Ceremonial casting as a minor magical focus ?

Hello !

I was wondering: The house Diedne was very powerful in spontaneous magic, but what about the ceremonial casting ?

At first glance, perhaps they were bad in this kind of magic, since they were from a pagan oral tradition. So the knowledge inherited from the greeks and the romans (artes liberales and philosophiae) may not have been very common in this house.

So I thought about the virtue minor magical focus: ceremonial casting.

Well, the whole spontaneous magic can be considered as a major magical focus (as in the Diedne magic or the Cailleach magic for the Gruagachan). So I think that the ceremonial casting (which is a minor part of the spontaneous magic) could be considered as a minor magical focus.

With this, we have a very good virtue for the Diedne.

What do you think ? Possible, or not ? Adequate or not ?

My first response was "yes, sounds okay".
My second thought was "no, sounds iffy".

But then I went back to "yes, with some qualifications".

A Magical Focus (Minor or Major) applies to Lab Totals as well as all forms of spell-casting. Ceremonial casting obviously only applies to spontaneous magic (and any spells with an appropriate Mastery effect). So while the technique and form are wide open, far wider than you would normally cover in a Magical Focus, the applicability of the Focus itself is naturally constrained.

Personally, I have a fairly loose definition of Focus in mind and I know others use a tighter measure, but I would be inclined to go for it. After all, it's a speciality I can easily imagine, and have toyed with something similar myself though not as a Focus, and you can't even retool it as a form of Potent magic because of the restrictions on that Virtue.

So yes. If I was the Storyguide and it was my call, I'd allow Minor Magical Focus: Ceremonial Magic.

Compare it to Method Caster, which, in a way, is a kind of minor focus in formulaic spells

I would never allow any focus in spontaneous magic (minor in ceremonial or major in the whole). Because IT'S the diedne thing and it's part of their lineage and dark secret.

Euh, Exarkun... IT'S for the Diedne !

I was asking for the Diedne, and only for them. Me too, I would never allow this kind of focus for anyone but them. :wink:

But the diedne were an oral and pagan tradition, so none or very few of them were (in my opinion) educated. So what about the ceremonial casting ?

I think they were good with the ceremonial casting, but how ?

With the major virtue Ceremony as a secret mystery in this house ? And is it possible to use Ceremony with hermetic spontaneous magic ?

With a minor magical focus: ceremonial casting ?

I'm trying to imagine the Diedne magic and its mysteries (I think it was a mystery house) and this is the first question I'm asking (well, the second one is about the ceremony).

Ceremonial => artes and philo => bad for oral not mercurian (roman) tradition.

So i would just say: not in spontaneous ceremonial. and for the "spontaneous" global, there is the diedne magic ^^

Maybe take "Special Circumstances - While Performing Ceremonial Magic"? It may be a liiiittle too broad, but, OTOH, it can be taken "while touching the target", so I guess it's Ok. By the virtue's definition, this'd also give you +3 to resist spells while casting ceremoniously :laughing: