How do you treat the Guernicus non-Hermetic Rituals?
As standard Abilities (5XP per pyramid point)
As Accelerated Abilities (1 XP per pyramid point)
We've never used them
0voters
I'm referring to HoH:TL, pages 76-77.
As written they would be standard Abilities.
Now that we have the Accelerated Ability category from HoH: Societas (Ex-Misc), I wonder whether they would better fit within that category and be learnt at 1XP per pyramid point like an Art or Supernatural Ability such as Warding?
IIRC the text of HoH:TL categorises them under Arcane Abilities but it seemed to me that the author's intention was that only Gifted individuals could cast these powerful non-Hermetic rituals.
I just can't see many Guernicus magi sinking 30-45 XP into a single use Ability that needs to be used cooperatively without some sort of reason or obligation dictated from higher up in the House as even with a good Quality tractatus (Quality 17 max) from Fenicil's library you're still looking at several seasons of effort for a group cats spell.
I'd be interested on other's perspectives and whether these are actually sued in play.
We'll I'm firmly in the "I've never used them" camp.
However If one makes them accelerated abilities rather than standards then I might not stay in this camp forever.
I had previously hupothisized that the gurnicus made certainthat someone always knew each of the Rituals to level 5 or so and was a fair to good teacher.
In My model.The house kept several copies of a level 3 quality 12 suma for each ritual (one text many duplicates). and a commentary from every magus who'd ever read the text.
In the event that the spell needed to be cast a sufficiently large group of gurnicii would each spend one season reading the summa then spend a second season being taught by the house expert. This should give a group of folks with a skill of at least three. The group would preform the ritual and over the next few years lots of commentaries would be made.
In the event that the expert dies then there is lots of material available for a new designated expert to study.
The downside of this scheme is that it takes a group of magi six months to pull it off. What could be accomplished with one of Fencil's rituals, that couldn't be accomplished better by the same group of magi working together in dome other manner for two seasons using their own hermetic magic which they've already spent most of their lives perfecting?
If you make these accelerated abilities the expert in my model can have a skill level of 12 the and the summa can be level >4 quality >10. This makes it a one season proposition and allows smaller groups to pull off the ritual. Ans since learning the rituals isn't such a burden I could imagine that there might reasonably be more than one Magus who knows each.
Yes... I never used them, but as they stand I think they make little sense. Changing them into Accelerated Abilities would ease their use, making them far more plausible.
I would also suggest forgoing the usual requirement to learn the spell itself first. Rather, simply learn the Ability. Combined, this would allow a magus to spend a season to "learn" the spell to a reasonable level (perhaps 3 or 4).
Another idea I would consider is having only the leader need to know the spell to be cast to begin with. Much like you can participate in a Wizard's Communion to cast an Hermetic spell that you don't know.