Quote Originally Posted by mrguymiah View Post
Q290,

I'm working with the Give Magic Life talent (Advanced Enhancement, if you're not familiar) and I'm unsure of how to calculate the potency. Here is the wording;

"For the purposes of this template, a sphere ability’s “potency” is equal to its spell point cost plus the number of sphere effects it incorporates."

I don't think it's simply "add up all the talents", cause I believe they would've written talents there. However, it's clear to differentiate between "sphere ability" and "sphere effect". So is it all of the talents except the base sphere? I'm not entirely sure, and want to make sure I am calculating it correctly.

TLDR: So I guess the question, more plainly put, is; "What is the distinction between a sphere effect, ability, and talent?"
I think the main reason the talent didn't merely say "add up all the talents" is that would cause situations to arise where the base sphere would be counted for the potency despite it not being used.

Example 1, lets say you wanted to use Give Magic Life to animate the "Speak with Animals (spirit)" talent from the Nature sphere. Doing so should have a potency of 2 (1 SP + Speak with Animals effect); If potency was determined by 'adding all the talents' the potency would be 3 (despite the base sphere not actually contributing an effect).

Example 2, lets say you wanted to use Give Magic Life to animate the "Grow Plants (plantlife, geomancing)" talent from the Nature sphere. Doing so should have a potency of 2 (1 SP + Grow Plants effect); If you wanted to also incorporate the Pummel, Growth, or Entangle effect (as outlined in the Grow Plants talent), the potency would increase to 3 instead.

Needless to say, it might be easier to explain costs if you tell us what exactly you are trying to use 'Give Magic Life' with. However, if this is all too complicated for you; you should be able to simply use the 'Effects' for each sphere listed in Item Base Powers (found in Spheres of Power, pg 166), which should dramatically simplify the whole process.