I'm working on building my first character, and it's becoming increasingly clear that the Warlock class isn't much good at what it's supposed to do. More than anything, it suffers from the 50% cap on combat abilities, which combined with taking Magic Projection as Attack / Defense pretty much forces a solid build into ignoring Wear Armor in favor of Attack and Block.

If you DO take both Magic Projection modules, you spend 150 DP once. If you had instead put that DP straight into Projection, you would get 75 points out of it. That's the same score you get by taking the modules at first level and maxing Attack and Defense. As you level, it only makes the modules more worthwhile, since from there on out the increases to Attack and Defense boost your Projection for free.

I don't know if there has been any errata to address this, but I thought I'd post my thoughts:

• The class needs a 60% cap for combat so that points can be assigned to armor without hurting Attack, Block, and (indirectly) Magic Projection.
• The class needs a +5 Wear Armor bonus instead of Dodge. Block and Dodge dual bonuses for Warlocks are silly (sillier than with other classes that get them such as Warrior), since magic defense consists of shields. Why rely on Dodge for a class that has two reasons to take Block (heavy armor and magic barriers)?
• The lack of Secondary Ability bonuses just strikes me as unfair compared to Paladins and Dark Paladins. I suggest bonuses to Occult, Memorization, Composure, and Style (or at least a couple items from that list).

As to the comparison to Paladins...let's assume two builds. Both builds have the exact same Advantages and Disadvantages:

• The Gift
• Gestureless Casting [because these two are pretty much required on a Warlock]
• Superior Magic Accumulation II (x3 MA)
• Magical Nature (+50 Zeon per level)

*note that as far as DP cost, Accumulation II and Magical Nature I beats Accumulation III if you're going to cap at 200ish MA and 1k Zeon. Your numbers may vary for other targets.

• Exhausted
• Serious Illness (or whatever. Could take a couple of 1 pt disadvantages instead)

Paladins and Warlocks both gain 20 Zeon per level, so with the Advantage, that's 70 per level. Let's say we want to get to 200+ MA and 1000+ Zeon by level 10, so that we max our Innate spellcasting at 90 and have a comfy 1k pool.

100 base Zeon at level 1, and 70 bonus for 10 levels = 100+700 = 800 Zeon at level 10 without putting points into it. Not bad. We need 200 more Zeon, and since it's 5 per increment, that's 40 boosts.

• Warlock spends 40 DP. Paladin spends 80 DP. Warlock is 40 DP ahead of the game.

Okay. So now we want 200+ MA. Since we have the x3 bonus to it, we really only need a third of that. That means 70 MA base, since 70*3 = 210. Everyone gets 10 MA to start out, so we need to buy 6 more boosts to it.

• Warlock buys 6 at 50 each and spends 300 DP. Paladin buys 6 at 60 each and spends 360 DP, though it takes more levels to do this since he only gets 50 points per level. Warlock is 100 DP ahead.

Now both characters are sitting pretty as far as casting. Warlock has some extra points at level 10. But...assuming they've been maxing Combat with their remaining points in the meantime...

• Paladin gets 60% combat, along with +5 Block and +10 Wear Armor per level. If he's been keeping it maxed (and remember, our Projection modules draw on Supernatural, not from the Combat cap), then that's 75 Attack, 80 Block, and 40 Armor at level 1 (150 at 2 DP, 150 at 2 DP with a +5, and 60 at 2 DP with a +10).
• Each subsequent level, the Paladin gains 60 pts, so 12.5 Attack, 12.5+5 = 17.5 Block, and 5+10=15 Armor.
• The Paladin ends up with 187.5 Attack, 237.5 Block, and 175 Armor at level 10, with no equipment or even Characteristic boosts. That's also a 187.5 to Projection.

So how is our Warlock faring?

