In two days time, it will be November and I will start this year's project - a lab a day for November!
As a warm-up, I created a Failed Apprentice grog as an alternative to the ones in Grogs - Johann, who can be found at https://magioftom.wordpress.com/2017/10/30/johann-a-failed-apprentice/
Some will be nice and straightforward, some will require spells or items to work, and if time gets short some may end up alternative versions of a theme already covered.
He looks good. He looks to have just the right amount of enough baggage to use in a story avoiding both making the story all about the grog and just creating a pile of numbers for increased laboratory success. I see that you were sticking to the core book, yet if I were using him I'd be tempted to switch out fragile constitution for the flaw that gives you warping points (serf's parma).
One story arc for Johann could be that his former master is trying to get him in the Mercere House as Redcap to grant him some level of protection and also to allow him to trade more freely and safely his skills.
Since House Mercere is a Lineage house, it could be nearly impossible, but who knows. Between some "fudged" genealogy research and a bit of nudging and proding and bribing/promises of favor, Mercere mages could take pitty of him.
From his side, Johann will try to make it worth to house Mercere for having him as a Redcap - altough since he is cautious, he is unlikely to go on a heroic quest, but he could uncover in some dusty old tomes (since he is a decent scribe) some valuable information.
Another House who could give shelter, but without official protection, could be house Verditius. Johann skills are quite valuable.
Day one: Turris Volans
The covenant of Turris Volans is located in a flying tower that travels all over Mythic Europe, and occasionally beyond. Although the tower is much like others created by Conjuring the Mystic Tower, space is limited as it must carry the magi, their staff and supplies. The long-term residents have heavily customized and refined their labs to hold what they can, but the guest lab (for those who want to take advantage of the Study Bonuses up in the clouds or in far-off parts of Europe) is not particularly safe. The whole structure has magical heating to avoid carrying more firewood than they need to, and magical lights are available for superior lighting for a couple of labs without needing to carry an excessive amount of candles. The covenant’s senior magus, Zephyros has a lab redesigned for safety.
Basic lab:
Superior construction (+1 safety, +1 Aesthetics)
Mobile (+1 Experimentation)
Unstable (+1 upkeep, -1 safety)
Airborne (+1 Upkeep, -2 safety, +2 Warping, +1 Health, + 4 Aesthetics, +1 Experimentation, +4 Au)
Relocation (+1 Experimentation – the covenant has relocation rather than constant relocation as the tower can land and stay for a season in a favourable aura when needed)
Magical Heating (superior) (+1 health, +1 aesthetics, +1 Ignem)
Size 0, Refinement +0, General Quality +0, Upkeep +2, Safety -2, Warping +2, Health +2, Aesthetics +6, Experimentation +3, Au +4, Ig +1.
Personality trait: Changeable +2
This lab looks like a very standard lab except for the fact most items are stored in cupboards with secure bolts and there are fittings on the benches to secure items to. The view from the window could be anything, as the tower frequently flies high into the sky or into extreme wilderness to try and benefit from the inspiration of unusual surroundings.
Zephyros’ lab:
Superior construction (+1 safety, +1 Aesthetics)
Mobile (+1 Experimentation)
Unstable (+1 upkeep, -1 safety)
Airborne (+1 Upkeep, -2 safety, +2 Warping, +1 Health, + 4 Aesthetics, +1 Experimentation, +4 Au)
Relocation (+1 Experimentation – the covenant has relocation rather than constant relocation as the tower can land and stay for a season in a favourable aura when needed)
Magical Heating (superior) (+1 health, +1 aesthetics, +1 Ignem)
Greater Feature – Window (+2 aesthetics, +3Au)
Spacious (+2 safety, +1 aesthetics)
Size 0, Refinement +3, General Quality +0, Upkeep +2, Safety +0, Warping +2, Health +2, Aesthetics +9, Experimentation +3, Au +7, Ig +1.
Personality trait: Stormy +2
Zephyros’ lab has been very carefully redesigned to put everything in securely while keeping enough space between items so minor shakes when the covenant takes off and lands won’t risk things. One wall has been turned into a large window so he can fully appreciate the wonders of the view from his flying tower, and to help him study storms.
Zephyros did commission an item to try and minimize breakage and increase safety, but disliked the extra increase in warping. He offers it to guest magi and others in the covenant.
