Faerie wizards

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

I was just rereading Realms of Power:Faerie and had a few questions about gifted faerie wizads.

1-Can a gifter practitioner of faerie wizardry gain the hermetic virtues of magical focus or potent magic? So for example can someone with the method of enchantment and the power of beguile have a focus or potency in a specific emotion to gain either a doubling of their lesser score(focus) or +3 to their casting score(potent)?

2-Can a faerie hedge wizard gain the craft amulets virtue from RoP:Divine? The description of the virtue says that it can be used for divine methods and powers or hermetic techniques and forms, but it doesn't say anything about either faerie or infernal methods and powers.

3-Can a faerie hedge wizard join a mystery cult?

4-If a faerie hedge wizard joined the order of hermes could they initiate into House Merinita? If they did how would the house mysteries interact with their faerie methods and powers?

5-Can a practioner of ars fabulosa have the spirit familar virtue in order to bind a faerie spirit familiar? If they can do the familiar cords slowly degrade like those of House Merinita?

6-And finally do methods and powers use puissant art for a +3 bonus or puissant ability for a +2 bonus?

2

I don't see why not

Personally I'd prefer to avod Craft Amulets, because as far as I can tell, it doesn't really say what it does. Better eyes than mine might have spotted something though.

I don't see why not.
If Gifted (including faerie Gifted), he should even be able to benefit from it.

I don't see why not. And as for the interaction, I'm unsure where you foresee a potential problem. Culd you perhaps clarify?

As I understand, the degrading cords are a characteristic of binding a faerie, so I don't see why that should be an issue if Spirit Familiar is used to bind a Magical spirit. You might wish to decide differently with your troupe if the wizard in question has a Faerie Gift, but I don't see it in RAW (I might have overlooked something, ofcourse).
If the spirit bound is a faerie, the cords obviously will degenerate, but then I don't see why the wizard would need Spirit Familiar to bind it, rather I would've thought Faerie Magic solved that. As I understand, a faerie spirit is just a faerie that can't take on a physical form.

IIRC Methods and Powers are Arts and so use Puissant Art.

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3

I don't see why not

Personally I'd prefer to avod Craft Amulets, because as far as I can tell, it doesn't really say what it does. Better eyes than mine might have spotted something though.

I don't see why not.
If Gifted (including faerie Gifted), he should even be able to benefit from it.

I don't see why not. And as for the interaction, I'm unsure where you foresee a potential problem. Culd you perhaps clarify?

As I understand, the degrading cords are a characteristic of binding a faerie, so I don't see why that should be an issue if Spirit Familiar is used to bind a Magical spirit. You might wish to decide differently with your troupe if the wizard in question has a Faerie Gift, but I don't see it in RAW (I might have overlooked something, ofcourse).
If the spirit bound is a faerie, the cords obviously will degenerate, but then I don't see why the wizard would need Spirit Familiar to bind it, rather I would've thought Faerie Magic solved that. As I understand, a faerie spirit is just a faerie that can't take on a physical form.

IIRC Methods and Powers are Arts and so use Puissant Art.

4

Okay, here are two examples. The virtue of animae magic allows you to create temporary faeries, the might of these faeries is based on the form used in the spell, faerie hedge wizards would be using one of their powers rather than a form so what type of might would the faerie have? Would a faerie wizard have the ability to choose any type of might, or would different powers be able to create different types of faeries? You run into the same problem with the mystery of becoming.

5

Ah! Maybe I can help.

Strictly by the rules, no. That is, if a magus has a magical focus, it only applies to his Hermetic Arts, not to his Methods or Powers. As a house rule, your troupe could certainly allow you to take a Supernatural (faerie) Virtue that affects Enchantment/Beguile like a focus affects Hermetic Arts, but there really isn't anything like that. (Well, the rune wizards have something like it, but it's clearly a magical Virtue, not faerie.)

The character can certainly have the Virtue, but I'm not sure he or she could do anything with it. I'd be inclined to allow it with Ware ceremonies, as wards are very appropriate with amulets, but because that is combining a divine Supernatural Ability with a faerie one, it might not always work as intended. :slight_smile:

Anyone can join a mystery cult. The real question is, can the faerie hedge wizard benefit from it? Assuming we're talking about a Gifted hedge wizard, I think it's pretty clear he or she can initiate magical Virtues through a cult. Probably not faerie ones, though. I don't think there's any examples of faerie mystery cults? Faerie wizards don't typically initiate Virtues, they teach them.

If the faerie hedge wizard was Gifted, yes, House Merinita would certainly accept him or her. If not, probably not, but it wouldn't matter because most of House Merinita's mysteries only work with Hermetic Techniques and Forms. Hedge wizards can't substitute their methods and powers for them. The best faerie magi with Methods and Powers can do is perform ceremonial rituals using the faerie wizard guidelines and their most appropriate Arts, adding Method and Power instead of Artes Liberales and Philosophiae.

I would rule that magi must have a special Virtue to bind a spirit familiar, because they can't otherwise, and that the cords do also slowly degrade, because it is generally harder to bind faeries.

I use Puissant Ability for scores that use the Ability experience track, and Puissant Art (as a General Virtue instead of Hermetic) for scores that use the Art track, so I say Puissant Ability, but strictly by the rules Methods and Powers are technically Arts.

6

I'm 99% sure that you can only substitute Faerie Powers for a Hermetic Art when doing something appropriate to that Power, not just substitute willy-nilly.
Since none of the faerie powers are appropriate (IMAO) for these purposes, I'm with Tellus of this one:
I don't see your problem

7

Faerie Rites work much like any other other Realm Power supernatural Abilities with the Hermetic. And i've read that the metjhod and Powers are just like any other supernatural ability, only +2 by the Puissant Virtue.
You can design one Faerie effect like one special Ritual, you change the AL and Phylosophie for the Method and Power more near and so on, it's easy to any Faerie Hemetic do near impossible things (i am not sure about if one hermetic need the Sympathy to them or the Forms give it).
One Question, Could the Unstructerd Caster or Rigid Magic work with Hermetic Rites fine? I mean, you still withou efectively creat natural things nor to try true healing, just Faerie effects (create glamour or accelerate healing, respectively). I can see it well, or maybe seening that the only Ritual or Vis use are this Rites respectively, to me still being one good Major Hermetic Flaw, or not?

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