• The Warlock gets a flat 50% combat. Uh oh. Armor is going to be at...zero, if he wants to keep Attack and Block maxed. He does get the +5 to both Attack and Block per level, so his endgame numbers are going to both be the same as the Paladin's Block. That means the Warlock gets 237.5 Attack, 237.5 Block, and 0 Armor at level 10 .
• What if the Warlock is willing to drop Attack to the Paladin's level and put those points into Armor? Well, that's basically shifting the +5 over by investing 10 DP less and putting them in Armor. That leads to 187.5 Attack, 237.5 Block, and 50 Armor. Sadly, short-changing *base* Attack is going to hurt our offensive Projection by those same 50 points.
• But wait! What about those extra 100 DP the Lock gained over the Paladin for having cheaper MA and Zeon? Sadly, they're going nowhere, because of the 50% cap. Oh darn. Guess we can use them to raise a Secondary Ability...like...Withstand Pain, which the Paladin will get to 100 for free compared to our investment giving us 50? Or Leadership? Or Style?

Granted, this is a specific example with specific Advantages, but they're from the core book and the GM Toolkit going for an armored fighter/caster. Nothing extraordinary here. If I screwed up the numbers anywhere, please, correct me. Show me that the Warlock has a reason to exist.

Hell...I could probably do this with a 2/1/1 Disadvantage set, a second point in Magical Nature, and a Weaponmaster. The 70 pt cost for MA would hurt a bit, but he wouldn't have to touch purchasing Zeon, and his Armor would be through the roof.

The Magic Projection modules count toward the Magic Points Limits.

The mixed classes are intended to be less powerful than specialized classes, but more versatile.

+5Defense isn't Silly. The module for warlocks "Magic Projection like Defense" states that you use your DEFENSE value (meaning either block or dodge) when using defensive magic projection. So you could very likely decide to use dodge instead of block as a primary combat ability.

Besides the Warlock doesn't need the 60% maximum allowance in either Combat or Magic. He can already spend all his DP on Primary abilities, without wasting points on secondaries. Besides, using the two Magic Projection Modules (150DP TOTAL) you don't have to spend a single point on Magic Projection. You may even decide to use "normal defense" (so not using magic shields) and just take the Attack module, hence spending a mere 75DP to have your offensive Magic Projection escalate with your Attack value. The two modules may look like a lot of points when you first roll the character, but they aren't once you start growing in level. It allows warlocks to spend tons of points on Magic Accumulation, something a Wizard cannot afford, reaching absurd values of MA.

It's absolutely normal that a warlock loses in pure melee combat against a pure-fighter class...that's why the warlock has spells anyway.

I strongly reccomend for Warlocks taking either Elan3 with Noah or Jack of All Trades. Both make so that your secondary abilities won't be under 0, even if you don't spend a single DP on them...which is very good because it allows you to spend your full DP allowance on both Combat and Supernatural abilities (I'd strongly reccomend the same to Warrior Summoners, Warrior Mentalists and Wizard Mentalists, actually). Also for warlocks Magic Nature is very useful, since the class gets far too few Zeon Points per level. If you have strong Magic Nature you can simply buy a MA multiple per level, which is exactly what you're aiming for if you're a warlock...at least until your MA gets close to 200...Gestureless Casting is also very useful, allowing you to fight and accumulate magic at the same time.

Not spending DPs on secondary abilities, Warlocks already tend to become absolute combat monsters.

Look at the numbers, though. My point is that a Paladin, Dark Paladin, or even a Weaponmaster can make a better Warlock than the actual Warlock class, due to having a 60% combat cap and more inherent bonuses to combat abilities. It's not that the Warlock loses in combat. It's that you can build a Paladin, Dark Pally, or Weaponmaster to win in combat and have THE SAME magical abilities.

As far as the bonuses to Attack and Defense, the mystical modules state "Only the base ability score is used, not the points for improvement that come from particular classes" so the class bonus doesn't help that any.

Warlocks only pay 50DP for MA multiples, while Paladins/Dark Paladins pay 60 and Weapon Masters pay 70. I can't see how they can achieve being mages of similar ability. They pay 1DP for 5 Zeon, while Paladins/Dark Paladins pay 2 and Weapon Masters pay 3.