The mystic clamp ReTe(Aq,He) base 2 + 2 affect glass and metal +1 touch +1 concentration duration +2 room, +5 levels item maintains concentration +10 levels unlimited uses/day – total 35. Holds earthenware containers, glassware, metal and wooden objects and any liquids in place. If the tower moves suddenly, it prevents spills of liquid and any containers with lids on, but flames will still shake. While the effect is on, the magus can’t drink anything as liquid won’t move, and pouring is impossible, so the item has many opportunities to turn on and off. This item removes at least one level of the unstable flaw, but may not be sufficient to deal with incredibly unstable environments, and constant use will increase a lab’s warping score by 1.
Covenant enchantments:
Removable objects -
Heat the frigid tower – CrIg 23 (base 2, +1 touch, +1 conc, + 3 structure for level 15, +5 levels maintains concentration, +3 for 6 uses/day) – this small brass ornament can heat an entire tower, and can be turned on and off several times a day.
Cool the sweltering tower - PeIg 23 (base 2, +1 touch, +1 conc, + 3 structure for level 15, +5 levels maintains concentration, +3 for 6 uses/day) – this small basalt ornament can cool an entire tower, and can be turned on and off several times a day.
Built into the tower:
The flying tower – ReTe 29 (base 3 move dirt in a very unnatural fashion, +1 affects stone, + 2 sun duration, +3 structure, +4 levels always on) the tower is enchanted so it can move or fly constantly. The triggering commands are certain words spoken in one particular room in the covenant – if multiple people start shouting commands the tower will start moving erratically.
Ride the storm – ReAu 39 (base 10, protect an object from hurricane-force winds, range personal, +2 sun duration + 3 structure, +4 levels always on) the covenant has an effect to ward against the strongest of winds built into the tower, so it can be used for the top level Auram study bonus of studying in the clouds during a storm.
Lightning never strikes – ReAu 10 (base 10, protect an object from lightning, range personal, +2 sun duration + 3 structure, +4 levels always on) the covenant has an effect to ward against lightning built into the tower to avoid damage when stormchasing.
Labs are great and I look forward to seeing these, as well as the enchantments in them.
Not to be a total buzzkill, but did they build the tower in an enormous laboratory, in order to enchant it? And how did anyone get Magic Theory high enough to open a stone tower for enchantment?
The tower can be enchanted in a large lab, similar to the hermetic shipyard in Hermetic Projects - actually, a tower doesn't need a huge lab technically because the ground area is moderately large and you can leave it open to the sky. A size +6 lab would cover 2000 square feet, or enough to contain a 30 feet across tower with at least 5 feet of clearance on each side. I could provide the statistics for a Hermetic quarry, slowly enchanting buildings and producing stone blocks for Hermetic Architects - but that would be for another day in November.
From the core rules, it would require a verditius with a lot of magic theory and Craft:Mason to open the tower. From HoH: Mystery Cults there's a mystery that allows Verditius to use Magic Theory times Philosophiae instead of Magic Theory times two, meaning that MT 6 and Philosophiae 5 would be enough to enchant a size +7 object of hard stone. From The Mysteries: Revised Edition Philosophic alchemy allows you to extract vis straight into an object, slowly opening it, while you work on other things.
Having access to a mage with either of those mysteries would allow it to be opened. If the mage opening the tower isn't enough of a Terram specialist to put enchantments in, it can be handed over unless the tower is being enchanted as a Talisman. (You can enchant anything you can open as a Talisman, so you could have a Talismanic tower and have it protected by your Parma Magica while you're inside it, and still have your form bonuses even when you're miles away.)
Hermetic Architecture also provides a workaround for large structures.
I'm so pleased with how many of us are doing the "X for November" thing this year. I'm terrible at labs, so I'm really happy to see more.
Day Two: Dexter's laboratory
As yesterday I did an airborne lab for an airborne covenant, today we look at another mobile lab. We already have examples of a seagoing lab in Through The Aegis with The Northern Seas covenant. For a covenant using a magical portal to travel around, Semita Errabunda is freely available on the Atlas website. The one other obvious sort of travelling lab is the wagon-based lab, suitable for itinerant magi and travelling caravans.
As an example, I give you Dexter ex Miscellanea, a Rusticani from Stonehenge who studied under Robert Wood. He is a fletcher, a craft that lends itself to rapid construction of items that can discharge spells at touch range. His wagon looks rather plain and full of tools.
He started out needing to fit everything in a wagon, so he spent two seasons creating a lab with Mobile (+1 Experimentation), Unstable (+1 upkeep, -1 safety) from the wagon. He took missing equipment x 2 (-1 upkeep, 2 activities not allowed) and undecorated for -1 upkeep, -1 aesthetics, -1 safety, subtract one point from any specialization with a score of 2 or more. No Experimentation, Vis extraction, familiars or longevity rituals. His wagon appears to be a crafter's wagon with a small writing desk - a magus would find it sadly lacking in equipment.
