Alternate Added Traits for RPM

RPM is a very useful and intriguing magic system, because it can do most anything. However, some parts of it scale better than others. One of my favorite quotes is the observation that it takes as much energy to blow up the planet as it does to turn yourself into a ghost for 10 minutes. A few more observations follow:


bestow a bonus tends to be a lot cheaper than added traits. +2 to all active defenses is 10 energy in bestowed bonuses, and 60 energy in added traits.

Added traits CAN do things that bestow a bonus can't, and that can't be done with other effects. However, much of the time that applies a greater effect is in place, which means most of the time you use added traits you're stacking it with greater effects or a cheaper option already exists.

The lower point abilities don't seem any where near as ridiculously priced as the higher. In part this is due to greater effects applying more often, and in part its due to a lack of scaling.

My solution? proper scaling. For added attributes beyond 20 points, look up the number of character points on the size/range table. For the simplest measure, round up, subtract two from the modifier, and multiply it by 5 to get the energy cost.

For example, we are making a character insubstantial. By Raw it takes 80 energy. But since its over 20 points, we look up 80 on the speed range table. 80 is between 70 (+9) and 100 (+10). So our cost is (10-2)*5 = 40 energy -- half the cost!

For the more complex measure, use the lower of the two bonuses, subtract two and multiply by five. Then take the full cost, subtract the lower cost, and divide that result by the upper cost minus the lower cost and multiply the whole thing by five:

[(actual cost - lower cost)/(upper cost - lower cost)]*5.

This will never vary the base cost by more than 5 points, and can often be skipped.

In our example above, the numbers we plug in are: [(80-70)/(100-70)]*5 = 5/3 = 2. We add that to the cost of 35 we would have gotten if we rounded our point cost down instead of up, and get 37. Not too much energy difference, all things told.