Tome of Radiance: Mastering the Power of Love and Justice

[Hunter Noventa]

Well, let's see if I can help clear up this confusion. Also seeing as this is from about a week ago hopefully it isn't too late.

Not too late, haven't even hit Radiant Armourer yet, since we're only starting at level 3. So thanks for that. Though it does feel like 'Armament Effects' were changed to Imbuements halfway trough the development when I read the abilities of the Armourer.

So i have my two devices, and the Imbuements are shared across everything, including costumes, I get that.

So the Armament Effect limit just affects the total number of Imbuements I get, that's easy enough. But the pool sort of adds to that, but only to specific armament types? Radiant Armourer 1 Means I have the 1 Imbuement from Stargazer...and then 2 more from the Pool, but I have to assign them specifically between Device/Costume/Shield (When i take blazing aegis).

So at RA1 I go like this- Device 2/ Costume 1

For Devices I choose Enhancement and Resplendent, and for Costumes I choose Weightless. Then I summon my Implement and I can choose to give it Resplendent, and then for my Marksman I choose to give it Enhancement, while my Costume is always stuck with Weightless til I level up more and add more to it's share of the pool.

But basically it expands my Imbuement limit to be on a per-armament basis, but all the Imbuements have to be drawn from the respective pools, which I can adjust every morning basically. I think I get it now.

[Owrtho]

Not too late, haven't even hit Radiant Armourer yet, since we're only starting at level 3. So thanks for that. Though it does feel like 'Armament Effects' were changed to Imbuements halfway trough the development when I read the abilities of the Armourer.

Depending on how you mean that could be considered correct. Armament Effects was the original term, though it mentioned them being called imbuements in the description of what armament effects were (they just used the term armament effects everywhere else to refer to them). Some time after I originally made the Radiant Armourer, armaments were overhauled. After initially noting some potential changes that could be done to update it, I went and updated the class to the new system. It was when the forum update resulted in the old tables breaking that NineThePuma suggested using Imbuements as the primary term for Armament Effects when reposting the Radiant Armourer with a fixed table.

So i have my two devices, and the Imbuements are shared across everything, including costumes, I get that.

This is correct.

So the Armament Effect limit just affects the total number of Imbuements I get, that's easy enough. But the pool sort of adds to that, but only to specific armament types? Radiant Armourer 1 Means I have the 1 Imbuement from Stargazer...and then 2 more from the Pool, but I have to assign them specifically between Device/Costume/Shield (When i take blazing aegis).

This is incorrect. The pool is across everything like normal Imbuements. Rather than trying to think of the pool as something separate from normal Imbuements, your pool is all the Imbuements you have prepared, and the normal number is how many of those prepared Imbuements you may use for a given armament (which needs to be divided between armament types). Neither the pool nor your total amount is per type of armament on the table. Thus radiant armourer 1 means you have 1 Imbuement from the stargazer, and your pool is one larger than that, for 2 total. The 1 imbuement you get from star gazer is counted as a part of that, as you no longer apply Imbuements the way other Evokers do. The 1 from stargazer (along with later boosts) is how many Imbuements you can apply, while the pool is how many you have to choose from when applying them. For a normal Evoker these numbers are the same, meaning that they choose to have x number of Imbuements for their device, and y number for their costume, where x + y is their total number of Imbuements they can apply, before then choosing x device effects and y costume effects which any devices or costumes will have respectively which is equal to the number of Imbuements in their pool. A radiant armourer however has a larger pool. So while they still choose to apply x Imbuements to their device and y to their costume, when choosing Imbuements for their pool they get z extra for a total pool of x + y + z. They then select x of the appropriate Imbuements in their pool to apply to any device they make upon making it, and y Imbuements of the appropriate type to apply to any costume they make.

So at RA1 I go like this- Device 2/ Costume 1

No, as noted above you have 1 Imbuement to apply across all armaments, but can choose between 2 options when making it.

For Devices I choose Enhancement and Resplendent, and for Costumes I choose Weightless. Then I summon my Implement and I can choose to give it Resplendent, and then for my Marksman I choose to give it Enhancement, while my Costume is always stuck with Weightless til I level up more and add more to it's share of the pool.