He has a lab with Size -3, Refinement 0, General Quality +0, Upkeep -2, Safety -1, Warping +0, Health +0, Aesthetics -1, +1 experimentation useless as you can't experiment
Soon he needs to think about a longevity ritual, so the moment he's improved his Magic Theory he spends a season improving refinement and removing one missing equipment so he can now experiment and do a longevity ritual.
He now has a lab with Size -3, Refinement +1, General Quality +0, Upkeep -1, Safety -1, Warping +0, Health +0, Aesthetics -1, +1 experimentation. When he gains further magic theory, he will try and create ingenious little cupboards for more ingredients (remove more missing equipment and add Extra stores for 2 more safety)
Dexter has a first draft at magioftom.wordpress.com/2017/11/02/dexter-a-rusticani-fletcher/ - I was playing around with spells for a mage inspired by the section on "Robert Wood" in HoH:S in the Rusticani section.
Alternative wagon lab, for a travelling caravan of the sort mentioned in The Cradle & The Crescent:
An exploring caravan has decided that they don't really need a lab each, as most of the time they will be adventuring, discovering the area and cultures (practice/exposure in area lore and living languages) or reading the small covenant library. They will instead have a couple of cheap labs, each one small enough to fit in a wagon, specialised for an individual activity.
As above, they are starting creating a lab with Mobile (+1 Experimentation), Unstable (+1 upkeep, -1 safety) from the wagon.
In one season, they start with an elementary lab which is undecorated - so far, it is Size -3, Refinement 0, General Quality -2, Upkeep -4, Safety -1, Warping +0, Health +0, Aesthetics -1 - leaving off the useless experimentation bonus.
So far it will do the job, but very badly.
To get a slightly better lab, they will have one of the least intelligent magi work on it (so others can use it without wrecking the refinement), to decorate it and install fine glassware they purchased in a large city.
One season increasing refinement and removing the undecorated flaw, adding superior equipment as a free virtue.
Size -3, Refinement +1, General Quality -1, Upkeep -1, Safety 0, Warping +0, Health +0, Aesthetics 0 - leaving off the useless experimentation bonus, a lab for vis extraction has a +1 bonus for this activity.
To make labs truly specialised for a function will require two seasons work to add a Greater Feature which is also a Greater Focus - this adds +2 aesthetics, -2 general quality and adds 7 points to specialisations - as long as at least 4 points are in the activity specialised it can be used profitably for any Art.
Size -3, Refinement +1, General Quality -3, Upkeep -1, Safety 0, Warping +0, Health +0, Aesthetics +2, 7 points on specialisations.
For example - the spells lab has one wall that folds out to form a large balcony to cast spells into the outside world (Greater Feature Balcony - spells); the crafting lab has a forge (forge feature - Items specialisation); and the mobile scriptorium is mostly a large desk with good lighting and space to store vellum and ink (Desk feature - texts specialisation)
Day Three: The lab that isn't there
Severus of Tytalus is well-known for his strict discipline and mild paranoia, as well as his mastery of Perdo magics. Hes started off with a slightly larger room that normal, combining a lab with living quarters. He then created the spell "The discrete laboratory"
The discrete laboratory - PeIm 35 – (base 4 destroy an object’s ability to affect sight, +1 touch +2 sun, +2 room +1 part +1 changing image) hides items within a room from sight that the caster wishes concealed while leaving the rest unconcealed – in this case a wizard’s lab equipment, but could equally apply to hiding arms and armour or a selection of Cathar paraphernalia. If enchanted into an item, the types of items to be hidden must be fixed.
The extra magnitude for part target makes this more useful for Severus' purposes than a simple invisibility spell. Now his lab looks like a Spartan set of living quarters, conveying the image he wants while concealing his lab from those who aren't looking for it with second sight or intellego magic.
He wasn't happy with the health implications and poor safety of a lab that has living quarters, so he spent two seasons refining it into a smaller space, then rearranging it to make room for a large fireplace and to make everything spacious.
Virtues:Living quarters (+1 general quality, -1 safety, -2 health, -2 aesthetics), Spacious (+2 safety, +1 aesthetics), Superior Heating (+1 Upkeep, +1 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Ig), Invisible (free. +1 Warping, halve aesthetics after modifications, +2 Im)
Statistics: Size 1, Refinement +2, General Quality +1, Upkeep +1, Safety 0, Warping +1, Health -1, Aesthetics 0, +2 Im, +1 Ig
Personality trait: Strict +1
Appearance: a large set of living quarters, mostly empty except for a bed, a desk, a wardrobe and a massive fireplace.
