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According to Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition, when casting Summon Ally to create a Mirror Self, the duplicate has "half the total Power Points" of the caster. Does "total" mean "maximum" here?

Example: A mage has max 20 PP and 7 left when starting to cast the spell, which costs 7 PP. While the original mage is out of juice after the spell, the clone still has 10 PP?

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Good question. I played it as half the power after he had cast the spell. –  David Allan Finch Jun 24 '12 at 19:12
Half the PP after the spell is cast would have been my first assumption, too, but in a real gaming session that showed to be somewhat underpowered compared that the Summon Ally at Legend level can produce 4 Ogres, or 2*4 Ogres if cast twice, which is possible with "only" 14 PP. And 8 Ogres usually beat even the hardest enemies in one round to ooze. –  TeXter Jun 25 '12 at 5:07
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3 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

Yes (and yes)

I understand that "total" does mean "maximum". I cannot think of any other reason to say

The duplicate has half the total Power Points of the caster,

instead of

The duplicate has half the Power Points of the caster,

On top of that, assuming that "total" means "current" would mean that the power produces a different effect depending on when it is used, which is something that does not happen with any other power (in particular, with the other versions of Summon Ally, like summoning ogres or sentinels).

UPDATE: Clint confirms in the official forums that the Mirror Self has half the maximum power points of the original caster, rounded down.

[the Mirror Self of a legendary caster] would have 17 Power Points, half the caster's total of 35 PPs (not his current level). And yep, rounded down.

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Kudos on digging up that post. I known I saw it somewhere before but I failed my google-fu check. –  Extrakun Jul 25 '13 at 4:01
@Extrakun - sergut posted the question on the forum. He got the same answer as I had already posted but it is from the horse mouth. –  David Allan Finch Jul 25 '13 at 8:44
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The rules are not completely clear what total means here. There is no other use or definition of total (or max) in the rules that I can find. As it does not say current total I think that the rules as written must mean that it the Max Power Points ie the value when the mage is completely recharged. It does cost 7 PP for a Mirror for the first three rounds then an addition 1 per round.

I can see a minor loop hole with Mirror Self and the use of Greater Healing and a mage with 40+ PP, ie he could cast it 5 times a day.

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What loophole do you see? I'm curious. :-) BTW, isn't 35 the max PP that a character can have in the core rules (10 + 5 per rank)? –  sergut Jul 23 '13 at 7:34
@sergut - Mirror Self cost 7, Greater Healing 20. Why cast it your self when your Mirror can do it for you. Net cost to you 7 for a 20 PP power. So with 35PP you could do it 5 times per day rather than once. If this is a loophole is up to you as a referee. –  David Allan Finch Jul 23 '13 at 11:35
Oh, I see. Actually, I think that is not possible because the Mirror Self vanishes after a few rounds while the use of Greater Healing for 20pp requires 1d6 hours. You could use the 10pp Greater Healing, though, and that does look like a (minor) loophole. –  sergut Jul 23 '13 at 14:00
Agreed, missed that. –  David Allan Finch Jul 23 '13 at 16:04
Additionally, I just realised that the loophole is not that big either. You use 3pp less, but the Mirror Self casting Greater Healing has one die less in the arcane skill, they do not have a wild die, and they do not have bennies to repeat the roll (because they are extras). –  sergut Jul 23 '13 at 23:11
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If you accept Clint's word as law (as you should!), here's his answer:

[...] In addition to being an Extra, each Mirror Image has half the PPs of the summoner and additionally has all Traits (Skills and Attributes) at one die type less than the summoner.

In this example, the original poster is trying to have his mirror images cast mirror image. Nowhere does Clint take issue with the power points used (except the mage starts with 40 PP), but rather points out the lowering skills/attributes of each mirror.

Based on this, a mirror image should have half the total maximum power points of the mage who created it.

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My answer is the same as yours. –  Toast Jul 24 '13 at 15:05
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