I assume from the lack of a Perdo/Rego reqiusite that there is a missing "not" here.
Bob
Not only is there a "not" missing but I forgot an h in the word this.
All corrected now.
One season for this because she worries about the grogs and Grace.
The above spell is (as far as I can see) entirely legal and sensible for the rules as written. You should use it for Andreva if you haven't house ruled personal wards. I know that there is a group of folks here that do house rule personal wards to be damage only, ala ward against heat and flames. For you (a group that includes me) use this spell for her.
Andreva spends a season developing this because if she's going to have extensive underground development she'll want to see if she has neighbors, or tunnelers in her vicinity, not to mention caves and mineral deposits.
I took the +1 see through objects from miner's keen eye
What about casting requisites based on who/what is being warded? The flame ward is a little different as it seems to affect a (moveable) volume equivalent to an Individual Ignem target and keep flame out of it. This seems a little more like Curse of the Desert in mechanics in that it targets a Form(Terram) effect on a Target of a different Form(Corpus and/or Animal in this case).
Also, I think you mean faint and not feint and the spells are not equal level according to the presented math.
I don't think that requisites are necessary.
For the soak ward I used ward against heat and flames as the model which doesn't make any distinction of what target it is cast on. Ward Against Immolation from Magi of Hermes p112 is another example ward that is somewhat more similar in that it provides only a soak bonus with no other effects(but it, being range personal, can't be cast on things aside from the caster (without a MuVi spell at least).
For the total ward, Cloak of Duck' Feathers is an example that specifically doesn't require a requisite related to what it is protecting.
Do you think that those examples are enough, or do you still see an issue?
You've got me on both counts. Here are the revised spells:
When Andreva clears out a "cavern" for her use she'll want to do something worthwhile with the removed rock. I worked out levels for a few spells that allowed her to create worthwhile structures using craft magic but I realized that they were all going to be sponted rather than invented.
A ReTe craft magic spell that targets a group of stones with +1 size (the group, not necessarily the individual stones) to work them as if by a craftsman is level 15. To do the work of a month requires a per+finesse of 18 Andreva's per+finesse is 14 so she'd be likely to make it. The ease factor for a year's worth of work is 21. That's less likely but still doable in fact to try to do work by year rather than by month would save time as she'll make it more than 1/12th of the time. She could shape stones with precision and stack them into buildings using these spells.
A MuTe spell that does rock of viscid clay at duration concentration or diameter on a group of stones (+1 size) is level 20 . If she does this on a group of stones I'd judge that the difficulty of the craft roll to work them into a building would go from average to easy which would in turn lower the finesse rolls of the rego craft magic spells by three.
A plan might be
1 lay out a group of stones
2 make them clay-like at duration diameter
3 Just prior to the end of the clay spell, rego them into a building or part of one at ease factor 18.
Thinking about rego craft magic, Andreva is able to spont versions of the phantom balcksmith for any terram material allowing her to do some really excellent craftsmanship with her strong finnese.
I still see a problem - T: Group for a Terram spell isn't 10 x "adult human beings, up to Size +1" or its Animal equivalent, it's 10 x "the base Individual Target for Terram, which depends on the material involved. For sand, dirt, mud, clay, or similar substances, it is about ten cubic paces of stuff. For stone, it is a single cubic pace. For base metals, it is a cubic foot, while for precious metals it is a tenth of that. For gem stones, the base individual is one cubic inch in size." The same Target/Form mismatch shows up in Cloak of the Duck's Feathers, too, but it's canon. With the Ward Against Heat and Flames, the volume where fire is supressed is roughly equal to a T: Individual for Ignem, if the object it's cast on isn't too big, so I rationalized that problem away a little easier. But it seems to be a somewhat systemic problem, so it's live with it or errata it and the latter seems unlikely. 
Question - if a target so protected falls and hits bare earth/stone/metal spikes, does he take less damage than if he hits the water or grass? 
If Andreva just makes nice and regular shaped stones the covenant has some devices to move them around and even to fuse them together, so mundanes can do the building work is she prefers that. There is also the Stone Cutting Knife if the builder for some reason need one of the stones cut down in size.
What about the base 20 guideline "Make your senses unhindered by earth. (for example, see right through a rock)"?
I seriously missed something like that?
oops. I'll check it out and make corrections as appropriate. Seems like with a guideline like that she'll be able to downgrade to target individual.
[strike]thinking about this,
I made an update to the spells;[/strike]
Ten lab seasons done, ten left.