As I noted above, the pool is not per armament type, and it does not increase how many armaments you may apply across everything. Even if you were to use one of the two Imbuements in your pool for a costume effect after deciding to apply your Imbuement to your device, it would mean you would have 1 Imbuement you could apply to your device (meaning all of them would have the same one), and a costume effect you couldn't use in your pool as you do not have any Imbuements applied to your costume.

But basically it expands my Imbuement limit to be on a per-armament basis, but all the Imbuements have to be drawn from the respective pools, which I can adjust every morning basically. I think I get it now.

This is not correct, as noted above. Hopefully this time I have explained it better. You may also want to take another look at my breakdown of selecting Imbuements for a stargazer, and the first two levels of Radiant Armourer in my previous post.

owrtho

[Hunter Noventa]

This is not correct, as noted above. Hopefully this time I have explained it better. You may also want to take another look at my breakdown of selecting Imbuements for a stargazer, and the first two levels of Radiant Armourer in my previous post.

owrtho

Okay let's try again. At Stargazer 1 I have a single Imbuement, period. It goes either on my devices (Both of them, in the case of Twinned device), or on my costume. I don't have one for each. I think we established that I got that much.

When I reach RA1, I still have the one Imbuement from Stargazer, which becomes part of my pool, and I add 1 to that from RA. This pool of two has to be spread across both my device and costume, so I need to pick one of each, i.e. Enhancement and Weightless. But since I can still only apply one Imbuement, my limit effectively being 1 until second level, I still only get Enhancement OR Weightless. but the Enhancement works for all devices instead of one?


Oh oh oh I think I get it. Normally, you can only select Imbuements once per day with a five-minute ritual when you prepare Illuminations. However as a Radiant Armourer, you can swap between the ones in your pool every time you summon your Devices or Costumes. If I put, as above, Enhancement and Weightless into my pool, I could choose to apply Enhancement when summoning my devices for one encounter, in which case they would all have it, and then in another encounter, assuming I dismiss thing in between, I could instead apply Weightless to my costume. And once my Armament Effect Limit goes up at RA2, I could apply Enhancement and Weightless at the same time, since my limit is 2 and both are in my pool.

[Owrtho]

Closer this time, but still a little off.

When I reach RA1, I still have the one Imbuement from Stargazer, which becomes part of my pool, and I add 1 to that from RA. This pool of two has to be spread across both my device and costume, so I need to pick one of each, i.e. Enhancement and Weightless. But since I can still only apply one Imbuement, my limit effectively being 1 until second level, I still only get Enhancement OR Weightless. but the Enhancement works for all devices instead of one?

The main error your making here is while the pool is shared between both devices and costumes, you do not need to pick one of each. The only requirement on picking them is that when you decided what you would apply your 1 Imbuement (or more at later levels) to before choosing the ones in your pool, must have an option among those in your pool. Thus if you decide to use your Imbuement for your device, you have to pick a device effect for at least 1 of your 2 options in the pool, while the other can be either a device effect or costume effect. In turn if you pick to apply your Imbuement to your costume for the day, one of the choices in your pool has to be a costume effect, but the other can again be either a device effect or a costume effect. When you have the option to apply two Imbuement a day, you could choose to have a device and a costume Imbuement. If you did you would need both a device effect and a costume effect in your pool, but could still freely choose what other Imbuements you select from either category for remaining slots. If instead you decided to put both of your Imbuements on your device, you would need to have two device effects in your pool, while the remaining slot(s) could be either device effects or costume effects as you choose. If you chose to put both Imbuements on your costume, you would need to have two costume effects in your pool, while the remaining slot(s) could be either device effects or costume effects as you choose. This in turn scales up as you get the option to apply more Imbuements, meaning your pool needs to have effects in it that let it fill out the chosen assignment of Imbuements, but any past that may be whatever you want.

That said, to answer your question your device effects could be applied to all devices you summon. However a you can at level 1 RA choose to have two different device effects in your pool, you may choose to summon them with either of the two device effects (though only 1 for any given device at that level), and may have as many as you can make using either of the two device effects.

Oh oh oh I think I get it. Normally, you can only select Imbuements once per day with a five-minute ritual when you prepare Illuminations. However as a Radiant Armourer, you can swap between the ones in your pool every time you summon your Devices or Costumes. If I put, as above, Enhancement and Weightless into my pool, I could choose to apply Enhancement when summoning my devices for one encounter, in which case they would all have it, and then in another encounter, assuming I dismiss thing in between, I could instead apply Weightless to my costume. And once my Armament Effect Limit goes up at RA2, I could apply Enhancement and Weightless at the same time, since my limit is 2 and both are in my pool.