Nice, I like the whole invisible lab. Quick question. A item affected by the spell it is still physically there right. So a person could walk into it if they where wandering around right?
They can walk into it - this particular lab is spacious, so anyone heading for the bed or desk could walk straight there without bumping into things, but people wandering around the room could bump into lab equipment - let's hope they don't know dangerous or hot liquids over themselves...
Day Four: A Bjornaer's natural lab.
Pisces ex Bjornaer is a Hibernian magus with a salmon Heartbeast. His lab consists of some equipment scattered on the bottom of a lake. It's a natural environment perfectly accessible to his heartbeast, but of limited utility for teaching an apprentice or for working on ignem or normal books. He doesn't bother with a sanctum marker - because it's a lake.
underwater(+2 safety, +1 warping, -2 aesthetics, +1 experimentation, +4 Aq)
natural environment (+2aesthetics, 3 Aq) /outdoors (-1 general quality, +2 upkeep, -1 safety, -2 health,-3 aesthetics)
Missing sanctum marker (-1 aesthetics)
Missing equipments (Upkeep -1 - Familiar and Teaching - a Bjornaer can't have a familiar, and he can't teach his apprentice until the apprentice has an aquatic heartbeast)
Overall size 0, refinement 0, general quality -1, upkeep +1, safety +1, warping +1, health -2, aesthetics -4, Aq +7,
I would ignore health penalties for outdoors for a heartbeast in its natural habitat.
Day Four: A Bjornaer's natural lab.
Pisces ex Bjornaer is a Hibernian magus with a salmon Heartbeast. His lab consists of some equipment scattered on the bottom of a lake. It's a natural environment perfectly accessible to his heartbeast, but of limited utility for teaching an apprentice or for working on ignem or normal books. He doesn't bother with a sanctum marker - because it's a lake.
underwater(+2 safety, +1 warping, -2 aesthetics, +1 experimentation, +4 Aq)
natural environment (+2aesthetics, 3 Aq) /outdoors (-1 general quality, +2 upkeep, -1 safety, -2 health,-3 aesthetics)
Missing sanctum marker (-1 aesthetics)
Missing equipments (Upkeep -1 - Familiar and Teaching - a Bjornaer can't have a familiar, and he can't teach his apprentice until the apprentice has an aquatic heartbeast)
Overall size 0, refinement 0, general quality -1, upkeep +1, safety +1, warping +1, health -2, aesthetics -4, Aq +7,
I would ignore health penalties for outdoors for a heartbeast in its natural habitat.
Day five: a hidden lab - a particularly paranoid wizard has decided to magically hide his lab, which had a non-magical hidden door.
shrouded (+1 warping, halve aesthetics)
disguised (-1 aesthetics)
The shrouded structure ReMe 25 (Base 3, +1 touch, +3 structure, +2 sun) means people can’t find the lab and can be put into a level 29 item effect, or a room version level 20 (into a level 24 item) means they can’t find things inside your lab. Perhaps the spell means people ignore any doors that aren’t painted red – so servants only go into the common areas and ignore labs, secret stores, etc. but if you need a servant to go in, cast a level 4 MuIm spont (base 1 change colour of object +1 touch +2 sun duration) to make it accessible for the day.
Day six: a scriptorium for a covenant specialising in the Hermetic book trade
The major Hook in Covenants of Hermetic Services mentions that some covenants make a living trading Hermetic books. Such a covenant would really benefit from labs that help people write new books, copy lab texts and aid study from lab texts they had traded. The library of Durenmar has moderately good labs for this purpose, but not truly excellent ones - they don't want to encourage riff-raff to hand around forever. What would the lab of a great author or a covenant that deliberately charges for access to a good lab for this purpose have? The only thing that mattered would be how high a texts specialisation it had, and whether it received a (texts/3) bonus to copying and writing.
magical superior lighting (+1 aesthetics, +1 texts +1 Im)
superior construction (+1 aesthetics +1 safety)
spacious (+1 aesthetics +2 safety)
desk as a major feature (+2 aesthetics +3 texts)
bookstand of Hespera as an installed item (+2 texts) .
Overall size+3, Refinement 0, General Quality +0, Upkeep 0, Safety 0, Warping 0, Health +0, Aesthetics +5, +6 texts +1 Im. A magus with such a lab would soon gain a reputation of Hermetic scribe +2. A covenant with lab texts for a magic lamp and a bookstand of Hespera as lesser items can quickly improve all its labs. Magical heating could improve the aesthetics to +6, increasing the reputation given to +3.