Andreva is going to construct a talisman for herself. Doing it herself will avoid issues with the confraternity of Roland who very likely have good relations with all of the very best sword smiths in Europe.
She will use Alchemical steel (From Art and Academe) it shouldn't be impossible for her to find this using the covenant's resources.
She will make the sword as an excellent quality item (City and Guild page 69). When a normal craftsman determines their Craft Level (a game mechanics term) they add their skill, their applicable attribute, a value for their raw materials and a value for their workshop innovation. Andreva is using magic so these values will need a but of interpretation.
Skill: It seems from the description of craft magic andPhantom Blacksmith in particular she should use her applicable finesse -3
Attribute: she should use perception
Raw materials: the description of this involves finding new sources for raw materials and bettter techniques to refine the raw materials. In Andreva's case she is using alchemical steel and for other materials she has Spell of Wrought Iron and sponts of similar spells cast with her really high finesse + perception to refine her materials. I'm tempted to allow her a full +3 even though she hasn't put in the labor points to earn it.
Workshop innovation: I'll say that she hasn't put in the labor points to learn new techniques and doesn't spend her time in a guild hall exchanging information. She gets no bonus.
Other advantages that Andreva will have but a craftsman won't: Andreva is able to cast powerful intellego terram spells (the base 15 guideline is learn all natural properties of a composite object, with ceremonial magic she'd be able to cast this at range touch duration sun) that give her insight into the process far beyond what mundane craftsman can perceive. Andreva is also able to cast Muto Terram magics that change the properties of her materials during the process of creating her sword allowing her much more control than any mundane craftsman cold hope to achieve. While it is tempting to make these numbers big I think that I'll restrict them to a maximum of +3 the same advantage that maximum innovation would give a mundane craftsperson.
Her total craft level is then (accounting for her finesse specialization and her spell mastery with Phantom Blacksmith) 19
Looking at City and Guild page 67 this means that Andreva will get 2 or 3 bonus points to add to the item's characteristics. The craft level for an exceptional item is 15 and according to page 69 "For every 3 points that exceed the craft level add an additional +1 bonus to a feature of the item". This seems to indicate that she'll get 2 bonus points, but it is weird that the threshold for getting a single bonus point (a superior item) is 12 so there is little benefit to improving to craft level 15 besides getting to call the item excellent rather than superior (to my native speaker ears superior even sounds more superlative than excellent). Instead, the craft level needs to improve 6 points to 18 before a second point is generated.
[size=150]So I ask the community, +2 , +3, or do you disagree with my judgements someplace and have a different value to offer?[/size]
She'll also certainly make an equivalently excellent sword for the grogs as a test run, but probably just one because of the limited quantity of Alchemical steel.
Here's my take on talismans because its relevant.
It is good for a maga to put lots of effects in a talisman because when she instills an effect she can open up an attunement and get a bonus for spell casting (which, ironically, makes it more advantageous for her to cast spells rather than use devices).
However one's talisman will be with a maga for, barring tragedy or probably unwise mystery cult initiation, the rest of her life so it behooves her not to fill her talisman up with stuff that will be a worse choice than casting a spell instead 15 years down the line. A maga is not generally going to lend out her talisman to someone else to allow more magic to be cast more quickly, using the talisman typically comes as an alternative to casting a spell.
With this in mind I see the following sorts of effects being instilled into talismans as a general rule
Effects that have linked trigger. If the talisman casts the spell itself then you circumvent the "either spell or device, not both" issue that I mentioned above. Also, intellego spells to serve as these linked triggers can be really useful. The information is still gained by the maga but she doesn't have to expend her concentration in getting it.
Effects with duration concentration and item maintains concentration. These allow control of magic that isn't easily duplicated with spells. Arcane tunnel spells and versions of maintain the demanding spell are two examples that I'm often tempted to put in talismans.
Effects that use arts that the maga isn't intending to improve in the next few decades. Generally lab totals are enough higher than casting totals that a maga or magus can get better penetration out of a season or two instilling an effect than she could learning a spell. If she is using arts that she really doesn't intend on improving then there's little reason to do a spell rather than an enchantment.
Effects that fall into the not otherwise a ritual but over tenth magnitude category.
