making it so large powerstones don't stop small ones from recharging

[Plane]

re M69's "does not recharge if it is within six feet of a larger Powerstone."

is there some way to deactivate larger powerstones (like for example when they are full and you don't need them to recharge) so they don't count as a powerstone and can't interfere?

I imagine having them in a No Mana zone does that (enchantments don't function, the stone would not charge but it would not interfere) or if a Low/Very Low penalty of -5 or -10 caused the Power of the larger powerstone to go below 15... but is there some other way?

I was thinking a Limiting Enchantment such as M68's "Password". That would allow you to 'turn off' the larger powerstone to allow the smaller one to recharge?

[Anthony]

You can pile all the stones that don't need recharging in a sack and only spread out the ones that need charging. It's possible that a hideaway enchantment will mask them away (also possible they can recharge inside of a hideaway, in which case you can create a container with a bunch of pouches for all your stones. I'd probably say they don't recharge in a hideaway, though).

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anthony

You can pile all the stones that don't need recharging in a sack and only spread out the ones that need charging.

Yeah I was thinking in a situation where it would not be possible to spread them out, such as if you were trapped in a small room, or if they were permanently fixed within 6ft of each other like if multiple power stones were built into a small weapon.

"Suspend Enchantment" is another option but that's so costly that it doesn't really seem economic to have to cast that over and over to recharge smaller stones. Password is a big initial investment but afterward it is free to use at will.

Given how Password makes items so vulnerable (someone could learn it and then say it and deactivate your powerstone!) one way to make that less of a vulnerability might be to cast M68's "Limit" enchantment on the Password enchantment itself, so that the password would only function if spoken by the user?

The way password functions (shuts down the item for 1 minute per word) could be annoying if you wanted a powerstone to charge while you're away or asleep though, since you couldn't keep saying the item. So it might be good to include some minion so they can keep saying the password to keep the large stone shut off whenever you need the small ones to charge.

"inert until the next time it's powers are normally invoked" is an alternate option to 1 minute but I'm not sure how that would apply to powerstones... maybe it turns it off for 1 charging cycle? Like a 6 hour period in Very High mana? That sounds like lower maintenance to me...

That could be a bad thing if you needed to draw upon that powerstone before the cycle is up though, since presumably Password shuts down the entire effect (not just the ability to recharge and interfere with other stones, but the ability of mages to draw upon it)

Do you think you could cast Password upon Password itself, where saying some other password shuts off the "turns off item" effect of password, basically being an inverted version which allows you to turn the item back on prematurely before the 1 minute or 6 hours is up?

[Anaraxes]

I'd allow a Passworded Powerstone that neither recharges nor allows energy to be drawn while "off".

Anything that magically disconnects the Powerstone from the surrounding area should work. A box of meteoric iron, lead, or whatever your favorite anti-magical metal is could work. Put the 'stone inside a pentagram or Spell Shield. The high-magic uber mage might just teleport it away to the rack in their castle and re-summon it when they want it back.

Enchant the 'stone with Flight and Independence, programmed to orbit your head while remaining six feet from other Powerstones. Let the flocking algorithm be an emergent property. (Just don't call it an "ioun" or "aeon" stone, because those are taken, and you might get a visit from Jones and Rodriguez. It also makes for an interesting mage detector when your stone starting shying away from that old man in the corner of the tavern. Plus, only certain mages who happen to be naturally adept at concealing their stone's auras can sneak up on them, leading to their title of "Seeker" and envied positions on the Quidditch teams.)

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Enchant the 'stone with Flight and Independence, programmed to orbit your head while remaining six feet from other Powerstones.

Wouldn't I also need some kind of spell that allows the sentience I create (via independence) to either sense powerstones, or communicate telepathically with other sentient powerstones?

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

It also makes for an interesting mage detector when your stone starting shying away from that old man in the corner of the tavern.

Do you mean because that old man has his own powerstone that would interfere with the FP recharge of mine? Or that there's a risk he might use his Staff to smack my powerstone mid-air and steal it's energy?

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Plus, only certain mages who happen to be naturally adept at concealing their stone's auras can sneak up on them, leading to their title of "Seeker" and envied positions on the Quidditch teams.)

I take this to mean that brooms are assumed to have built-in powerstones for initiating their flights, even though they probably rely on a "Power" enchantment to sustain the maintenance cost of already-initiated flights.

[Black Leviathan]

We used to have these vaults in our games with tiny little pedestals spaced precisely 6'1" apart in diamond patterns. You'd find a huge one in a dungeon and know you're going to be screwed by an evil mage with a ton of powerstones.

[Taneli]

There’s a magic item in one of the Magic Items books that allows all the stones in it recharge at the same time.

Also, how about if you just put the fully charged stones into a conveniently placed no mana area nearby?

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Taneli

Also, how about if you just put the fully charged stones into a conveniently placed no mana area nearby?

That would keep those stones from interfering with the one you leave outside the NMZ, but it defeats the purpose if an NMZ drains the stones you put inside.

(People have differing opinions on the effect. An NMZ suppresses permanent enchantments, but doesn't destroy them. So, your charged Powerstone certainly won't work in the NMZ, and will remain a Powerstone after you retrieve it. However, ongoing spells and temporary effects get dispelled by the NMZ. So, the question is whether the charge itself is a temporary effect or not. The FP come and go without requiring extra enchanting, which seems like spells. But there's no stated decay rate for idle Powerstones to maintain a charge, which makes them seem permanent. But perhaps Powerstones only don't decay in a normal mana level, whereas an NMZ can rapidly drain them by sucking all the FP out. Does your Powerstone come back out of the NMZ charged or empty?)

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Taneli

There’s a magic item in one of the Magic Items books that allows all the stones in it recharge at the same time.

Powerstone Recharging Rack - Magic Items 1 pg 65-66. Requires a spell of the same name and $75,000 of materials to make. With a asking price of $25,000 per stone no "racks" under four stones exist for obvious reasons.

I should mention that the $75,000 of materials seems to be fixed regardless of the "racK" being a small snuff box like object containing four to six stones or a mammoth thing underneath a university holding hundreds of stones.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Plane

re M69's "does not recharge if it is within six feet of a larger Powerstone."

is there some way to deactivate larger powerstones (like for example when they are full and you don't need them to recharge) so they don't count as a powerstone and can't interfere?

I've seen several homebrewed spells similar to the one you proposed. As long as the hassle factors of enchanting such items balance the convenience of being able to pack multiple powerstones in one place.

A spell which allows multiple Powerstones to recharge within six feet of each other might also be reasonable as long as the prerequisite tree, casting time, and energy cost is balanced.