This misunderstanding seems mostly based on the previous one. While partially correct (the radiant armourer can swap between Imbuements so long as they are in the pool), it overlooks that the radiant armour still needs to decide if Imbuements will be applied to the device or costume during the ritual and cannot change that freely. However as the pool can contain extra Imbuements of the type that the Imbuements are to be applied to, it can swap those out as needed, and could even use multiple ones in the same encounter.

Also keep in mind that when your Armament Effect Limit goes up at RA2, this will also increase the size of your pool, since the pool, since the number on the table is how many extra Imbuements you can have in the pool on top of those you from just being able to apply more Imbuements. Specifically, for a Star Gazer entering the class as soon as possible, the Imbuements they can apply/size of their pool for each level would be:

Spoiler: table

Show

Level	Usable Imbuements	Imbuments In Pool
0	1	1
1	1	2
2	2	3
3	2	3
4	2	4
5	3	5
6	3	5
7	3	6
8	3	6
9	4	7
10	4	8

owrtho

[sreservoir]

Oh oh oh I think I get it. Normally, you can only select Imbuements once per day with a five-minute ritual when you prepare Illuminations.

didn't read the rest but, note that there's no once-per-day restriction on illumination prep. can be done whenever you have five minutes.

[Hunter Noventa]

That said, to answer your question your device effects could be applied to all devices you summon. However a you can at level 1 RA choose to have two different device effects in your pool, you may choose to summon them with either of the two device effects (though only 1 for any given device at that level), and may have as many as you can make using either of the two device effects.

This misunderstanding seems mostly based on the previous one. While partially correct (the radiant armourer can swap between Imbuements so long as they are in the pool), it overlooks that the radiant armour still needs to decide if Imbuements will be applied to the device or costume during the ritual and cannot change that freely. However as the pool can contain extra Imbuements of the type that the Imbuements are to be applied to, it can swap those out as needed, and could even use multiple ones in the same encounter.

So in other words...I could have two devices out, and if I put Enhancement and Resplendent into the pool, I could apply Enhancement to one device, and Resplendent to the other.

Once I have 2 usable Imbuements, I can split them between my devices and costume. So for example at the point that I have 2 usable, and 3 in the pool. I choose to give my devices one Imbuement, but if I have Resplendent and Enhancement in the pool, i can choose either for either device as above, and with the other Imbuement for Costumes, and Weightless in the pool, I can pick that, but only that since it's the only costume Imbuement in the pool?

didn't read the rest but, note that there's no once-per-day restriction on illumination prep. can be done whenever you have five minutes.

Ah yeah, I misread because it says you CAN do it as a part of the ritual to prepare illuminations, but I read that you HAVE to.

[Owrtho]

So in other words...I could have two devices out, and if I put Enhancement and Resplendent into the pool, I could apply Enhancement to one device, and Resplendent to the other.

Once I have 2 usable Imbuements, I can split them between my devices and costume. So for example at the point that I have 2 usable, and 3 in the pool. I choose to give my devices one Imbuement, but if I have Resplendent and Enhancement in the pool, i can choose either for either device as above, and with the other Imbuement for Costumes, and Weightless in the pool, I can pick that, but only that since it's the only costume Imbuement in the pool?

This would be correct.

owrtho

[Hunter Noventa]

This would be correct.

owrtho

Excellent, that'll be helpful. Thanks for clearing it up!

[Magikeeper]

Question (I hope this hasn't been asked already): Can you enchant an aura costume? It doesn't count as armor, and has no physical manifestation?

[Ilorin Lorati]

It's not an object, so presumably not. You would enchant whatever clothing you have, instead.

[Magikeeper]

Hrm, I don't see an FAQ. Apologies if these questions have already been asked:

> Does the Resolve foundation heal undead? It doesn't say anything about using positive energy...

> When smiting after an enemy triggers a challenge illumination, do you have to wait until your turn? Or can you somehow perform the free action during something else's turn? It seems like the intent is the former, since the base duration is 1 round and would thus be mostly unusable without augmenting it if you have to wait until your next turn?