Warlocks ARE supposed to be worse fighters than Paladins/Dark Paladins/Weapon Masters just as much as they're supposed to be better casters.

As for the modules I just read them...it seems you're right and that's really unsetting, but they still allow to raise your Magic Projection WHILE improving your MA.

If you want to "homerule" Warlocks, I'd just suggest to let them apply class bonus to offensive and defensive Magic Projection as far as they have the relative module, of course. Having +5 free Magic Projection per level means having 10DP completely for free...that should be good enough.

Also consider that although a Warlock is worse than a Weapon Master at fighting (and I mean...the Weapon Master is ALL ABOUT FIGHTING AND TANKING!), the only thing he lacks in comparison to a Paladin/Dark Paladin is the Wear Armor bonus. Of course they have 60% more to allocate...meaning they have 10DP more to allocate on the sheet...which is balanced by the fact that the Warlock gets both +5Attack and Defense...and a +5Attack/Defense costs exactly those 10DP more that a Paladin/Dark Paladin can allocate to Combat Abilities.

Warlocks are all about buying the Mystical Modules for fighting, a bit of Magic Nature for some fuel, Jack of All Trades so secondaries are taken care of, then buy 1MA multiple per level (more of them on 1st level, of course). Spells are on average more powerful than standard fighting, and offer much more versatility than simple hack'n'slash. balancing greatly what the Warlock lacks on the combat compartment, when compared to pure fighting classes.

This is interesting, to say the least. And as you made it you have a point. However your forgetting one thing: MA per round and MA per day. That 100 development points you decided was pointless for the warlock and should be put into Secondary abilities is instead put into MA. This means an additional 20 zeon per round. This means the warlock can cast faster and stronger spells than the Paladin, in exchange for being unable to wear armor. You wanted "200 MA" you got 70MA with 210 Zeon regeneration, the Warlock would instead have 90MA and 270 Zeon Regeneration. If you don't want to do that just give the Warlock an extra 500 Zeon. Now they have 50% more magic to work with on any given day, but only regenerate at a rate of 210/day.

Thus the Warlock has either 500 more zeon (50% more) than the Paladin or 20 more MA (thus 60 more zeon regeneration), or 250 more Zeon and 10 more MA (30 more Zeon regeneration). This is a HUGE difference.

Plus you seem to forget that this means that the Warlock gets these abilities Edit: FOUR LEVELS BEFORE the paladin. That means that, with the same combat stats, spend 40DP and switch to the allegedly better Weapon Master at level 7, have your 70MA, 210 Zeon Regeneration, 1000Zeon, 237.5 Attack, 237.5 Block , and 80 wear armor . This means a +50 better attack in exchange for 95 wear armor. No your not as good at wear armor as the paladin, but you can wear Half Plate with little trouble.

Also for the reasons above I'm ignoring weapon master because they are not even worth noting compared to the Warlock at being a Warlock.

EDIT: It appears I am wrong, the warlock is even stronger if this "Superior Magic Accumulation II (X3)" ability exists. where did you find it and how much does it cost because it is way over powered.

EDIT EDIT: also where are the other points the paladin and warlock have going? You set something you wanted instead of figuring out their power. If you used them the Warlock could gain +550 more Zeon and 60 more MA per turn because he has 410 more points to use, but the paladin in this example has only 160 points to use, giving 30 more MA and 100 more Zeon. If your going to compare them at least use all or the same number of points before you say one is stronger/weaker. With this change (not changing class)

The Warlock has: 237.5 attack, 237.5 defense, 1550 Zeon, 140 MA, 420 Zeon Regeneratio

The Paladin has 187.5 attack, 237.5 defense, 1100 Zeon, 100 MA, 300 Zeon Regeneration, 175 Wear Armor

EDIT: It appears I am wrong, the warlock is even stronger if this "Superior Magic Accumulation II (X3)" ability exists. where did you find it and how much does it cost because it is way over powered.

