PPE into ISP to help us out easily.