Aura detector

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

I am weak with the enchanting rules, so would appreciate advice.

Looking to create an enchanted device to indicate the current aura affiliation.
I am presuming something like a rock crystal, or glass - something normally transparent/clear but may be different colours.
If it is in a Divine aura, it turns white, in an Infernal aura it turns black, and I haven't yet decided on the colours for Magical and Faerie auras. What seems appropriate?

I think I need to put 4 enchantments in it, one for each of the supernatural realms. And 1 to colour the enchanted device? The colour one is triggered differently by the 4 aura detectors.
But are the aura detectors constant (2 X day, environment trigger) or do they have to activate more often to detect walking through an Aura?

2

See ArMDE 08-Laboratory:

Environmental Trigger: The effect is triggered by some feature of the item's environment, rather than a specific action. The item is only sensitive to major magical features of the environment. Thus, it can respond to the events that end spell durations (sunrise, sunset, phases of the moon, etc.), and to changes in the modifier applied to magical activities by the local aura. This adds +3 to the level of the effect.

So a change in the aura the device is in can trigger its effects, that first detect the kind of aura and then the device's display. I leave the Hermetic engineering for the optimization of the device to you.

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3

Optimization comments:

  1. Don't use glass; it's a terrible base material for enchantments with a very low vis capacity. Choose something like clear quartz, so you can use the higher vis capacity for gems.
  2. Use a sensory Target with touch Range: if you're touching the item when the effect triggers you see its color change convey the information. However, I'd recommend using a "touch" sensory Target instead of a "vision" sensory Target -- lower Magnitudes, and you feel the item grow warm or vibrate or something to convey the Aura strength.
  3. Honestly, I'd just go with 4 x simple enchanted devices and skip needing to spend a season opening for enchantment. They're likely to be low enough level that even a beginning magus could finish a couple in one season. Necklace of beads where each one triggers for a different Realm, for example.
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4

I put this in my Talisman for one character. Essentially because I didn't want to roll (stress) dice in hostile aurae. My solution was essentially T: Touch (sensory). That said, because it was in my Talisman, there were a few issues I didn't have to deal with, like reporting.

5

No. While the corebook is not as explicit on this as it should, Intellego effects (including some spells such as Frozen Breath of the Spoken Lie) come with "free reporting". A rock that changes colour, vibrates, etc. in response to Aura strength does not need a separate MuIm, ReTe, etc. effect.Think magic, not engineering.

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Take a look at Wand of the Cailleach in Through the Aegis p108, which is a device that detects and shows what type of aura it is in.
Seems to be exactly what you are looking for.

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7

It does but it seems a bit overkill and it does not work in divine auras of 4+ as the intellego effect has no penetration. Also, it does not "read" the aura as you move into it as the effect is sustained constant effect meaning that it will always display the same initial reading.

I propose the following

Crystal of Selene Major Invested Item
Sense the Magical Aura - InVi 25 (45)
R: Per D: Conc T: Touch
This effect allows its user to distinguish the intricacies of an Aura. By allowing light to pass through the crystal shard, a variety of colours will emerge that describe the power, influences of other realms, moods, Regio boundaries and alignement of the aura. The user can concentrate and move within the aura to scrutinize different flows within the Aura. The Crystal can sustain the reading do that it can be studied further in the lab or reported back to Magi's.
(B:4 Discern the alignment of an aura (Magic). [RoP:M p.14], +1 Conc, +1 Touch,+1 Aura Strength, +1 Detect Taint,+1 Detect Boundaries of Regios, +5 Maintain Concentration, +2 3 uses per day, +10 Penetration, +3 Linked trigger)

Attune to The Supernatural Realm
R: Touch D:Mom T:Ind - MuVi 20 (33)
Activating this effect will attune (and trigger a recast) of Sense The Magical Aura. The Activator selects the symbol that has been engraved onto the shard to select the realm.
(B:Gen Superficially Change a spell up to 2x( Level+1), +1 Touch, +1 Versatility, +10 Penetration, +2 (3 times a day))

1- You will need to open the Crystal in one season with at least 8 Vim Vis (A tiny Semi-precious stone commands 12 vim vis precisely, no more no less). If you want to be Vis use conscious, you can ask a Verdi to open it for you but it will probably cost you a bit more than 12 Vim vis to get the Crystal shard opened for 8 Vim vis... they are a proud house but maybe you know someone (bargain)
2- Invest the effects as if creating a spell unless you have a lab text (Which I think should be available via redcap service as it is a good object to have for seekers, Aura Original researchers, Convenants monitoring their own Aura, etc.)

In bold things we forget sometimes for the object lab total
Int + MT + Fam + Aura + Apprentice/help + Lab + Te + Fo + Inv Gen + Similar + Mastery + Obj + Focus + Talisman + Cyclic = 2+5+5+5+5+5+5+5+0+0+5+0+0+0=42 (Quick basic Labtotal)

So it seems within reach with lab text for most Magi. Costs 28 Vim vis & 3 Seasons. You can drop some awesomeness magnitudes to have less information as needed.

Also, read the part about realm research in LOH tied to Conciatta of Bonisagus. It would basically eliminate the MuVi effect requirement lowering the cost to one season & 9 Vim vis.

W

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8

Why would it need any penetration?

9

Same as PeVi effect that reduce the casting total, in this case of objects, or in the presence of a hostile Aegis, Aura's can impede the functioning of objects, especially Divine Auras. As spell casting typically fails at -10, any Aura imposing -10 or greater will cause an object to fail to activate.

W

10

Aura modifiers can't cause an object, or a creature power for that matter, to fail. At most they will get really lousy penetration.

