Sustaining Psychic Power

By Taratata, in Dark Heresy Rules Questions

Hi !

I would like to know how do you understand the sustaining power rule about PR réduction ?

As I understand it, the first power sustain is "free" from PR reduction.

But if you sustain 2 or more power, your PR is diminished by the number of power you are sustaining, so if you sustain 2 power, it seems that your PR is diminished by (2 or 1 ?) and (do it count for your base PR in general or your effective PR for the sustained power specificaly ?)

As I understand if you are PR 1 or 2, you are not able to sustain more than 1 power...

Effective PR is used to calculate one specific power's effect, so I would say sustaining powers is based on the character's base PR. From my understanding as well, only PR 3 characters and above can sustain more than one power simultaneously (barring items and things that affect sustained powers). And for good reason; the Warp is not something for weaker psykers to sustain.

But, in the case of a PR 3 Psyker, if he is sustaining 2 power. Do you consider that :

- The two powers are sustained at level 1.

- That the Psyker PR, if he wants to use other powers, is now PR 1.

- The two of them ?

Using your situations, I find the first closest to my ruling. If a PR 3 psyker is, say, sustaining both a [Fire Shield] and a [Telekine Shield], both powers would be at a PR -2 penalty. However, the results of any Pushes stand; the Telekine Shield may have been invoked at PR 5 before being reduced to a PR 3 power. Other powers, the non-sustained powers used alongside sustained powers, are unaffected by the penalty.

Does that make sense? Of course, this is merely an opinion and others may disagree.

But, in the case of a PR 3 Psyker, if he is sustaining 2 power. Do you consider that :

- The two powers are sustained at level 1.

- That the Psyker PR, if he wants to use other powers, is now PR 1.

- The two of them ?

This is how I understand the book too. It is unclear if the sustained power has to be modified to its new power level, and it also seems like there is a particular large gap going from one sustained to two sustained, I think that in some of the old books you got the power level hit per power sustained beyond the first.