> Can an illumination with the Imbue shape component augment a stance/natural attack/etc? What is the RAI? (RAW-wise I'm not sure improved unarmed strikes really count as a weapon one is "wielding", but I have yet to find a source to outright confirm/deny that.) Edit - Haste uses a similar wording, and people usually let that benefit monks so I guess there IS precedent.

> Does the Pulses shape, if "allies" is chosen, effect the evoker as well? I'm assuming yes.

Edit - I just realized that the stance feature does not have the monk line allowing their attack to count as a natural weapon for the purposes of spells/effects that improve it. Which is important, because unarmed strikes otherwise don't count as natural weapons for any purpose whatsoever (nor do they count as manufactured). Also, provoking the AoO is based on whether not you are unarmed - so the line saying they are still unarmed means they provoke an AoO every time they attack with their stance. Granting Improved unarmed strike doesn't change that - Improved Unarmed Strike only avoids the AoO by making them count as armed, so removing that benefit.. removes that benefit.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

On Crafting Illuminiations...
To craft an illumination, one must select a base illumination type (Blast, Barrier, or Surge), a Foundation component to determine the base effect, and must purchase at least one rank in a Shape component to determine the illumination's basic targeting. It is impossible for any illumination to possess more than one Shape or Foundation component. If the evoker wishes, she may then add as many Secondary components as she can budget into her mote limit.

I'm very confused by this on a number of levels.

First, how does the crafting of an illumination impact your mote pool? On one hand, this block of text makes it sound like you have to pay for it from your mote pool, but then your mote pool, which equals your evoker level x 2, refreshes to full at the start of every turn with no mention of the pool being lowered due to purchased illuminations. So which is correct?

1. Your mote pool is only used as a limit for how powerful your crafted illuminations can be, but crafting an illumination has no impact on your functional mote pool each turn.
2. Your mote pool is lowered by the illuminations you have crafted, limiting how many motes you have available each turn.
3. Something else entirely.

In reference to the first point and assuming it's accurate, how would that impact classes that have more available illuminations but the same mote pool? Would that mean that a Champion's individual illuminations are more powerful than a Stargazers simply because they have fewer illuminations to cram their (evoker level x 2) motes into? If not accurate, there's obviously no reason to answer these two questions. :D

Second, if an illumination cannot have more than one Shape or Foundation component, why is one rank in a Shape component required? Doesn't that mean that you can never have a Foundation component? Or are you allowed a maximum of one of each instead?

For anyone who does so, thank you in advance for answering these two questions. I really like the concept of this subset of rules, I'm just really confused about how some of it works. I read over the text several times, but didn't have the fortitude to scounrge through 30-something pages of posts looking to see if any of them were already asked. :)

[AmberVael]

I'm very confused by this on a number of levels.

First, how does the crafting of an illumination impact your mote pool? On one hand, this block of text makes it sound like you have to pay for it from your mote pool, but then your mote pool, which equals your evoker level x 2, refreshes to full at the start of every turn with no mention of the pool being lowered due to purchased illuminations. So which is correct?

1. Your mote pool is used as a limit for how powerful your crafted illuminations can be, but crafting an illumination has no impact on your functional mote pool each turn.
2. Your mote pool is lowered by the illuminations you have crafted, limiting how many motes you have available each turn.
3. Something else entirely.

The first option. Your mote pool only determines how powerful they can be, and how much you can use each turn. Your mote pool is not lowered by the illuminations you know. Think of motes as reusable power points- you spend them when you activate the illumination.

Second, if an illumination cannot have more than one Shape or Foundation component, why is one rank in a Shape component required? Doesn't that mean that you can never have a Foundation component? Or are you allowed a maximum of one of each instead?

Its one each. And you have to have a shape otherwise you can't actually target anything. You automatically get a foundation (to determine the basic effect) and you must invest into a shape (to determine target).

[jamieth]

It is 1; crafted illuminations don't affect your mote pool in any way, you have (evoker level x 2) motes every turn (though some of them might be binded into your costume of soulforge feats, but that's a differemt ussie entirely)

On the second point, it is one each: One shape, no more than one Foundation and as many Secondaris as you want and can afford with the limitation of (total cost <= evoker level)

Glad to help!

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Thank you for the quick replies! I only need clarification on more thing.

