Segev
2020-05-07, 09:39 AM
The occultist, at level 20, has 17 focus powers (7 base, 10 chosen), and 7 implements. He has 20 + int mod mental focus, and distributes those (say) 29 points of mental focus between the 7 implements. Each implement has between 1 and 7 focus powers (including base powers) it grants, depending on which focus powers the occultist chose.
Now, obviously, that's not enough mental focus to use every focus power twice. But it is enough to put 4-5 focus in each implement, and that would give 2-5 uses of various focus powers in each implement. (Obviously, if he's got more focus powers - or a really desirable resonance - in one or two of his foci, he can and will put more focus in that and fewer in less-used implements.)
The versatility of being able to choose to use powers that are useful as they come up somewhat makes up for not being able to use each of them terribly often (if divided as evenly as possible, he'd use all powers once and 12 powers twice).
The psychometrist is a vigilante archetype that trades half its vigilante talents for a diminished use of occultist implements. He chooses one implement school at first level, and gets only the base focus power. He eventually gets 4 total schools, and knows the base power of each, 3 additional focus powers of his first choice, 2 of his second, and 1 of his third (only getting the base focus power of his fourth choice).
Additionally, he has to get individual implements for each focus power, and divide his mental focus between them. So he has to choose his number of uses of a power - not powers for a particular implement school - at the start of the day. Finally, his mental focus is only half his vigilante level plus his intelligence modifier. Intelligence, it should be noted, is not the primary stat for a vigilante, so likely isn't going to be as high as it would be for an occultist. But, I'll be generous in my estimates here, and assume it's 28.
This gives a level 20 psychometrist 19 points of mental focus and 10 individual implements to divide them between. If divided evenly, 9 of his focus powers can be used twice per day, and one can be used once per day. If he leaves himself an emergency use of each of them, he can get more of them down to once per day for more uses of some preferred ones.
With no resonant powers, there's no encouragement to stack mental focus for that; it's pure use of focus abilities.
I can't help but wonder if the doubling down of halving mental focus AND forcing it to be divided between individual focus powers (rather than by school) isn't overdoing it. Focus powers can be quite strong, but should his "gadgets" really have so little fuel AND so little versatility?
I wouldn't bat an eye at the half-level mental focus if they handled implements the way the occultist does, with one per school and thus 4, 3, and 2 powers in the first three, sharing subdivided pools of mental focus. The versatility of having 4 powers to choose from - leaving any of the four available 'til the last mental focus in that implement is gone - is worth having the smaller focus pool.
I wouldn't bat an eye at the individual "gadgets" for each focus power if there were a larger focus pool. If the vigilante got as much mental focus as an occultist for his level, dividing it into more pools (for each being smaller) would be a fair trade-off for it being a (1/3)-class archetype. The mental focus sitting in some of those implements is going to likely be wasted, because their trick wasn't as useful as the vigilante thought it would be. Or the vigilante is Batman and took the precaution of keeping at least one focus in it even knowing it's unlikely to be useful, "just in case."
Am I wrong? Is the power level correct? Or does it seem to anybody else that the Psychometrist was whacked twice with a nerf-bat when once would have done? Maybe the writers came up with splitting up the implements after they wrote the mental focus calculation; they thought, "It's an archetype; shouldn't have as much focus as the occultist," and made the half-level formula, and then later thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if they had more, special-purpose gadgets? Split up the focus powers individually, and put focus in them separately!" without realizing that this has a multiplicative effect on the effective size of the mental focus pool, perhaps?
Or does this seem intentional and well-thought-out, with the extreme limitation on focus (or the need to pick only a subset of your focus powers you'll actually use in a given day ahead of time) being entirely intentional because otherwise Psychometrist would be too powerful of an archetype?
Now, obviously, that's not enough mental focus to use every focus power twice. But it is enough to put 4-5 focus in each implement, and that would give 2-5 uses of various focus powers in each implement. (Obviously, if he's got more focus powers - or a really desirable resonance - in one or two of his foci, he can and will put more focus in that and fewer in less-used implements.)
The versatility of being able to choose to use powers that are useful as they come up somewhat makes up for not being able to use each of them terribly often (if divided as evenly as possible, he'd use all powers once and 12 powers twice).
The psychometrist is a vigilante archetype that trades half its vigilante talents for a diminished use of occultist implements. He chooses one implement school at first level, and gets only the base focus power. He eventually gets 4 total schools, and knows the base power of each, 3 additional focus powers of his first choice, 2 of his second, and 1 of his third (only getting the base focus power of his fourth choice).
Additionally, he has to get individual implements for each focus power, and divide his mental focus between them. So he has to choose his number of uses of a power - not powers for a particular implement school - at the start of the day. Finally, his mental focus is only half his vigilante level plus his intelligence modifier. Intelligence, it should be noted, is not the primary stat for a vigilante, so likely isn't going to be as high as it would be for an occultist. But, I'll be generous in my estimates here, and assume it's 28.
This gives a level 20 psychometrist 19 points of mental focus and 10 individual implements to divide them between. If divided evenly, 9 of his focus powers can be used twice per day, and one can be used once per day. If he leaves himself an emergency use of each of them, he can get more of them down to once per day for more uses of some preferred ones.
With no resonant powers, there's no encouragement to stack mental focus for that; it's pure use of focus abilities.
I can't help but wonder if the doubling down of halving mental focus AND forcing it to be divided between individual focus powers (rather than by school) isn't overdoing it. Focus powers can be quite strong, but should his "gadgets" really have so little fuel AND so little versatility?
I wouldn't bat an eye at the half-level mental focus if they handled implements the way the occultist does, with one per school and thus 4, 3, and 2 powers in the first three, sharing subdivided pools of mental focus. The versatility of having 4 powers to choose from - leaving any of the four available 'til the last mental focus in that implement is gone - is worth having the smaller focus pool.
I wouldn't bat an eye at the individual "gadgets" for each focus power if there were a larger focus pool. If the vigilante got as much mental focus as an occultist for his level, dividing it into more pools (for each being smaller) would be a fair trade-off for it being a (1/3)-class archetype. The mental focus sitting in some of those implements is going to likely be wasted, because their trick wasn't as useful as the vigilante thought it would be. Or the vigilante is Batman and took the precaution of keeping at least one focus in it even knowing it's unlikely to be useful, "just in case."
Am I wrong? Is the power level correct? Or does it seem to anybody else that the Psychometrist was whacked twice with a nerf-bat when once would have done? Maybe the writers came up with splitting up the implements after they wrote the mental focus calculation; they thought, "It's an archetype; shouldn't have as much focus as the occultist," and made the half-level formula, and then later thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if they had more, special-purpose gadgets? Split up the focus powers individually, and put focus in them separately!" without realizing that this has a multiplicative effect on the effective size of the mental focus pool, perhaps?
Or does this seem intentional and well-thought-out, with the extreme limitation on focus (or the need to pick only a subset of your focus powers you'll actually use in a given day ahead of time) being entirely intentional because otherwise Psychometrist would be too powerful of an archetype?