"Psionics Unleashed" and Manifester Level

[meowmeowkitty]

I'm hoping someone can clarify this, because I've looked through every resource I can find, and all have the same apparent ambiguity on this subject.

The point I'm wondering about is the infamous "You cannot spend more power points on a power than your current manifester level".

But every time I see this line, it's specifically being used to describe augmenting a power (Example: "Each power that can be augmented includes an entry giving how many power points it costs to augment and the effects of doing so. However, you can spend only a total number of points on a power equal to your manifester level.")

So the question is, is augmenting/improving a power the only thing limited by manifester level? Or can you literally not cast a 4th level power until you're 7th level, since all 4th level powers have a base cost of 7 PP?

It seems odd to me that a Psion would be able to get powers at level 4 that he isn't allowed to use until level 7 (or level 6, assuming he took Overchannel).

Any help clarifying this would be appreciated.

[Derjuin]

I'm hoping someone can clarify this, because I've looked through every resource I can find, and all have the same apparent ambiguity on this subject.

The point I'm wondering about is the infamous "You cannot spend more power points on a power than your current manifester level".

But every time I see this line, it's specifically being used to describe augmenting a power (Example: "Each power that can be augmented includes an entry giving how many power points it costs to augment and the effects of doing so. However, you can spend only a total number of points on a power equal to your manifester level.")

So the question is, is augmenting/improving a power the only thing limited by manifester level? Or can you literally not cast a 4th level power until you're 7th level, since all 4th level powers have a base cost of 7 PP?

It seems odd to me that a Psion would be able to get powers at level 4 that he isn't allowed to use until level 7 (or level 6, assuming he took Overchannel).

Any help clarifying this would be appreciated.

Psions can learn 4th level powers starting at level 7 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm). You can augment a power by spending a number of points that would bring the total cost (base + augmented PP) up to your ML total. When a power has a requirement like "Psion 4" or "Kineticist 6" they mean the point at which you learn that power - so it'd be Psion level 7 or Kineticist level 11.

[meowmeowkitty]

Wow, fast and super helpful :D That would explain why the numbers weren't making sense, thanks!

[Derjuin]

Wow, fast and super helpful :D That would explain why the numbers weren't making sense, thanks!

No problem! Just watch out for PrCs and other base classes that follow separate "maximum power level known" tables; not all of them match up as nicely as the Psion's does (Wilder is a prime example - it gets higher level powers one level later than the Psion, so they learn level 2 powers (costing 3 PP) at level 4 (and thus ML 4)).

[RndmNumGen]

So the question is, is augmenting/improving a power the only thing limited by manifester level? Or can you literally not cast a 4th level power until you're 7th level, since all 4th level powers have a base cost of 7 PP?

It seems odd to me that a Psion would be able to get powers at level 4 that he isn't allowed to use until level 7 (or level 6, assuming he took Overchannel).

Any help clarifying this would be appreciated.
You're probably confusing spell/power levels with caster/manifester levels. The progression is different. Wizards get 2nd level spells at Wizard level 3, 3rd level spells at Wizard level 5, 4th level spellls at 7, etc. Psionics follows the same progression.

[meowmeowkitty]

No problem! Just watch out for PrCs and other base classes that follow separate "maximum power level known" tables; not all of them match up as nicely as the Psion's does (Wilder is a prime example - it gets higher level powers one level later than the Psion, so they learn level 2 powers (costing 3 PP) at level 4 (and thus ML 4)).

:smalleek: I will definitely be paying extra close attention to this in the future lol.