Aetheric Boost, how much does it cost?

[CalethosVB]

So, I begin as a Geokineticist, get Earth Blast, and batter my foes with the weight of the Earth itself. At 7th level I get a little crazy and decide I want to play a Telekinetic, taking Aether as my expanded element. I gain Aetheric Boost as my only composite. Okay, that's fine, I can deal with not dealing as much damage. For 2 burn I can get an additional +1 damage for every die of my Aetheric Boosted Earth Blast.

Now comes the tricky part. At 15th level I expand into Fire because I'm tired of less damage, but also because Fire appeals to me. I gain Magma Blast as a composite. For 2 points if burn I can composite Earth and Fire and deal 2d6+2+Con, adding up to 8d6+16 at 15th level. So I then decide that +1 point of damage per die starts to look more enticing, especially since I'm a Whip specialist. So I get 8d6+24 on each hit of my Whip.

What's the cost of my Aetheric Boost Magma Blast though? Is it 3 burn or 5?

[Imbicatus]

It doesn't exist. You can't do a three-way composite blast. You can do a Magma Blast, or an Aetheric Boost Blast.

Edit: I stand corrected. Aetheric Boost breaks the general composite rules.

[Godferret]

I read it as costing one additional burn on top of the burn cost of the initial composite blast, so 3 burn. Here's the rule, so others can weigh in:

Aetheric Boost wrote:

You infuse a simple blast you know with aether, causing it to deal 1 additional point of damage of the same type for each of its damage dice; it otherwise acts as the simple blast. At 15th level, you can also infuse a composite blast with aether. To infuse a composite blast in this way, you must accept 1 additional point of burn.

[Chess Pwn]

it costs 1 additional burn

[CalethosVB]

Godferret wrote:

I read it as costing one additional burn on top of the burn cost of the initial composite blast, so 3 burn. Here's the rule, so others can weigh in:

Aetheric Boost wrote:

You infuse a simple blast you know with aether, causing it to deal 1 additional point of damage of the same type for each of its damage dice; it otherwise acts as the simple blast. At 15th level, you can also infuse a composite blast with aether. To infuse a composite blast in this way, you must accept 1 additional point of burn.

Yes, but is that one additional point of burn on top of the Magma Blast to Aetheric Boost it, or one extra point of burn on top of the two point cost of Aetheric Boost?

[Philo Pharynx]

One on top of the magma blast.

[Efreeti]

Think of it this way:

Aetheric boost always adds one to the cost.

Simple blast (1burn) + aetheric boost= composite (costs 2, cost of simple +1)

"Triple" composite: cost of composite (2 burn) + aetheric boost = 3 burn.

[Legio_MCMLXXXVII]

What world are you living in that a simple blast costs one burn? Aetheric boost costs two burn. If you use it on a composite, it costs an additional one, for a total of three.

[CalethosVB]

Legio_MCMLXXXVII wrote:

What world are you living in that a simple blast costs one burn? Aetheric boost costs two burn. If you use it on a composite, it costs an additional one, for a total of three.

So the total composite cost of the blast is 5 burn (composite 2 plus Aetheric Boost 2 plus use on an already composite blast +1)? Or composite cost (2) plus 1 for the Aetheric Boost?

In other words:
A) Magma Blast (2) plus Aetheric Boost (1) = 3
or
B) Magma Blast (2) plus Aetheric Boost (2+1) = 5

For reference, here's the entire Aetheric Boost composite blast.

Aetheric Boost wrote:

Element aether; Type composite blast (Sp); Level --; Burn 2

Prerequisites telekinetic blast, expanded element (any)
Blast Type special; Damage see text

You infuse a simple blast you know with aether, causing it to deal 1 additional point of damage of the same type for each of its damage dice; it otherwise acts as the simple blast. At 15th level, you can also infuse a composite blast with aether. To infuse a composite blast this way, you must accept 1 additional point of burn.

This tells me that the cost is always an additional 2 points, and to add this to a composite is am additional third.

[CalethosVB]

I ask because it looks weird to me. It feels as though the intent was to make a boosted composite blast cost 3 points, but reads as if the composite is instead 5 points. It's either a cost of 2 to use Aetheric Boost as a separate composite or 3 to add to a composite, or is a case of replacing the Burn notation with "see text".

[Legio_MCMLXXXVII]

Aetheric blast ALWAYS costs 2 burn. Every time you use it. If you use it with another composite blast, it costs 1 additional burn. So yes, a composite blast modified by aetheric boost will always have a base cost of 5 burn, before other Infusions are added. The wording makes it clear that the 1 burn is in addition to all other burn taken, rather than in place of the normal cost.