Focus points considerations

How early can you cap out focus points? Isn't it, like level 2 for a few classes?

Sure, level 2 is pretty easy to cap them out at. Might be possible to pull it off at level 1 somehow but nothing comes to mind.

Heck, you can do it at level 2 using just the CRB. Human Cloistered Cleric, use Natural Ambition and your level 2 class feat to take Domain Initiate three times.

Sure, level 2 is pretty easy to cap them out at. Might be possible to pull it off at level 1 somehow but nothing comes to mind.

Ancient Elf Oracle that takes Multiclass Psychic: Oracle starts with 2 and Multiclass Psychic dedication gives you 1 for 3 at 1st.

I'm having a really hard time figuring out an example where getting the ability to nova your Focus Spells during a single encounter up to two additional times per day or spread them out a tad bit more at lower Levels is a bad or game-breaking thing even for the most powerful Focus Spells. Certainly, it provides a bit more of the limited resource that is the Focus Spell at those levels, but it doesn't really do anything to make them more powerful in a meaningful way.

If anything the system suffers from the lower levels having things feel like the party has the odds stacked against them and doing this would help level them out a bit, save a ton of space in the books, keep the rule dead simple, and help reinforce the PCs chosen role a bit more.

So Starlit Span Magus can ignore concealment/cover up to two more times if they want to burn through all their Points early on over the course of three rounds: big deal(?), unless I'm missing something here.

Who said anything about game-breaking? I said it would be a noticeable balance change.

And as The Raven Black mentioned, it would be further unbalanced to some classes and class choices than others. Wild Order Druid gains pretty much nothing from it. Storm Order Druid and Elemental Sorcerer both gain quite a bit.

Starlit Span Magus gains the ability to ignore concealment/cover for three rounds. Sparkling Targe Magus gains the ability to strike, raise their shield, and recharge Spellstrike in one action for three rounds.

And as The Raven Black mentioned, it would be further unbalanced to some classes and class choices than others.

That's a bigger issue with the game as a whole: Is a Wild witches Hex Cantrip wilding word balanced with a Fervor witches Hex Cantrip stoke the heart and a Curse Witches Hex Cantrip evil eye? Or a wizards Eschew Materials balanced against Reach Spell? Or augment summoning vs any other wizard focus ability [other than a universalists no focus spell]?

I'm not sure you can do much in the game if you require the worst options have to work well with it.

No, the various focus spells are not perfectly balanced against each other. But giving every character with a focus spell 3 focus points from level 1 is magnifying that difference. That is the balance concern that myself and The Raven Black are bringing up.

The other balance consideration is that focus spells currently seem to be balanced to be about as powerful as a level 1 or 2 spell slot spell. By increasing the amount of times that a character could cast them - even if it is only possible to cast multiple of them once per day - that is going to make the devs want to balance them more in line with cantrips instead.

Also, having a non-renewable nova ability is going to lead some of the characters wanting to do a 1-encounter adventuring day again.

Again, not saying that any of this is game-breaking. But it is rather noticeable balance considerations to think about.

It is also a rather large change to be making for just a Remastering project.

I can see a lot happening, even things that are a significant rebalance, but getting 3 focus points the moment you gain a focus pool is not it. This part of the system works well enough, it just needs some cleaning up so it is clear how you get focus points without looking up 10 different rules. Which is what they say they are doing, not changing how and how many you get.

The actual changes will happen on the refocus side of things, which is why that was talked about.

>Refocus becomes practically automatic after 10 minutes

>Remove the "have to use a point or wait an hour" limitation on Refocusing

>Spice up each class's Refocus feats to be more than a boring +2/3 per refocus

>Just make it so that "You have as many Focus Points in your pool as you have Focus Spells, up to a maximum of 3 points". None of this "the feats give you the point but only sometimes" nonsense

I think those are the biggest clerical issues with Focus Pools and Points without getting into the weeds of individual classes and Focus Spells, and frankly is all I expect from this part of the Remaster.