Binding a Magic Human

I'm assuming that is possible, so long as the person is actually magical, that is, has a Magic Might.

Any reason why not?

Also, has anyone ever had a player request this? I'm not sure what to tell him...

It doesn't qualify under any of the listed methods. Not saying you couldn't do it, but you'd probably have to do some research.

Of course, there is the option of MuCo(An) to change the person into an animal for the season, if the SG says only form/shape matter in enchanting such things, not essential nature.

Why do you assume this?
Also, I assume you mean as a familiar?

Maybe not relevant, but back in earlier editions (3rd I think?) there was a fair bit of text about this.
In game, I think it came down to humans (even magical humans) having souls of their own, unlike animals. Yes, even intelligent, talking animals.
Out of game, it makes for a bit of an overly efficient Longevity Ritual.

I have, though it has been a while.
I told him that it could not be done with current hermetic methods and that it was an interesting research project.

You can bind ghosts, so...

I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I do mean bind as a Familiar.

And I remember the bit about having a soul, but not in 5E, só as long as a creature has a Magic Might I still don’t see why not. It is not a human, it is something else, in the same way that a magical cat is not a cat, it is something else.

Would this be a good reason why not?

TMRE 66 Minor Mystery Virtue Spirit Familiar allow you to bind a spirit as your familiar.

That's a great reason why not, thanks for the reference!

I'll let him decide whether he wants to try and experiment and possibly work for a minor breakthrough.

Only with the right virtue.

I would refer to the following topic about binding a familiar with a soul.
Although there is no final agreement (as with all discussions on this forum :smiley: ), there are some common ground:

  • it is not possible to bind human as familiar through usual process: depending on the opinion, it is simply impossible, it requires a specific virtue (through some form of initiation) or it requires a breakthrough;
  • binding a familiar requires that both side agree and trust each other completely (there is some comments regarding demon familiar, but as usual, there will always be some fringe cases).

There is no agreement if binding human as familiar is impossible because of the soul, tampering with free will or just because human is a human and not a beast (but since with the right virtue you can bind ghost/spirit, this argument is a bit wobbly).

So as usual, my take is: if it is going to lead to an interesting story, then the mage can look for some Mystery Cult with this knowledge. Here are some proposals:

  • Provence Tribunal with the concept of Amour Courtois could be a possibility
  • any Cult with a strong emphasize on brotherhood/friendship/faithful to the death
  • a secret faction of Tytaly who is pushing to the extreme limit the concept of Beloved Rivals - but obviously, the trust aspect required for a Familiar bond must be worked out to fit this twisted concept
  • The Order of the Green Cockerel could have a branch which consider that for the creation of the philosophical stone, the alchemist must be made whole by finding his/her soulmate
  • integration of a pagan wedding ritual (or maybe St Nerius followers know a Hermetic wedding ceremony)
  • a faction of Verditius able to bind a master craftsman in a kind of disciple/master bond, until the disciple is finally able to surpass the master (Jerbiton might have something similar with artist or muse) - the concept of lasting but not permanent familiar bonds is not a novelty since Faerie familiar have fading bonds.

... but obviously, if the purpose of binding human is only to achieve more powerful/broken stuff that is already possible, then of course, it is doomed to fail/corrupt the mage or just plain "NO, BECAUSE I SAID SO" (not very constructive, but some players only understand that).

The other way is to let the human partner become a daimon or spirit first and then bound with him using the mystery virtue mentioned earlier.
(Initiations also work with humans who are not gifted but you probably need special scripts for them)

Something like that came to my mind when I read Ezequiel writing this...

I can imagine a dark cult that in order to bind humans find that first they have to kill them (or they must die on their own, which would help avoiding the bad press that human sacrifices have within the Order) and then to bind them as ghosts as in the already existing rules of The Mysteries. I absolutely can imagine something like that already happening inside House Tytalus: one of the beloved rivals dying, and the other not wanting to let the rivalry end just because of that silly thing of being, well, dead.

Yup. I did that once. Spirit Familiar Virtue & Second Sight. Found the ghost of someone who'd just died and was willing, preserved the body, bound the ghost as my familiar, enchanted part of the body as my talisman, and made a living corpse (HP) as both my familiar and my talisman.

You can us The Discipline of the Worm from TMRE 130 for this dark path already.

Yeah, my beloved Disciples! One of my favorite cults by far.

I'm not sure the player will pursue it if he needs to have a breakthrough, but it seems like the most sensible option. I do not see it as a power move, he had a completely different idea for a familiar (which was quite powerful, mind) and asked if he could change it after getting married to a magical atlantean. Long story.

Thanks everyone!

Aren't Atlanteans animals that can become people, not the opposite? Hmm... They show up in the Magical Humans chapter despite "most [of them having] the form of fishes." Looking at the entry on p.90 of RoP:M I see both Magical Human and Magical Monster, which is odd. [strike]Magical Monster might allow the binding.[/strike] (Edit: That would be Magic Animal. But there is still the question of why they aren't Magic Animals based on their description.)

Yeah they are a bit odd in that...

Since you said it's not a power grab, you could just rule them [strike]Magical Monsters[/strike] Magic Animals instead of Magical Humans and not worry about it.