Boosting combat skill

Hello all

I've been thinking about combat recently and how to be better at it with magic.

Now obviously we have all the ways of protecting oneself from damage, such as wards, mastered quick cast spells to deflect attacks and so on.

But how would you make yourself a more formidable fighter offensively. Boosting attack/defense totals, rather than soak/damage totals.

The only example I can think of is the Criamon path of strife which gives some quite ungodly bonuses for a single weapon type (use enigmatic wisdom as the combat ability and multiple the weapon attack bonus by 4).

Are there any other means that people can think of?

Adelbert https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/animated-corpse-stats-for-moderation/347/1 (fifth post on that page has the relevant enchanted devices and the sixth post contains the relevant spells) used intellego spells to determine where his crossbow was aiming, how the wind would change the path of his missiles and where his targets were planning on moving. The last trick, reading your opponent's mind to understand their movements, seems like it should justify penalties to their parry totals and bonuses to yours. That's not exactly the same as boosting your attack /defense but it is in many ways equivalent.

Hugh of Flambeau from Magi of Hermes focused on spells and devices to aid in victory in combat to the exclusion of other pursuits. One spell -The Blessing of Stakad- grows an extra par of arms for the caster to use allowing him or her an extra attack in combat or an extra attack for his or her group.

I think that you could create some mentem spells to allow folks to function as a trained group and trained group bonuses add directly to attack or parry.

There are creo corpus spells to increase your dex and qik, but they're absurdly high level. You could alternately develop some MuCo spells to do a similar thing at, I believe, a lower level but you'll have to debate the specifics with your troupe.

Use magic (preferably alchemy - Hermetic magic doesn't do this nearly as well) to increase the quality of your weapon, boosting its attack and damage.

Do not, of course, do this through Muto - do it through permanent effects that leave natural results, or you'll get pink-dotted.

A few easy ways:

  1. An Item of Quality, obtained from your friendly neighborhood Verditius

  2. slightly cheaper, a Superior or Excellent quality weapon/shield/armor/uniform/banner, etc using craft rules from C&G. Rules are silent on stacking, but any sane GM is likely to rule this does not stack with IOQs.

  3. Grant Puissance in (Ability) from ROP:M has an hermetic equivalent and when dialed back to individual and either personal or touch is a very low level spell.

  4. The virtues Craft Magic (Rusticani) or Quick Charged Items allow a variety of combat buffs to be precast and used when needed.

There are many more in this same vein; these are just the first few I've thought of. Remember that improving combat skills means you are telling your storyteller that you want more stories with combat. And at some point you will botch.

Excuse the bias...

Contested Isle describes the brilliant Clesrada; heroic athletic and combat feats. They're quite specific in that they don't boost the numbers involved in your combat actions but instead give you new actions worthy of heroes.

They need to be initiated, but I think the journey is well worth the reward.

Other (classic) alternatives include turning oneself into a giant, and making oneself imperceptible (Imaginem being the most obvious, but not the only form that can achieve this)

A Bjornaer magus with Theriomorphy?