How do mystic adepts gain power points in Shadowrun 5?

Question

I recently bought the SR5 PDF and am really liking many of the changes. Especially that mystic adepts are not as underpowered as in previous editions. However how they gain power points during character advancement seems to be unclear, as this is only described for adepts (without mention of mystic adepts).

During character creation, mystic adepts can buy power points for 5 karma each, up to their magic attribute. Nothing similar is mentioned in the character advancement rules, only that adepts gain one power point for each point of magic they gain (or from gaining a power point on initiation instead of learning a metamagic technique).

Do mystic adepts also gain a power point for each point of magic without spending additional karma? Can they spend extra karma for magic points for which they did not buy power points during character creation? And last but not least, can they also gain extra power points instead of learning new metamagic techniques?

Answer 1

The new errata answers the question clearly:

Change to following sentence: “You get a free Power Point whenever you increase your Magic attribute, and you can gain a Power Point through Initiation (p. 324) instead of gaining a metamagic.” To: “If you’re an adept, you get a free Power Point whenever you increase your Magic attribute (though this doesn’t apply to mystic adepts, and you can gain a Power Point through Initiation (p. 324) instead of gaining a metamagic.”

Therefore, further power points do not require spending of karma, but do require to forfeit a metamagic when initiating, and can only be acquired by initiation.

Answer 2

First, this is a good question, and after checking all over the place, it never clearly says how it works for mystic adepts. Therefore, this will be my reading of the rules, to the best of my ability.

The most important passage is the following:

At character creation, adepts receive Power Points equal to their Magic attribute, while mystic adepts have to buy Power Points with Karma. Subsequently, Power Points can come in two ways. You get a free Power Point whenever you increase your Magic attribute, and you can gain a Power Point through Initiation (p. 324) instead of gaining a metamagic. - p. 279 SR5

As I understand it, everything after "Subsequently" applies to both adepts and mystic adepts. This would mean that yes, they gain a Power Point for each new Magic point without spending karma, and yes, they can get extra Power Points instead of learning new metamagic techniques.

As for spending extra karma for magic points for which they did not buy power points during character creation, I couldn't find anything saying you could... nor anything saying you could not.

Answer 3

You gain a power point every time you increase your magic attribute

You get a free Power Point whenever you increase your Magic attribute, and you can gain a Power Point through Initiation (p. 324) instead of gaining a metamagic. - p. 279 SR5 Core

You can also gain power points as part of initiation

Power Point (Adepts Only): If you’re an adept, you gain a Power Point instead of a metamagic. You can take this as many times as you like. - p. 326 SR5 Core