I think you actually found the problem. It's the Superior Magic Recovery advantage, but I was misreading that rule to mean "MA" rather than "Zeonic Regeneration per day" since one of the players in the group I'm joining had interpreted it that way. Looks like it only works for Zeon per day and has no bearing on Magic Accumulation. "Characters regen their final MA in Zeon points per day," but the reverse isn't true. This makes MUCH more sense now.

His Wizard isn't going to like hearing this, though >.>

MA is how fast you can cast spells. Lets say your using my favorite book, The Book of Creation. 70MA gives you a Royal shield with 950LP, while 130 gives one with 1850LP, able to take twice the damage. (assuming your intelligence is high enough to cast this)

If your using an attack spell like Light Beam (Book of Light) 70 MA gives a beam with 75 base damage per turn, 130 MA gives a beam with 105 Base Damage per turn (assuming your intelligence is high enough to cast this)

Then there are the spells that need 250-400Zeon that can be used in battle. Higher MA is always better for a wizard/warlock/wizard mentalist/etc.

Makes it alot more balanced though, your wizard is probably way overpowered so far.

However your Paladin as a Warlock is a really interesting idea, and while no they are not as good at it they seem to be pretty effective, I may have to make a Really Heavily Armored Mage for my players to fight one of these days.

Hadrian_Landau said:

I did read your entire post, but I can't help but continue to return to the above line. Is that from Arcana Exxet? If so, I can see it becoming the absolute requirement for all magic users, as the default scheme for MA is crippling. I don't think its just Warlocks that need buffing, I think magic users in general are crippled in Anima, when compared to the other two supernatural types.

I did some combat tests between a Technician (custom techniques), a Wizard (destruction), and a Psychic (telepathy). Each got to fight the others one on one. All were level 5, built to be good at what they do, though the Wizard had 2 builds - one standard, and one with MA only costing 20DP instead of 50. The Psychic won all matches, even against the Wizard with a high MA. It was very, very easy. The Wizard lost all fights on account of his inability to fully succeed against all incoming attacks.

We concluded that

• A Wizard's MA must account for his survival for 2-3 rounds, but is never sufficient for the task
• It seems unreasonable to expect so much performance (full success with Magic Projection) for magic shields to even start soaking damage
• Psychics are astoundingly powerful in comparison to anybody not specifically built to resist and kill Telepaths. Without metagaming, the likelihood of any character being able to resist getting hollowed out by a Telepath is practically zero.

Main Issues with Magic users:

1. The dynamic of a Wizard in Anima is a physically weak caster who requires lots of prep time. S/he is in a world full of armed people who can attack whenever they want, as often as they want, and not run out of steam they way they do. Even if fatigued, a Warrior is ready to fight the next day. A Wizard might be out of commission for weeks regaining Zeon.

2. The ability for a Wizard to deal with a dangerous situation the round that it happens is summed up in their MA. If they can't afford a shield AND a spell or counterspell with their total MA, then they are going to die if unprotected by someone else. If they can at least afford to throw up a magic shield, they can start accumulating next round (starting with base MA again) and they are likely going to be accumulating for 2 full rounds before casting. That is 3 rounds spent entirely on defense, as a Wizard or Warlock, in any emergency engagement.

3. Magic Projection (or Block) is how a Wizard (or Warlock with the combat magic module) are going to use that magic shield. If they completely block all incoming attacks (exceed the attack roll), their shield takes the weapon's base damage(s). If they miss a complete block, they take the damage personally. That means, as a 'squishy' combatant, they won't last without a very high Magic Projection.

How does a Wizard or Warlock afford all this MA, *and* raise their Magic Projection high enough to be able to survive in a confrontation at 50% or even 60% DP limits? On top of this, they still have to build a large enough Zeon pool to not become useless after the first day of adventuring - imagine running out of Zeon after the first hour of a dungeon crawl, and it might take you 3 days to navigate those hostile tunnels?

I think what you're seeing is the Warlock simply inheriting the problems that the Wizard already has.

Hellgeist I disagree, Wizards definently start out weaker than telepaths and technitians, but by level 5 I see no reason a good wizard would care about the mentalist.

