I am trying to make an echanted item for my characters serpent familiar.
The item in question is a silver crown with an emerald (for the 20 vis capacity and +7 "serpentkind" bonus).
I am trying to enchant an effect into the item that transforms the crown into a marking on the skin of the snake, so that it does not fall off while my familiar slithers around wearing a crown.
So far I have managed to get the following effect:
The hidden crown
MuTe(An) 45
Range: Touch, Duration, Sun, Target Ind,
(Base 5 (change dirt into an animal), +2 sun, +1 touch +5 gemstone)
This effect transforms the device in question from being a silver crown with an emerald to being a marking on the skin of a serpent.
Enchantment effect level: 48 (45 +1 (2 uses per day) +3 environmental trigger)
However the enchantment level of 48 poses a problem, since I dont have a stellar MuTe(An) lab total.
I would like to get some input on ways to achieve the same result (prevent the crown from falling off, even during combat) without having to deal with such a high enchantment total.
It should be noted that my characters familiar is very vain so he would probably like it if he was able to show the crown off.
Noble's Parma, but isn't the easiest to just add a ReTe effect to the crown, such that it 'sticks to'/moves with the familiar? Rather than becoming a part thereof.
Is there any reason you aren't enchanting the effects directly into your familiar via your bond? The +7 bonus from using an Invested Device won't even help with this (or most) enchantment(s) unless you add +3 to restrict it to only working for the familiar.
Does a Rego prerequisite and +1 Magnitude make sense to simply keep it in place?
MuTe guidelines say that changing to/from Metal or Gemstone adds 2 Magnitudes, so you're probably looking at a level 53 effect.
I would also note that with a Sun Duration and 2 uses per day, if your familiar starts showing off the crown it might not have an extra use to hide the crown if needed.
You might have better luck just enchanting a spell to create a silver crown with an emerald.
Cr(Re)Te
Range: Touch, Duration: Concentration, Target: Individual
(Base 25 [create gemstone], +1 Conc, +1 Touch, +1 Rego req)
The effect creates a silver crown with an emerald gemstone on the head of the magus or familiar. It will stay on their head unless removed by someone.
Enchantment effect level: 45 (40 + 5 [maintains concentration] +0 [1 uses per day])
That didn't change the total much, but:
It removes the Animal requisite and will now stay on the head during a fight.
It will not cost 20 pawns to open the crown.
Potential +5 or +10 Lab Bonus if you used Creo, Rego, or Teram to bind the familiar.
Either the magus or familiar will be able to maintain the existence of the crown by concentrating on the effect at sunrise and sunset. It can also be recreated one a day if both forget.
The magus can have a crown as well. He can take it off and leave it somewhere.
If the snake loses the crown and reactivates the enchantment, the magus may have to explain why he suddenly has a crown on his head.
I'm failing to understand why this needs an enchantment at all. Build a chin strap into the crown.
But if it really needs to stay put, making the crown sticky (MuTe, slightly unnatural) seems cheap and easy. Base3, +2M metal, +2M Sun, +1 2 use/day, +3 Constant Effect = MuTe18 plus however much you need to Penetrate the snake's Might. Maybe +1M if you want to use Part target so only the pad of the crown is sticky.
If it's a Verditius, I highly recommend a tattoo as the actual item. Due to Verditius Magic they can make items that could not normally exist (like using an emerald in the tattoo).
I would use the ReTe 1 guideline "Control dirt in a natural fashion" to ensure that the crown remains stable but light and confortable on the bearer's head unless forcibly removed, never falling off or even getting skewed accidentally. This seems about as "natural" as a supernatural guideline can get (note that "Control dirt in a slightly unnatural fashion" covers slow, weak telekinesis). Of course, you'd need to add 2 magnitudes for affecting metal (and the gemstone, I guess), as well as RTD modifiers.
You can certainly enchant it into the crown itself, at R:Per, D:Sun, T:Ind first magnitude effect
(Base 1 + 2 Sun, +2 metal/gemstone), to which you'd have to add +4 levels for 2uses/day+environmental trigger, for a total final effect ReTe 9 (and 1 pawn of vis).
This makes a crown that never accidentally falls off the head of whomever is wearing it, whether it's the familiar or someone else.If you can't enchant this in a single season, you really should brush up your Rego and Terram to a level suitable for teaching apprentices.
Or, you could enchant the effect into the familiar bond, so that any (Terram) accoutrement placed on the familiar stays there, unless forcibly removed (etc. etc.) In this case, you'll have to boost the Range to Touch (because it's in the familiar bond); you may also want to consider whether to bring down Duration to Conc, with the effect maintaining Concentration and 1 use/day, so that you can turn the effect off. This produces a Level 10 effect (Base 1, +1 Touch +1 Conc, +2metal/silver, +5 levels for the bond maintaining concentration) that the magus has to briefly concentrate on at sunrise/sunset to maintain.
The munchkin magi in my saga (I say it affectionately, I am actually deeply proud of how my troupe optimizes stuff) would instead cast the effect spontaneously as a R:Touch, D:Ring, T:Circle effect ensuring the "stability" of any Terram attire within a Circle ... traced on the outer rim of the crown. This is a ReTe 1+1 Touch + 2 Ring +2 metal = Level 10 effect. More precisely, they would cast it as a non-fatiguing ReTe 5 spontaneous effect with D:Conc rather than D:Ring (shaving off a magnitude), that they'd then boost to D:Ring with a Formulaic, Level 10+ D:Ring version of Maintain the Demanding spell (ReVi Gen) they know. It's incredibly handy for effectively "Ringing" any spontaneous D:Conc effect.
I am very happy with the breadth of possible solutions provided.
I feel like it deserves a clarification why I dont want to enchant the effect into the familiar bond. The answer here is that my character actually inherited her familiar from a deceased magus/family friend who discovered a way to end the familiar bond without hurting the familiar, and did so in order that his familiar might live on after him. My character in turn expects to learn the secret to do this from her familiar and wants to leave the familiar this item even after her death.
The main function of the item is to make the serpent really big and to protect him from damage, as this is a good solution to combat for my character. Secondarily to allow the familiar to change colors, both for showing off, for camouflage and for general display.
With that information and another look at the spell guidelines, I have another idea. Don't meld the crown into the familiar, hide it from all senses.
PeIm
Range: Touch, Duration: Concentration, Target: Individual
20 (Base 10 [Destroy an object's ability to affect all 5 senses], +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
While active, no one can sense the crown with their 5 senses.
Enchantment effect level: 30 (20 + 5 [maintains concentration] +5 [24 uses per day])
Snake gets bigger? Crown gets bigger!
MuTe
Range: Touch, Duration: Concentration, Target: Individual
20 (Base 10 [Make something grow to eight times its previous volume (4), +2 metal/gem], +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
Doubles the height, width, and length of the crown.
Enchantment effect level: 30 (20 + 5 [maintains concentration] +2 [3 uses per day] +3 [Linked Trigger to MuAn Size Change effect])
A wierd possibility: Your familiar is always touch range from you. Your talisman extends touch range. Talismans live on after your death. Talismans also give a bonus to enchanting. You are making an item with multiple enchantments, so you will have to open it anyway. Making an object that your familiar can use, that is also your talisman…