When crafting your illuminations, is your mote pool the limit for each illumination, or all of the illuminations you know? Say you're a level 10 Stargazer. You know 8 illuminations, and your mote pool is 20. How powerful are each of your illuminations?

[AmberVael]

Each illumination. So each of your illuminations known can have a cost of up to 10 motes.

A magical girl may not craft any illumination with a cost greater than her evoker level in motes.

So I guess saying mote pool limits it is not strictly accurate (I was thinking in terms of half mote pool, but), but how you use your motes each turn is of course a concern to keep in mind when crafting illuminations.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Awesome, thank you.

And yes, I think it'd be a lot more intuitive if it simply stated that each of your illuminations can have a number of points equal to your evoker level. Using the term "motes" for both crafting them and the pool for using them is rather confusing. :)

[AmberVael]

The thing is, its not ever using the same term for two different things. Its always referring to the same mechanic- the points you spend to activate the power. The mote cost of an component is how many motes it will add to the mote cost to activate your entire illumination. Its never saying you spend motes to craft the illumination, its letting you know what the final cost to activate the power will be, and since you have a limit on how high that final mote cost can be, its important to keep it in mind while making your illuminations.

[jamieth]

I personally don't see anything confusing, but then I was here from the beginning :-)

One more thing: it is possible to evoke several illuminations of the same type in a single turn (two barriers with two move actions, or Surge Blast with a swift action and another Blast with a standert one, for example), but in that case their total cost must be <= evokel level. (So, a Stargazer 10 can spend her 20 motes to evoke a 10-mote Surge and a 10-mote Blast in one round, but not two Blasts of 10 motes each.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

The thing is, its not ever using the same term for two different things. Its always referring to the same mechanic- the points you spend to activate the power. The mote cost of an component is how many motes it will add to the mote cost to activate your entire illumination. Its never saying you spend motes to craft the illumination, its letting you know what the final cost to activate the power will be, and since you have a limit on how high that final mote cost can be, its important to keep it in mind while making your illuminations.

So, wait. Now I'm completely befuddled again.

Do you craft your illuminations on the fly then? What's the point of the number of illuminations listed in the class entries? What do I actually write down on my character sheet?

[AmberVael]

Uh, no. I never said anything about making illuminations on the fly.

[jamieth]

You craft your illuminations when gaining a level, and you write all the components included and the number of ranks in each, as well as the total costr for Illumination (which, by the way, you can set higher than the sunm of the components' costs). Then, you pay that cost out of your pool every time you use the illumination.

upd: you can look for the (sadly unfinished) section of the Iconics on the wiki for the examples of writing up the Illuminations: http://tome-of-radiance.wikia.com/wi..._Radiance_Wiki

[Dr. Funkenstein]

You craft your illuminations when gaining a level, and you write all the components included and the number of ranks in each, as well as the total costr for Illumination (which, by the way, you can set higher than the sunm of the components' costs). Then, you pay that cost out of your pool every time you use the illumination.

upd: you can look for the (sadly unfinished) section of the Iconics on the wiki for the examples of writing up the Illuminations: http://tome-of-radiance.wikia.com/wi..._Radiance_Wiki

Thank you SO much for that!

Uh, no. I never said anything about making illuminations on the fly.

The thing is, its not ever using the same term for two different things. Its always referring to the same mechanic- the points you spend to activate the power. The mote cost of an component is how many motes it will add to the mote cost to activate your entire illumination. Its never saying you spend motes to craft the illumination, its letting you know what the final cost to activate the power will be, and since you have a limit on how high that final mote cost can be, its important to keep it in mind while making your illuminations.

You kind of are with that response. From what I've puzzled together from the replies so far, your mote pool has no apparent impact on your crafted illuminations; you have (evoker level) points to build each of your illuminations, and those points are completely separate from the mote pool you gain each turn. Your mote pool never actually comes into the equation except for using the same term for an unrelated mechanic; the only way they're connected is that the final cost of the crafted illumination determines how many motes you spend each time you evoke the illumination.

Unless, of course, I'm still not getting it.

[jamieth]

The easy way to think of it is, in my experience, to mentally change "motes" to "mana". You craft your illuminations on level up, determining the mana cost for them, then you pay that much mana points every ti,e you actualluy caast a spell.

[AmberVael]

See, the thing is that you're looking at it as if you have a pool of points to build illuminations with. I'm trying to point out that you're adding in something or looking at it in a weird way, because that's not what is going on (even if you can functionally look at it that way and be fine).
Let me break it down the entire system piece by piece to make it clear and simple as possible.


