Power Stone Mana Recovery?

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by StevenH

And if the PCs are short? Give each of them a 6+' staff with compartments at each end to put dead Powerstones in. That way the stones are kept at least 6' apart, regardless of player character height.

Oh good grief, the Rube Goldberg-esque responses ...

Are we presuming that these people are standing ramrod straight, and keeping a 6'6" separation from one another, at all times? That these tall staves will likewise be 6'+ apart from one another at all times -- and somehow miraculously not get in one's way, because speaking from RL experience, managing a walking stick AND a one-handed sword simultaneously is not a piece of cake.

(Speaking of which, I've been using walking sticks for much of my adult life. The one I currently have is the longest I've used in a couple of decades. I just measured it, and it's 4' 4". A stick two feet longer would not only be stupidly unwieldy, I don't think I've ever seen OR heard of one that size.)

My own take would be that everyone in the party carrying a single Stone is a decent idea, that the recharge rate will be less than optimal because sometimes folks come within the limit ("Hey, Varden, the stew's ready, come and get a bowl"), that all this is the price of doing business, and that since I'm not GMing the aforementioned lighthearted silly game, I'm going to turn a dim eye on the players diving down minimaxing rabbit holes. Which, happily, my players not being a bunch of twinkies, they don't.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Ndreare

I remember reading some rules about Power Stones and the mana recovery, but even using the search function in GURPS Magic (4th edition) I cannot find the rules I had read.

We have a group of PCs with three power stones in it, so I wanted to verify the effect on their recovery rate.

Does anyone know what book/chapter the power stone mana recovery rules are in?

The GURPSwiki gathers that information together and contrasts it with a Paut Talismans

The classic spell 'Powerstone Recharging Rack' eliminates the annoying 6' limitation and the classic version of Charge Powerstone allows the speed to be doubled.

In theory there in some settings Mana Pool could kick up the mana to wild (Classic's original Very High Mana) where "Anyone can cast spell, if he knows them. Mages can do so at no energy cost!" (GURPS Basic Set 3rd ed pg 147 sidebar)

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Eric Funk

a group of 'humans' can manage Party*2 stones. (More if you have a wagon and literal mules)...

could always just tied a bunch of these staves in a chain using 6ft lengths of rope and drag them behind you, although the friction with the ground might eventually risk dislodging the stone from the staff if not glued on well

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Plane

could always just tied a bunch of these staves in a chain using 6ft lengths of rope and drag them behind you, although the friction with the ground might eventually risk dislodging the stone from the staff if not glued on well

Did we miss the SARCASM tag?

[Eric Funk]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

Oh good grief, the Rube Goldberg-esque responses ...

There is the mundane perk "Precision Recharger" (Thaum Styles p. 32), a "Standard Operating Procedure" perk where, assuming all characters are in agreement, they do X consistently (another SOP perk is to always have full batteries in equipment, or always have full clips of ammo -- see Powerups2:Perks p. 15)). A leader character could keep people in the outdoors at least 6 feet apart. That technically can have downsides as they are further out of reach in case of traps, ambush, needing ally spells cast on, etc.

What I did with my party is to diagram an SOP Marching Order to be in agreement for when such things occur...

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by Eric Funk

(another SOP perk is to always have full batteries in equipment, or always have full clips of ammo -- see Powerups2:Perks p. 15)).

/GM Hat On/

For Powerstones that Perk would only work if the PC had a small keg of say 15 pt Powerstones. That way he could swap out 'empties' for 'loaded' whenever he touched base at home/workshop/guild.

/GM Hat Off/

IMHO.

IME not too many Mages are going to tie up enough capital in smaller swap-able Powerstones to make that Perk worthwhile. Mostly I have seen a set of 'Big As I Can Afford' Stone #1 then BAICA Stone #2 repeat as income allows.

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Mostly I have seen a set of 'Big As I Can Afford' Stone #1 then BAICA Stone #2 repeat as income allows.

... combined with "Stone We Got Off Of That Bad Guy Wizard That's Large Enough To Make Its Quirks Tolerable."

A leader character could keep people in the outdoors at least 6 feet apart. That technically can have downsides as they are further out of reach in case of traps, ambush, needing ally spells cast on, etc.