What I don't think should go into a talisman
Combat effects where she'll get better penetration from a spell in a few years
Things that she'll be able to spont either now or in a decade
Some things to consider :
-
There is a guideline for experimental philosophiae in the box on page 81 of HMRE (the level 2 one) that could be used. Cordovan Cuirbolli but for steel, basically. A Level 5 reagent should be easily Finesse-able and will reduce the Ease Factor for working with the metal by 2. An EF reduction of 3 might be a level 10(?) reagent, which might still be Finesse-able, if Andreva can find such a formula.
-
For a weapon the excellent/superior difference is more pronounced. The text specifically says the bonus for an excellent longsword is applied to Attack and Defense, not just Attack as for a superior one. Also, excellent items add their bonus to a maga's Lab Totals for enchanting them, as per the box on page 70 of C&G - so the bigger the better is a good thing, as Martha might say.
-
The Simile rules in HoH:S may allow a Finesse bonus. Per the box on the bottom of page 62, "Magi have deep familiarity with the similes of things that…are used to perform any Ability in which the character has a score of 5 or more." Andreva has a Single Weapon of 6 + specialization bonus in swords, so that should qualify for a +3 Finesse Bonus here? Actually, Andreva can likely meet all 4 of the non-Area Lore bonus criteria listed in the +3 category, so the bonus seems pretty easy to justify. Show-off.
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The Brushstrokes Revealed (InIm 10) (HoH:S page 65 in bottom box) would be another good spell to use to investigate a sword's construction.
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What about a craftsman manual, on page 73 of C&G?
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Is there a roll for Finesse when substituting for a Craft skill or no? If there's a roll can you spend Confidence?
All I can think of for now.
- A ligature might help, specifically a Philosophiae(Metaphysics) one (casting a spell on an inanimate/elemental object, A&A page 69, in the bottom box). Andreva can probably manage a +1 with Int +3 and Philo 3.
The revised Disrobing spell needs its Target changed from Sight to Individual, I think.
For the wards, put them back to the non material size stuff. There are RAW spells have the same Target/Form disconnect. Specifically, Break the Oncoming Wave (ReAq 10, page 124, core 5e) is explicit about it by having "ward, so the target is the warded Individual, not the water" in its level calculation formula with no magnitude modifier or mention of a casting requisite, so that should be that. 
That was the whole point of rewriting the spell. How could I have missed that? I'm going to blame my children. It's corrected.
OK.
I'll make this change in the earlier post as well.
Thiese sorts of things are what I was doing with Muto magic and intellego magic. I capped the possible bonus at +3 so it would be reflective of the mundane workshop bonus. It was a just a gut instinct because I thought it could easily become unbalanced to keep adding every sort of a bonus that I could think of. I gather that you feel that if there is a limit at all it should be higher. Should there be any limit? I think that at some point she's making a sword that is limited by her materials and skill rather than her knowledge of them or the difficulty of working them.
What if I limit the bonus for working with the materials to 3 (same as the workshiop bonus and also allow a bonus of +3 for knowlege of the material? Does that strike you as more reasonable? Less unrealistically hard on magi just because they're better than everyone else?
I see, I was thinking that she'd spread the bonus around between characteristics not use all of it for all of them, upon rereading I see you are correct.
I'd never noticed those rules before. (Or if I had I'd forgotten them) They specifically say to create, craft or simulate, she should definitely get an additional +3. Thank you for bringing them to my attention.
That would make sense if there were manuals from other magi making swords. Manuals from mundane workmen wouldn't really be applicable. The confraternity of Roland hates her, I'll say no for this one.
There isn't a roll involved in generating a craft level in city and guild so I left it out. There is roll for craft magic in covenants so the matter is not cut and dry. I went with no craft roll for my calculations.
I agree
So the new total is
13 finesse specialization in terram counting her + 2 modification for her 2 precision masteries
+3 Simile bonus for finesse
-3 for using magic
+3 for perception
+3 for materials
+3 for muto magics increasing the ease of working the material
+3 for intellego magics providing complete information for the entire process
+1 for a philosophae ligature
for a total of 25
This creates an excellent weapon with a bonus of +4 to its attack and defense ratings and with +2 to its damage rating on account of its alchemical steel construction. Well, two such weapons because she makes one for the grog captain as well.
One further consideration for Talismans is how much of a legacy the Maga wants to leave. Talismans can be passed down through generations, and she might want to add a few useful effects for a low level inheritor to use. My Mercere Maga will assume that her Talisman is to be iused for the greater good of her house after death, so will make lots of redcap friendly enchantments in her dying days so as to help her non spellcasting housemates.
Bob