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Psionic Talent, in Dreamscarred Press's Psionics Unleashed, is a feat that grants bonus power points.

Benefit: When you take this feat for the first time, you gain 2 power points.

That's all well and good, but the trouble is that it can be taken multiple times.

Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take the feat after the first time, the number of power points you gain increases by 1.

The benefit's "When you take this feat for the first time" doesn't play with "Each time you take the feat after the first time" in any defined fashion. I can see people reading it for five different progressions, as follows:

2 -> 2+3 -> 2+3+4 -> 2+3+4+5 (+14 pp: The effects of the feat stack, and each feat gives one more power point than the last.)
2 -> 3+3 -> 4+4+4 -> 5+5+5+5 (+20 pp: The effects of the feat stack, and each feat gains the increase to the number of power points it grants.)
2 -> 2+1 -> 2+1+1 -> 2+1+1+1 (+5 pp: The effects of the feats stack, but each subsequent feat gives only +1 PP.)
2 -> 2, 3 -> 2, 3, 4 -> 2, 3, 4, 5 (+5 PP: The effects of the feat don't stack, but each feat grants one more set power point than the last.)
2 -> 2, 1 -> 2, 1, 1 -> 2, 1, 1, 1 (+2 PP: The effects of the feat don't stack, but each subsequent feat gives only +1 PP.)

From what I've seen, the most popular reading is the +14 reading, but it's only been as well-argued as the +5 readings in my opinion. My question, then, is how many extra power points do you have after taking Psionic Talent four times?

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3 Answers 3

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As the author of said feat for Pathfinder, the intent is the first choice (2+3+4+5).

We will take the chance to update the feat with an example in our upcoming revision of Psionics Unleashed.

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The correct number is 14. I have two arguments for why 14 is the correct number.

Grammatical

The sentence says "the number of power points you gain increases by one". The "number of power points that you gain" from the first time you take the feat is 2. If that number increases by 1 when you take the feat again, then it effectively changes the feat's text when you take it a second time, to "you gain 3 power points". That continues every time you take the feat.

Balance

Spending a feat to gain a single power point is pointless and crappy. Beyond very low levels, a single power point is a nearly meaningless amount. If the feat only gave an extra power point each time you took it after the first, there would be no real reason to take the feat at all.

You might be able to argue that the feat should give you 1 power point for the second and subsequent times that you take it, but the circumstantial evidence - namely that getting a single PP from a feat would be horribly crappy - indicates that you're supposed to get more PP each time you take the feat.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ One option being crappy is hardly solid evidence against that being the intended reading. There are plenty of feats with completely unambiguous effects that are every bit as crappy as gaining 1 power point. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 7, 2014 at 14:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ @MatthewNajmon Well, yeah, which is why I list two different reasons for my reasoning, both of which support eachother. The 'crappy feat' theory is admittedly weaker, but still valid. \$\endgroup\$
    – DuckTapeAl
    Jul 7, 2014 at 23:10
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The answer is without a doubt 14.

Since 3.5 and Pathfinder are (Mostly) backwards compatible, the following paragraph is most likely to assist you in determining how many power points you'll receive from multiple applications of Psionic Talent.

Wording: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take the feat after the first time, the number of power points you gain increases by 1 (for example, you gain 3 power points if you take this feat a second time).


Though for someone looking to get more power points you should convert the following to pathfinder, then take it.

Link

Possible applications include meditating for ten minutes to get the bonus power points equal to your manifester level and using said points to cast buffs augmented with Extend Power to last longer than the hour duration effects from the feat give.

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