If you put a specific Wizard against a specific Mentalists I can not begin to suspect which would win-which abilities they have, their stats, their Advantages and Disadvantages, etc. all have to factor in, and anyone who builds a wizard without understanding how strong they are can not bring out their full strength. It is true that Mentalists are the easiest to make be stronger than others, but that is because there abilities are not as complex. A first level wizard who can not put up a shield with no preparation is a waist of a wizard for they are going to die. MA should be 40-60 at level one and go up from there.

My favorite type of supernatural ability is magic, followed by ki, then summoning, last is telepathy (I have yet to look hard enough at elan to decide how strong it is), and make no mistake I chose the order based on their power. Summoning would be above Ki but there is too little on it to be all that powerful. I will admit that I like to make as strong a character I can, as Varsuvius states, "Like it is OUR fault they chose a class that can't do everything." If your not as strong as you can be it's your own fault when you die.

EDIT: oh and Superior Magic Accumulation does not exist, he misread Superior Magic Recovery.

That is exactly what other people say when I talk to them about this - they say psychic is not as powerful, but they haven't really studied it either.

Lia, I would encourage you to go read through the Psychic chapter, and then read all the Telepathy powers. Then create a level 5 NPC Telepath and see how high you can get your Psychic Potential - that is really the only ability a Telepath needs, since they don't have to 'project' most of their abilities. Magic shields only defend against energy and most have some level of application against physical. But telepathic powers can only be resisted with PsR.

The NPC I made had a psychic potential of 160, and with his roll was able to hollow out everybody on the first round with psychic death. When he played defensively, he brought up his shield first (Energy was his secondary discipline) which was enough to occupy the mage's first attack. Then it was lights out on the 2nd round.

Without metagaming (allowing a Wizard character to know the intricate details of how psychic powers work and acting accordingly) I do not see how a Wizard could be built to deal with a Telepath. A Wizard-Mentalist might, but then your in a psychic battle, not a battle between supernatural archetypes.

hellgeist said:

Interesting. I have a group going at the moment, the Mentalist has 150 psychic potential with an instant improvement of one better from Psychic Inclination allowing him to Psychic Death with a 3% failure (fumble only) and 70% chance of getting Almost impossible (PsR check of 160) and 10% chance of getting Impossible (PsR check of 180). I have already seen the power of Mentalists (He destroyed my first boss in 1 round once he realized what psychic death did...that was embarrasing) But even after all the stuff he has done (With the +160 initiative, continual flight and shield, and permenant +2 to all physical attributes) I still say psychics are not as strong as wizards.

First because you misread something, I presume. If you fail to deal 10% damage on the combat table the enemy gets a +60 to their PsR, assuming level 5 that's +110 to the check if the shield succeeds to "block" the attack. I am a big fan of the Book of Creation, so if I were fighting I would add an additional +25~35 from Increase Resistance, giving a bonus of +135~+145 to the check. IF you get the 20 on the potential roll to deal a 140 PsR I am immune unless I fumble. If you roll between 80-119 I only need a 6~16, and if you get the open roll of 120+ I need a 26~36. If you succeed in hitting me then yes I need a +60 to all those rolls or take a very bad hit. Without the Book of Creation and you miss I need another +25-35 on the roll. If you sacrificed your Psychic Projection for Psychic Potential your not that dangerous.

EDIT: oh and if you get below a 20 your taking fatigue damage. Lots of it. Get a fumble and Night night, I'll kill you when I want.

Page 196 states "Unlike with other Disciplines, no Psychic Projection is required for setting the target (the check is still needed to determine the range of the Power)"

If an ability does not have to be 'landed' on the target, then there is no shield that can be applied. Only resistance is applicable, as in the case with Telepathy

The 10% damage on the combat table is a check for range, not landing a 'hit'. A target adds +60 to their PsR roll because the Telepath's range is that poorly extended.