As an evoker (someone who uses illuminations), you have a certain number illuminations known. As a first level Champion, for example, you have four known.

For each illumination known, you pick one foundation component, one shape component, and any number of secondary components (or none at all). Once chosen, these components are set until you gain a level (at which point you may remake all of your illuminations known).

Each component has an associated mote cost. When you add all your components together, the total mote cost is how many motes you pay out of your pool (the pool which refreshes each turn) when activating the power.

An illumination may not have a total mote cost of more than your evoker level.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

See, the thing is that you're looking at it as if you have a pool of points to build illuminations with. I'm trying to point out that you're adding in something or looking at it in a weird way, because that's not what is going on (even if you can functionally look at it that way and be fine).
Let me break it down the entire system piece by piece to make it clear and simple as possible.


As an evoker (someone who uses illuminations), you have a certain number illuminations known. As a first level Champion, for example, you have four known.

For each illumination known, you pick one foundation component, one shape component, and any number of secondary components (or none at all). Once chosen, these components are set until you gain a level (at which point you may remake all of your illuminations known).

Each component has an associated mote cost. When you add all your components together, the total mote cost is how many motes you pay out of your pool (the pool which refreshes each turn) when activating the power.

An illumination may not have a total mote cost of more than your evoker level.

Nah, I don't think I'm looking at it weird. You're just making assumptions that the text never actually states directly.

You do, by your own admission, have a limited number of points to work with for each illumination you craft at each level; your evoker level. Not your mote pool, your evoker level. In fact, it has nothing to do with your mote pool; it doesn't lower or even affect your mote pool in any way, and the limit is much lower than the pool itself.

You then use those points (call it a limit if you prefer) to craft your illuminations, with the final cost equating to the number of motes required to activate it.

How is that the same mechanic? There's no point in calling the points/limit used to craft illumination motes except at the very end, and then the term used in a completely different way (describing an activation cost, not a construction cost). To use some hyperbole, it's equivalent to saying you have 1,000,000,000 points available to construct an ability, but you actually only have 5 points to construct it -- the 1,000,000,000 points is utterly meaningless as a result, and there's no reason to even refer to it.

Regardless, now that I think I understand, I won't continue to clutter the thread anymore than I already have. :)

[sreservoir]

Nah, I don't think I'm looking at it weird. You're just making assumptions that the text never actually states directly.

Illuminations: Infused as they are with the power of light, a stargazer is capable of crafting and calling upon powerful manifestations of radiant energy known as Illuminations. A stargazer knows a fixed number of illuminations, and may change any number of her known illuminations freely each time she gains a level in this class. To use her known illuminations, a stargazer must first prepare them – preparing illuminations is a simple process requiring five minutes of introspection, weapons drills, or some other mentally relaxing activity. Once her preparation is complete, the stargazer may choose a number of her known illuminations to ready. Readied illuminations remain readied until the stargazer prepares new ones.

this is the stargazer primary illuminations known mechanic. champions have vastly similar one (they don't prepare), empaths have their strange one. this clarifies that illuminations known are limited by the class table and they can be changed at level up (and no other means for changing them is provided nor excluded here).

Illuminations are an evoker’s greatest power – the ability to harness the awesome energies of light and channel them into mystical effects. This power presents itself to each individual differently, and as such, it is impossible to compile a singular list of illuminations. Instead, a magical girl must feel out her own powers as she develops them, crafting a suite of abilities unique to her.

When a magical girl learns new illuminations, she does not select them from a list, but rather crafts them from a wide array of components. Each illumination begins as one of three base effects, which an evoker can enhance with a wide array of components. Every component has an associated mote cost, and many allow that mote cost to be raised in exchange for more powerful effects. The final cost of an illumination is equal to the total cost of its base effect added to the cost of its components. A magical girl may not craft any illumination with a cost greater than her evoker level in motes. While certain components suggest particular manifestations, the cosmetic aspects of an illumintion are entirely up to the evoker crafting it - a functionally identical illumination might manifest as a javelin of lightning to one and a flurry of shots from conjured rifles to another.

