A question about a Psionics Augmented: Seventh Path feat

[neversterling]

NEGATIVE ENERGY AFFINITY [PSIONIC]

Your connection to the spirits of the dead allows you to
use negative energy.

Prerequisite: Ability to manifest a power that deals
cold, fire, electricity, or sonic damage

Benefit: When you select your active energy type, you
can choose negative energy. When manifesting a power
that deals cold, fire, electricity, or sonic damage, you
instead deal negative energy. Like a cleric using channel
energy, negative energy heals undead and harms living
creatures.
See above for the feat in question.

Many psychokinesis powers that deal cold, fire, elec, or sonic have a slight modification for the save or damage, but I will assume it stays as the typical reflex save for half and base Xd6 damage as it doesn't state otherwise.

How is this feat intended to work with Energy Splash? See below. I ask because it means free (SLOW) healing as a "cantrip" for Dhampir, a Hounforge's Eidolon, et cetera. My working assumption is that it does 1 negative energy damage, full stop.

Energy Splash

Discipline: Psychokinesis [see text]; ; Level: Psion/wilder 0
Display: Auditory
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: Ray
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None ; Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: Psionic focus or 1

You create a ray of your active energy type (cold, electricity,
fire, or sonic) that shoots forth from your fingertip and
strikes a target within range, dealing damage if you succeed
on a ranged touch attack with the ray.

Cold: A ray of this energy type deals 2 points of damage.
Alternately, the manifester can choose to deal no damage
but instead chill up to 1 pound of non-living material (such
as cooling a drink).

Electricity: A ray of this energy type deals 1 point of
damage. Manifesting a ray of this energy type provides a
+3 bonus on your attack roll if the target is wearing metal
armor and a +2 bonus on manifester level checks for the
purpose of overcoming power resistance. Alternately, the
manifester can choose to deal no damage but instead cause
a relatively harmless static shock. This shock is painful
enough to wake someone sleeping, but is not painful to
interrupt concentration or spellcasting.

Fire: A ray of this energy type deals 2 points of damage.
Alternately, the manifester can choose to deal no damage but
instead light a readily flammable object such as a lantern or
torch, or warm up to 1 pound of nonliving material (such as
heating food).

Sonic: A ray of this energy type deals 1 point of damage
and ignores an object’s hardness. Alternately, the manifester
can choose to deal no damage but instead cause a loud bang
at the target location (DC 10 Perception check to hear it).
This power’s subtype is the same as the type of energy
you manifest.

[Extra Anchovies]

There's a FAQ (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9usb) which explains positive and negative energy in at least some detail.

Positive and negative energy are two damage types, though despite their name, they are usually not included on the list of energy types you can choose with spells like resist energy or feats like Elemental Spell. You’ll sometimes come across both the phrasing “deals X damage; this is a negative energy effect” and the phrasing “deals X negative energy damage”; these two are functionally equivalent.

Positive energy often heals living creatures, though not always (for instance channeled positive energy to harm undead or the life blast spell). It often harms undead creatures, though not always (for instance channeled positive energy to heal living creatures). Individual effects will tell you whether they heal living (if they mention healing without specifying what they heal, they always mean only living creatures), harm undead, or both. Positive energy never heals or harms creatures or objects that are neither living nor undead (such as constructs), and it never directly damages the living or heals undead, barring some special effect that explicitly changes this like a dhampir’s negative energy affinity. These rules extend to the fast healing from positive-energy attuned planes as well (though overhealing on a major positive-energy attuned plane can be dangerous as well); only living creatures gain fast healing on such a plane.

Negative energy works just as described above for positive energy, reversing living creatures and undead in all cases (it often heals undead, it often harms living creatures, if it mentions damage without specifying what it damages, it always means only living creatures, and so on).
With a bit of find-and-replace, we get this:

negative energy often heals undead creatures, though not always (for instance channeled negative energy to harm living creatures or the life blast spell). It often harms living creatures, though not always (for instance channeled negative energy to heal undead creatures). Individual effects will tell you whether they heal undead (if they mention healing without specifying what they heal, they always mean only undead creatures), harm living creatures, or both. negative energy never heals or harms creatures or objects that are neither undead nor living creatures (such as constructs), and it never directly damages the undead or heals living creatures, barring some special effect that explicitly changes this like a dhampir’s positive energy affinity. These rules extend to the fast healing from negative-energy attuned planes as well (though overhealing on a major negative-energy attuned plane can be dangerous as well); only undead creatures gain fast healing on such a plane.
So they're immune to harmful negative energy effects, and are healed by negative energy effects which heal undead. Not all negative energy effects heal undead, so the ones that do will say so in their descriptions.

[drafghast]

That's a great question!



So they're immune to harmful negative energy effects, and are healed by negative energy effects which heal undead. Not all negative energy effects heal undead, so the ones that do will say so in their descriptions.

Source nonwithstanding, you have the right of it. This was not intended to operate as free healing of any sort, whether the target be living or undead.

As for how it interacts with other powers that specifically reference active energy type, you are correct - unless the power has a reference for positive or negative energy (most don't), it functions as the base power. This may be expanded upon in the future.