Speaking as likely one of the few people on this forum who's actually done this IRL -- to the degree that you can call a combat LARP "RL" -- this is much more easily said than done. People LIKE bunching together. Terrain is not always amenable to spreading out. The need for compact battle lines is. Camp chores, help-me-with-this, no-we-don't-have-the-luxury-of-separate-tents-for-everyone. I couldn't accurately guess what the percentage of time that people would be within the 6' threshold, but I'd think 50% would be a minimum.

Never mind that (again) speaking from personal experience, barking out "Keep your separation!" † is a pain in the ass both to the barker and the barkees, and the degree to which I'm paying attention to that is the degree to which I'm NOT paying attention to anything else. Myself, I prefer practical to "Oooo, it'd be cool if everyone carried lots of Powerstones!"


† - The reasons for doing this, BTW, is that it's a great deal easier to mow down your forces -- with melee attacks, with massed archery, with missile spells -- when they're standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Pity that psychologically they FEEL better shoulder-to-shoulder, especially if they're newbies, but.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Witchking

The Powerstone energy recovery rate is in the text of the spell.

So yes Magic (under Enchantment College).

Important secondary note IIRC in that same place it also states that ONLY 1 Powerstone can regenerate in a hex (strongest stone takes precedence).

So if the party mage empties all of his Stones in a fight he may have 2-4 of his friends carrying empty stones for the next week or so to get 'recharged'.

There is a way around that - Powerstone Recharging Rack from Magic Items 1 pg 65-66. It requires Jeweler skill (-7 if someone but the enchanter makes it; -5 otherwise), $75,000 (TL3) of material and is so fragile that it will be in a box of some kind to protect it as other then the old version of Charge Powerstone no other enchantments can be placed on the item.

Due to these factors no Powerstone Recharging Rack below four stone capacity is known to exist.

Classic version of Charge Powerstone doubles energy recovery rate and the Mana Pool quirk also changes things. The GURPSwiki has a little chart comparing these options.

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

† - The reasons for doing this, BTW, is that it's a great deal easier to mow down your forces -- with melee attacks, with massed archery, with missile spells -- when they're standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Pity that psychologically they FEEL better shoulder-to-shoulder, especially if they're newbies, but.

In Fantasy/Low Tech true but bunching up penalties while there are not viciously steep.

When you get to High Tech and every clown and his cousin is toting grenades or lord save me light mortars, that penalty goes past viciously steep to 'that is a frigging cliff, sir!'.

Sgt Horvath- 'One man is a waste of ammo. Five men is a juicy opportunity.'

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

... combined with "Stone We Got Off Of That Bad Guy Wizard That's Large Enough To Make Its Quirks Tolerable."

Speaking as likely one of the few people on this forum who's actually done this IRL -- to the degree that you can call a combat LARP "RL" -- this is much more easily said than done. People LIKE bunching together. Terrain is not always amenable to spreading out. The need for compact battle lines is. Camp chores, help-me-with-this, no-we-don't-have-the-luxury-of-separate-tents-for-everyone. I couldn't accurately guess what the percentage of time that people would be within the 6' threshold, but I'd think 50% would be a minimum.

Never mind that (again) speaking from personal experience, barking out "Keep your separation!" † is a pain in the ass both to the barker and the barkees, and the degree to which I'm paying attention to that is the degree to which I'm NOT paying attention to anything else. Myself, I prefer practical to "Oooo, it'd be cool if everyone carried lots of Powerstones!"


† - The reasons for doing this, BTW, is that it's a great deal easier to mow down your forces -- with melee attacks, with massed archery, with missile spells -- when they're standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Pity that psychologically they FEEL better shoulder-to-shoulder, especially if they're newbies, but.

My experience from time in a modern infantry force that spent almost all its training time on bush warfare is that while the manuals and instructor all say 5-10 metres separation, what you get in bush is 3-5 metres. More than that and Tail-End Charlie feels too vulnerable, and in thick bush you can't see the guys ahead and behind and that's simply unacceptable.

In open country you can get that 5-10 metre spread because your men can see each other, and can see that they can still support each other from that distance. You still tend to end up with pairs of guys with 5m between them, and 10m between pairs though - people want to know their buddy/assistant is close at hand in case things suddenly get lively.