I remember there’s a magic desk in an issue of Sub Rosa that CJ used which added a big bonus to texts and even gave an extra point of quality on the books written with it. My troupe encountered it in the context of a faerie market - I don't know if it was in a big list of items for sale at a faerie market, or if our beloved storyguide was just grabbing bits of Sub Rosa to keep the scenario flowing, but there's definitely a magical desk somewhere in SR's back issues.
Since the safety of this lab should be +3 (from Spacious and Superior Construction), would the Shared Lab flaw (-2 GQ, -2 Safety) from Apprentices(page 55) become an option, since GQ has no effect on teaching/scribing of texts?
The Base safety of a lab is (Refinement-Occupied Size) + any safety bonuses. With a size of 3, that balances the +3 safety from spacious and superior construction, for a net safety of zero. Certainly Shared Lab is an option for labs being used for scribing - it's not great for labs being used to reinvent spells from a text, but it has no effect if you're just scribing and copying.
Day seven: the mental lab
Daniel Jensen asked for a mental lab, so here is a classic "mental construct".
The lab was initially created using an instant Creo ritual The Thought Experiment Cr(In,Mu,Re)Me 35 (base 35 as per covenants p121, range personal, instant creo ritual). This spell creates a lab with the Mental Construct flaw. This particular spell was created to make the most of the casting magus' intellect, so the lab is maximum size - the magus' Int Score. The following statistics assume the magus has Int +3.
At creation: Mental construct major flaw (-5 Upkeep, +2 warping, -2 aesthetics, +3Me), superior construction (+1 safety, ignore aesthetics change, no extra cost for a mental lab), empty x 2 (no effect as mental labs ignore changes to upkeep, health and aesthetics)
Overall size -2(+3), Refinement 0, General Quality +0, Upkeep -5, Safety +1, Warping +2, Health +0, Aesthetics -2, +3 Me - gives a reputation of "daydreaming mage" at +1.
Personality trait: One that mirrors the creator's personality at +2
The magus then dreams up the best equipment and tools and ingredients he's ever seen, fills it with all the luxurious things he wants and dreams up a massive storehouse. Outside the door of this mental lab is a labyrinth, stretching off into the depths of the magus' subconscious mind.
Labyrinth free supernatural flaw (-1 safety, -1 health, -2 aesthetics, +2 Me or Vi)
flawless equipment (+2 General quality, +2 upkeep, +2 vis extraction)
superior tools (+1 upkeep, +1 safety, +1 items)
priceless ingredients (+2 general quality, +4 upkeep, +2 longevity rituals) - as these 4 are free flaws/virtues they can be added while putting in another virtue from the below list:
Greater expansion (+2 general quality, +4 upkeep, +1 aesthetics, 2 points on specialization - Me in this example)
Palatial major virtue(+1 General Quality, +3 Upkeep, +2 Health, +4 Aesthetics, +2 Teaching, 1 point on any other specialization - Me in this example)
Spacious (+2 safety, +1 aesthetics)
For a total of 5 seasons spent -
size +3, Refinement 0, General Quality +7, Upkeep -5, Safety 0, Warping +2, Health +0, Aesthetics -2, +8 Me +2 longevity rituals +2 vis extraction +1 items +2 teaching- gives a reputation of "daydreaming mage" at +1.
The vis extraction, items and teaching bonuses are of dubious use and may be discarded to make room for others added later - you might refine the lab and add Features.
The low upkeep is attractive - a covenant of extremely poor magi may spend 14 BP on a casting tablet of The Thought Experiment in order to create labs like this.
What if you want to share the lab and bind familiars or teach an apprentice?
The Spell share the mental space In(Cr,Mu)Me base 15 (as per read surface thought intellego guideline, the creo and muto requisites would be lower level) +1 touch +3 moon duration +2 target group for total 45 allows you to share the lab with others, enabling teaching or binding an intelligent familiar. The warping is 1 point per casting if it wasn’t specifically designed for them, making this costly for apprentices but fine for familiars – in fact, a level 40 sun duration version may work fine for a familiar.
Enchanting items - you could enchant an item, but it would only be in your head until you used a MuMe spell using the base 25 (make a mind solid) with +1 part target and requisites of the items form. So "Bring forth the item of dreams" MuMe(Te) 45 (base 25,+1 touch, +2 sun duration +1 target part) would bring into your hands an item out of your mind that returns back at sunrise or sunset, if it hasn't been destroyed first.