I concede two points of inclarity with terminology. one, it's not clear that "crafting" is the process of selecting illuminations known unless you were paying close attention to that one line which makes the connection. two, the "evoker level in motes" is later called the "mote limit" without definition:

To craft an illumination, one must select a base illumination type (Blast, Barrier, or Surge), a Foundation component to determine the base effect, and must purchase at least one rank in a Shape component to determine the illumination's basic targeting. It is impossible for any illumination to possess more than one Shape or Foundation component. If the evoker wishes, she may then add as many Secondary components as she can budget into her mote limit. Foundation components scale automatically, at varying rates, with the cost of an illumination. All other components increase the illumination's mote cost. If she wishes, an evoker can independently raise an illumination's mote cost without adding any additional components or ranks. Further, it is impossible to craft or evoke any illumination with a cost of less than 1m. Any illumination with a lower mote cost must either select components or manually raise its cost until it reaches a positive value.

[aside: personally I think it's obvious that the disjunction is above D i.e. "more than one Shape component or more than one Foundation component" rather than "more than one component which is a Shape component or is a Foundation component" from the fact that both are required. it almost certainly wouldn't do harm to write it out in full, but I'm mildly puzzled that you'd think a major category of components to be entirely unusable. if nothing else, that clearly violates usual expectations of intent.]

"mote limit" refers to the evoker level upper bound per illumination restriction, though I can see how you'd conflate that with the mote pool if you weren't aware of the former.

An evoker’s Illuminations are powered by Motes of radiant energy. Such power is almost inexhaustible, but it does have limits. An evoker’s Mote Pool is equal to [Evoker Level * 2]. An evoker’s mote pool refreshes at the beginning of each of her turns, restoring itself to its full value.

... where the per-turn mote pool is called "limit", though that particular line is essentially non-mechanical. fwiw, the mechanic of having a per-effect limit in addition to a larger pool is, I believe, basically ported from psionics.

there is in fact one section which p clearly connects "mote limit" with the evoker level bound rather than the mote pool, though it is admittedly obscure:

Complex Formula (Su): A stargazer understands the workings of her power in ways other evokers could only dream of, coaxing their inner light into incredible displays of power. At 1st level, the stargazer may craft a single illumination as a complex formula, independent of her normal illuminations known. When evoking this illumination, the stargazer gains an effective +1 increase to evoker level for all purposes, and the illumination may be crafted using this increased evoker level for the purpose of determining mote limits. Any mote cost above the stargazer’s unmodified evoker level is paid for by this ability – she receives the full effect of the illumination, but will never pay a number of motes greater than her unmodified evoker level. If a complex formula is used to create a Companion illumination, that companion will automatically dismiss itself at the end of the stargazer's next turn. A stargazer may use her complex formula once per encounter. If a stargazer wishes, rather than evoking one of her complex formulas, she may expend one use of her complex formula to evoke any illumination she knows, even if it is not readied.

it is strongly implied here that "mote limits" is not only determined according to evoker level, but normally bounded to exactly the unmodified evoker level.

Regardless of the number of motes or actions available, an evoker may only use spend a number of motes up to her evoker level on illuminations of a given base type (Blasts, Barriers, and Surges) in a round.

this line does not technically specify the mote limit but is very suggestive—illuminations exceeding the evoker level bound cannot be used without somehow temporarily raising evoker level.

I'm very confused by this on a number of levels.

First, how does the crafting of an illumination impact your mote pool? On one hand, this block of text makes it sound like you have to pay for it from your mote pool, but then your mote pool, which equals your evoker level x 2, refreshes to full at the start of every turn with no mention of the pool being lowered due to purchased illuminations. So which is correct?

1. Your mote pool is only used as a limit for how powerful your crafted illuminations can be, but crafting an illumination has no impact on your functional mote pool each turn.
2. Your mote pool is lowered by the illuminations you have crafted, limiting how many motes you have available each turn.
3. Something else entirely.

In reference to the first point and assuming it's accurate, how would that impact classes that have more available illuminations but the same mote pool? Would that mean that a Champion's individual illuminations are more powerful than a Stargazers simply because they have fewer illuminations to cram their (evoker level x 2) motes into? If not accurate, there's obviously no reason to answer these two questions. :D

Second, if an illumination cannot have more than one Shape or Foundation component, why is one rank in a Shape component required? Doesn't that mean that you can never have a Foundation component? Or are you allowed a maximum of one of each instead?