No, otherwise there would be no need to check the "combat table" (Page 81 Table 38: The Combat Table") for "10% damage (which isn't even on the "Psychic Projections Difficulties" table) You can not hit them if your out of range, if you do hit you roll just like it was an attack, but even if you fail it still hits and they get a +60. I say this because of the words "Combat Table" and "10% damage", when it says no roll is required it is true, but if you don't roll they get the bonus +60.

Also if it isn't needed the +20 to potential from touching the target would be fairly useless.

I'm pretty sure you are confusing a casting success requirement with an attack roll. They are two different things.

Scoring 10% or greater on the Combat Table is the same requirement for succeeding with a Create Light spell - its just a check on your casting ability to activate the power and make sure you don't fumble. This is the requirement of Telepathy - a check to activate the power, and then a roll for its Potential.

If you want to interpret the rules in a way that makes basic activation checks work like attack rolls,then that is your decision.

This sounds like an important question, because there is a large difference between the light spell and this-the light spell isn't being resisted. If the ability works how you suggest then Telepaths need no Psychic Projection. But it is right there, "If the Psychic is not able to obtain a minimum of 10% damage on the Combat Table , the affected target can add +60 to his PsR roll" and it is known that magic shields and Ki Extrusion allows the blocking of psychic attacks. Therefore if you use this on a wall, like using the light spell on a wall, or something with damage resistance, there is no point in a roll because you only need to score a 40 on your projection and you succeed. But if you use it on something that resists you subtract their roll, something you never have to worry about with most utility spells.

EDIT: also, now that I think about it, if you consider the way your doing it as the actual way it makes sense that you think mages are weak-not because they are weak but because Telepaths are game breakers. You yourself have noted that Telepaths can defeat just about anything if the rules read as you think, but if they read as I think they do it balances things quite considerably.

Page 192:

"It takes a minimum of 10% on the Combat Table to affect an opponent with a Psychic Power using a character's Psychic Projection. So, after using the character's Potential...a character must make a Psychic Projection check to hit the target and know the reach of his power."

It then goes into how you can Dodge but not Block. So you do need to roll Projection.

EDIT: Went to look up the other quote. I think the key phrase is "no Projection roll is required for setting the target." You don't NEED to make your Projection roll to set your target, but you DO need to make the roll to do at least 10% or they get the 60 resistance. So...the roll isn't necessary to hit, but it is necessary to see if they get the resistance. How else would you get "10% damage on the Combat Table" except through Projection? I agree that the wording is horrible, but that's the only conclusion I can draw. They should have said in the bit in parentheses, "the check is still needed to determine the range of the Power and to see if the opponent gains resistance against the attack"

This isn't the only rule that can be read two ways and be deemed valid, depending on how you interpret it.

I'd love to hear your opinions on the use of magic shields on page 92. That one is a similar quandery of language, as it appears to state that, if the total magic projection roll does not match or exceed the total attack roll, the caster takes the damage. If the total *does* exceed the attack roll, then the shield soaks the weapons base damage.

I could not find any other exceptions to this clearly stated. If the projection only reduces the attack to say 30%, it still gets through, and the mage takes 30% of the base damage. If that is not true, then a proection roll isn't even required (which is not stated), and the shield could just be pulled up and then ignored, taking full modified attack damage.

Because this is not the case, it makes for the second of game imbalances that I have noticed (no, Psychic isn't the only exception). This means that a wizard must, in all engagements, have a magic projection on par with the best primary skill of an attacker such as a weapon master. My concern is that they don't have enough available DP at 50-60% to afford this on account of the need for high Magic Projection which is extremely expensive.

hellgeist said:

Simply put yes, they need maximum projection. This means they should put 30% of their DP in projection at all times. As should a Psionic. This means they are allowed 30% of their DP for MA and Zeon, and while I have had some problem with it being expensive I have not had a problem making powerful mages, and with that power there should be a drawback. If the Magic Projection Roll is 30 less than the attack of an enemy they take 10% damage without armor. Just as if a fighter was 30 less than an attacker on his defense roll. A psichic has the same disadvantage-its why you can't skyrocket your Psychic Potential or Magic Accumulation in exchange for lower Projection unless you never plan to attack or defend with it (An option for Warlocks who only use utility and buff spells, or Physical Increase Warrior Mentalists)