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11

Have an item in my Covenant Thread that does that, along with a few notes.

The Wand of Cailleach is a way over engineered item. Intellego effects include a "reporting" and in most cases would at most need a Cosmetic effect. In its simplest form you could make a simple item that detects one type of aura with a level of 9.

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12

I agree! Plus, if necessary, they can be used/sold etc. independently.

One thing that seems to have escaped many is that the OP asks for a device that only detects current Aura affiliation, not strength. Then, the Base 1 effect "Detect the presence of a mystical Aura" suffices. My suggestion would be to give to each of the four devices the following parameters:
Base 1 (Detect the presence of a mystical Aura) +0 R:Per +3 D:Moon +1 T:Touch, 1 use/day.

The final effect level is then 5, and since each of the four devices is an InVi one, a magus can enchant one for every 10 levels of his InVi lab total in the same season (or one every 5 levels with a Lab text). Note that I am suggesting D:Moon, 1 use/day, instead of D:Sun, 2 uses/day, because at such low levels 1 magnitude equals 1 level, so the end result is the same, and with D:Moon you have the flexibility of giving the just-activated item to someone else for a few weeks of use without telling him how to activate it.

Also, I'd just skip the environmental trigger. Activating the detection once every few weeks "manually" is no big deal, and in this way the final level ends up significantly lower in relative terms (5 vs. 8). Besides, an effect that constantly grants a mystical sense to the caster eventually warps said caster (in this case, the item). Without constant use one can instead keep the item "dormant" during periods when it's not needed, thus avoiding or at least reducing any warping.

13

I would add that it's very easy to produce these types of effects spontaneously without fatigue. The D:Sun version of the above is just level 4. In fact, if you can cast a D:Sun or D:Moon version of Maintain the Demanding Spell, D:Conc is sufficient, and you can lower the level to 3. And for just one extra magnitude you can cast it on a faithful grog or trained pet at R:Touch (or through a Wizard's Tunnel at R:Arc).

This is all stuff that can be cast spontaneously without fatigue with a Sta+In+Vi+bonuses total of 15-25. So in many situations, instead of enchanting four lesser devices, it might be worth instead just spending a few seasons brushing up Vim, Intellego and/or Rego.

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14

True you could use the lower Base 1. Didn't even think about it since it is generally pretty helpful to have an idea of how powerful the aura is and it doesn't save you much in terms of difficulty or Vis.

How important it is to avoid the minimal warping of a low-power self targeting enchantment is very much YSMV. I have playing with groups on both end of the range and can say that I very much disliked the effect on the game of the group that super closely calculated and tracking warping on everything. Much rather it when the SG decides the warping matters because it drives story.

Non-fatigue Sponting can work and if it fails you know you are in a negative effect aura of some power (depending on how close to just making it your total is). The item I posted is used by teams of Grogs we send out to find Auras and Vis, rather than the Magi. As ezzelino points out it is something that most Magi with any degree of power can do easily. But as part of a collection of items that the Magi can send out some grogs to handle the scouting and searching it is valuable.

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15

We would allow the same, though viewing the +3 magnitudes not as extra "complexity" but as 3 extra effects added to the base effect, 1 effect per extra magnitude.

Yes! Oh, I so very much agree.

16

When I was planning similar item(s), it was more intended for our Redcap(s) and maybe grogs. So I wanted the trigger to let them know that they'd entered an aura -- some of them have abilities, flaws, etc that interact with Realms. Having an item that automatically "went off" when the modifier because of an aura changed is a convenient way to clue someone in that they've strayed into a Faerie or Infernal area (or when someone who is Divine Stigmatic forgets they shouldn't wander through a basilica's nave).

Therefore, multiple uses per day seem necessary for this application. If someone had 4 items they'd all trigger each time the aura bonus changed, but only the one aligned to the current Realm would tell anything -- but it would still use up a "use" for each.

I haven't made them yet, so not yet decided whether to use the guideline that tells the aura strength, too... but it's not too much extra Lab Total for a Verditius enchanter, so probably will.

Now, if this was just an enchantment to avoid having to cast the spells then 1 use/day would probably be enough. But, realistically, every time we end up with an enchanted item like that the wizards end up handing it off for a grog to go use it, so they can get on with lab work.

17

Hmm, I do not see it that way. Let's say it's a D:Sun, T:Touch effect that allows the recipient to feel a slight tickling whenever he is within a Faerie Aura - technically, whenever he's being touched by a Faerie Aura. Once the effect is activated (and it need not be activated by an environmental trigger) the recipient can enter and leave a Faerie Aura hundreds of times before the next sunrise/sunset, and he'll be able to tell every time he's entering because the tickling starts, and every time he's leaving because the tickling stops. All on a single activation.

Let me add that having items that trigger on changes of the Aura Modifier to magical activities can produce misleading results. For example, The Aura Modifier to magical activities does not change when moving from a Magic Aura +2 to a Faerie Aura +4 or viceversa.

18

When it got to that point, I was going to have a discussion with the troupe as to whether changing the amount of botch dice for a roll counted as "changes in the modifier applied to magical activities by the local aura." Which I think would account for most aura levels. And seems reasonable and probably isn't worth the time to quibble about in-game.

19

Actually, our troupe does not allow it; it's one of those things we discussed when ArM5 came out and very quickly came to a consensus about it. The "Aura modifier to magical activities" is a very precise quantity, and has little to do with the "extra botch dice to magical activities that require stress rolls". So, using changes in Aura modifier as a trigger can cause false negatives!

20

Eh. I mean, are you really playing Ars Magica if your group doesn't have a pages-long list of house rules regarding edge cases?

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