For anyone who does so, thank you in advance for answering these two questions. I really like the concept of this subset of rules, I'm just really confused about how some of it works. I read over the text several times, but didn't have the fortitude to scounrge through 30-something pages of posts looking to see if any of them were already asked. :)

note that "mote pool" is a defined term:

An evoker’s Illuminations are powered by Motes of radiant energy. Such power is almost inexhaustible, but it does have limits. An evoker’s Mote Pool is equal to [Evoker Level * 2]. An evoker’s mote pool refreshes at the beginning of each of her turns, restoring itself to its full value.

mote limit is less clearly defined, but it is not the same term, which is what you seem to be overlooking.

You do, by your own admission, have a limited number of points to work with for each illumination you craft at each level; your evoker level. Not your mote pool, your evoker level. In fact, it has nothing to do with your mote pool; it doesn't lower or even affect your mote pool in any way, and the limit is much lower than the pool itself.

You then use those points (call it a limit if you prefer) to craft your illuminations, with the final cost equating to the number of motes required to activate it.

How is that the same mechanic? There's no point in calling the points/limit used to craft illumination motes except at the very end, and then the term used in a completely different way (describing an activation cost, not a construction cost). To use some hyperbole, it's equivalent to saying you have 1,000,000,000 points available to construct an ability, but you actually only have 5 points to construct it -- the 1,000,000,000 points is utterly meaningless as a result, and there's no reason to even refer to it.

Regardless, now that I think I understand, I won't continue to clutter the thread anymore than I already have. :)

anyway, there is no basis for inferring that individual illuminations deduct from any sort of common pool, especially since that is, in fact, not true. it is, indeed, bounded by evoker level, explicitly once and implicitly twice, not necessarily in the most obvious places but two of those are in the illuminations section which you're kind of expected to have read.

these limits the same mechanic and nobody is saying otherwise. that is why they have different terms. what is the same mechanic is the notion of a "mote", which is what illuminations are measured in. and no, your "hyperbole" is not accurate because 2×EL motes is a very salient restriction: you have three potential illumination actions per turn, each of which can consume up to EL motes, and on top of that some number of imbuements/armament effects (I think it changed but the terminology wasn't applied consistently here) which means your per-turn mote consumption could easily run well beyond your mote pool. and this is both intended and necessary.

and also, since I'm a big fan of "read through the mechanics and sanity-check them" principle:

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Illuminations Known	Imbuements
1st	+1	+0	+2	+2	Radiant Armaments, Merciful	4	1

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Illuminations Known	Illuminations Readied	Imbuements
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Radiant Armaments, Merciful, Complex Formula (1, +1)	6	4	1

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Poor Saves*	Good Saves*	Special	Persona Capacity	Personas Known	Innate Illuminations	Imbuements
1st	+0	+0	+2	Radiant Armaments, Merciful, Manifest Persona (Least Aspects)	2	2	1	1

Further, it is impossible to craft or evoke any illumination with a cost of less than 1m. Any illumination with a lower mote cost must either select components or manually raise its cost until it reaches a positive value.

An evoker’s Mote Pool is equal to [Evoker Level * 2].

I don't think there's any way to infer a

[Morcleon]

A bit of confusion here about barriers:

A barrier augmented with this effect may not be placed on a targeted creature - it must be placed on a location.

This quote implies that there are barrier shapes that can target creatures. However, none of the existing barrier shapes (strongholds, borders, dominions, ramparts) do such a thing, and all target locations. Is this a holdover from a previous version, a typo, or did I miss something?

[jamieth]

A holdover, as far as i'm aware, but also a potential expansion space; nothing stops one from homebrewing a, for example, Aura barrier shape.
In the same vein, there is no way to craft the illumination with zero or negative cost from currently existing components, but the rules still explicitely mention that if you do, you'll have to either dd components or increase the cost until its at least 1 mote.

[Morcleon]

A holdover, as far as i'm aware, but also a potential expansion space; nothing stops one from homebrewing a, for example, Aura barrier shape.
In the same vein, there is no way to craft the illumination with zero or negative cost from currently existing components, but the rules still explicitely mention that if you do, you'll have to either dd components or increase the cost until its at least 1 mote.

Ah, okay.

There is, actually. If you make a Blast with any Foundation and 1 rank in Cascades, it's technically 0 cost.