I don't think there is any other way to interpret shields. I don't see it as anything but a balancing factor to make up for the fact that psychic and magic shield do not suffer penalties for multiple defenses while other formes of multiple defenses and multiple attacks do. Not being required to spend points in Projection IS imbalancing because a melee fighter must spend 50% of his total points in attack and defense and is only allowed 60% for combat primary, as opposed to Mentalists and Wizards who have to spend 30% in attack and defense and are allowed 60% in their chosen primary stat. Half-primary stats have it worse-A Warlock, Warrior Summoner, and Warrior Mentalist has to spend all 50% of their allowed combat primary to keep up with other people-which means they can not take any Weapon or style modules without lowering their attack and defense-that is a jip, but also a balancing factor. In exchange they can fight with ordinary means and use the secondary ability they chose.

If you allow Telepathic Mentalists to not need Psychic Projection, Mages to not need Magic Projection for shields or a significantly lowered costs in Magic Accumulation I could make a character that breaks the game without trying. Therefore I believe that all of the above must be kept from happening, from a balancing standpoint.

If anyone gets a bad penalty it's non-Taoists who try to learn martial arts or non-Weapon Masters who try to learn any additional weapons or style madules, they cost almost as much as MA (30-50DP) but characters only have 10% of their DP to use them, IF they get that. The Warlock in my group uses a Saber and wanted to learn Longsword, but to do so he would have to permenantly lose 5 attack or defense, and it's the same class of weapon (therefore the cheapest module possible).

As far as wizard being weak at 1st level, or any caster for that matter, if you streatched numbers, you could potentially start the game @ 3rd level, through Creation magic. (assuming the gm doesn't strangle the amount of magic points you have at 1st.)

Level 80 Creation gives you Chimera, which while there are some disadvantages, namely being a being between worlds makes you more succeptable to magic and summoners. With Gift, (necessary) Aptitude for Magical Development, and Natural Knowledge of the Path, a Wizard with a 10 intelligence can start the game able to cast Chimera without using a ritual (unless he wants to overcast for an even 200 dp.) Mix that with the powerful Create Being spell, and Greater Creation (which Chimera gives you a 25 Gnosis, technically granting you access to High Magic) you can start a game as a lvl 3 Wizard, with a lvl 2 created being, with +10 to +15 gear. The biggest downside, is that as far as I read, the dp you get from Chimera, while it levels you up, cannot be spent on primary abilities. Though you can spend it on nifty things like increasing attributes, taking certain magical advantages, and even taking inhumanity/zen to increase attribute potential. Supplemental magic is just sick.

Potentially, Warlocks can do this too, it's just much harder, and since warlocks are designed to spend points heavily on primary abilities, the dp from Chimera would be two levels worth not able to be spent on things that make the warlock better

Also, while were talking about magic/psychic projection, can anyone tell me whether using Magic Projection for healing spells is considered "offensive" or "defensive" for purposes of the modules?

Healing, I think, counts as "offensive" however you only have to score a 10% damage on the chart. 0 projection has a 70% chance of success (you only need a 30) and if you use the +30 imbalance (giving you a natural projection of 30 offense and -30 defense) you wouldn't need any module (If the GM allowed it)

Lia Valenth said:

I see your point. I ask though, as my warlock is focussed in Light magic, so I do want a higher potential in general, for spells such as light beam and other offensive spells, I was trying to balance which form of "projection" would be better

You can't take Offense / Defense imbalance if you're taking the Magic Projection as Attack/Defense modules. Page 111, second paragraph. I do find the wording odd that says they develop "only an Offensive or Defensive ability depending on the Module they have acquired." Do the rules limit you to taking one or the other, or is that just bad word choice? I don't remember seeing that limit presented alongside the modules, so I assume the text just means you're naturally using your base Attack or Defense depending on the Module that applies.