Could an apprentice fix an AC? If so, when during apprenticeship might this be possible?
He should be able to do it as soon as he has his first rank in Magic Theory, since it requires 1 pawn of Vim Vis to complete.
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Thanks for the reminder. Another use for the lab slave, err, valued apprentice . . .
Does this mean that mundanes and familiars could do this too? (Assuming MT 1?)
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No. In addition to MT 1, they would need to have their Gift opened to the Hermetic Arts also.
Mundanes can't do anything at all with an Arcane Connection, as far as I can tell.
Members of other magical traditions may or may not be able to fix and use ACs, depending on the specifics of their tradition.
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Thanks. I thought that would be faaaar to good to be true.
I know that assistance in the Lab requires MT (and MT 0, with one or more xp towards MT 1, might be enough) and the Gift; but I do not recall the requirement that the Gift having been opened, nor opened to Hermetic Magic in particular, Can you point me to a source for this?
To do any (Hermetic) Laboratory activity as the main worker - not just an assistant - you need the basics of being a magus. I.e. having had the Gift opened.
Just like you can't cast hermetic spells without having had your Gift opened, you can't perform hermetic laboratory activities without having the Gift opened.
What one could question is if an apprentice (not yet a magus) could actually perform any lab activity on their own, since the rules only talk about what a magus can do, but there is no real reason to think an apprentice can't do them as well.
(Note that you aren't actually an official apprentice until after your Gift has been opened.)
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Now you are reading rules like Devil reads the Bible.
Is that a saying in English at all?
Magushood is purely organisational, and except for the permission to learn Parma Magica, it is not linked to any new powers. But I do not really think we disagree.
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I like this expression, a lot! Never heard it in English, but it makes perfect sense.
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As Loke has noted, being an 'official Apprentice' or 'official Magus' is an organizational thing.
There is some disagreement around the difference of 'Art 0', and not having an Art at all as far as generating a 'Lab Total' goes; and I suspect this ties into the distinction between 'Being Able to Assist in a Hermetic Lab' and 'Being Able to Work in a Hermetic Lab'.
I tend to lean towards the school of thought that 'not having an Art score' does not prevent generating a Lab Total. This allows Folk Witches, Learned Magicians, and etc (as long as they have The Gift) to assist in a Hermetic Laboratory -- although they are generating a bonus of Int + (Hermetic) MT (which is likely to be zero). The latter scenario strikes me as something that has probably happened fairly often in House Ex Miscellania.
I go the other way, because different traditions can have very different approaches to what is possible. Looking at fixing arcane connections, a hedge witch can only improve the duration by one step rather than permanently fix (Hedge magic p39).
Assisting in the lab is different from being the main worker in the lab.
Lots of people can assist that cannot work alone in the lab.
To be the main worker in a hermetic lab requires that you know hermetic magic - i.e. having had your Gift opened to hermetic magic. I don't know if this is actually spelled out anywhere, or if is just assumed to be so obvious it doesn't need to be spelled out.
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I do not think it is obvious at all; what exactly is 'Knowing Hermetic Magic'? Is it having The Gift (opened or not), or having xp in (Hermetic) Magic Theory, or having a non-zero score in an Art? As far as I am aware, the rules do not define this.
The rules DO specify that someone with the Gift (and it is not specified that it needs to be opened) can assist in a Hermetic Laboratory. Knowledge of (Hermetic) Magic Theory is helpful, (and each season provides exposure xp) but not necessary. Is that sufficient to 'work' in a Hermetic Lab? Undefined.
There's some talk about Hedge Magic Theory being used in Experimentation and Breakthroughs in (shockingly) Hedge Magic.
In addition, a [non Hermetic] Gifted teacher can act as an assistant to the Hermetic magus, in which case add the teacher’s Intelligence + (Hedge Magic) Theory to the magus’ when making the roll to produce an Insight Lab Text. (p.15)
So I think that it's reasonable that Hedge Magic Theory could apply if the Hedge Magician is doing something that exists in their tradition. Eg, a Hedge Witch with the Flying Virtue could probably assist in enchanting a Flying Broom in a Hermetic way. At least, I'd allow it.
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The whole laboratory chapter is written around what a magus can do in the laboratory. Not what some random person can do.
Otherwise anybody and everybody could invent hermetic spells, create invested items, make Longevity Rituals, bind familiars, etc. etc. etc. Which is very obviously not intended.
A magus, as far as the core book is concerned, is a member of the Order of Hermes that can work hermetic magic. To work hermetic magic you need to have had your Gift opened to hermetic magic which will give you a score of 0 in all the hermetic Arts - and this is the only way to learn the Arts.
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Fixed it for you.
Playing as a pre-gauntlet Apprentice is an afterthought; an extra addendum. That is why there is a supplement detailing how play as pre-gauntlet Apprentices works, because it was not considered a priority to include it in the base rules. The ability to play non-Hermetic tradition mages was also an afterthought; which is why we have 'Hedge Magic', and 'Rival Magic', and 'Ancient Magic' to some degree -- and even then, the alternative traditions are largely just sketched out & not in any way detailed as much as the Order of Hermes.
Where 'this is how Hermetic Order magi and non-Hermetic Magi can interact' is spelled out -- where the authors finally get around to defining anything other than 'so you are rolling up a Hermetic Mage' -- it does not seem so cut and dry.
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Man, a book detailing all the (potential) interactions between every non-Hermetic organization would be such a fun worldbuilding expercise. What happens when the Muspelli and the Sorcerers of Soqotra meet up? Inquiring minds want to know.
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What the rules say [ArM5:103] is,
Anyone who has The Gift and a score of at least one in Magic Theory may help you to perform any activity that uses your Magic Theory.
Hence a hedge magician who reads magic theory, may assist an Hermetic magus in the lab, but they do have to learn the theory. This does not feel particularly liberal, since a familiar can assist with only the magic theory, and a pre-erratum even a failed apprentice could. But they do need that score of one.
The arts are irrelevant to assisting. The assistant does not generate a lab total.
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Open license era, man. You could write and sell one yourself!
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We have in ArMDE 01-Introduction:
maga/magus: A member of the Order of Hermes who can use Hermetic magic. Used by both players and characters. 'Maga' is the feminine form, 'magus' the masculine. The neuter is ‘magum’, while the plural form used in the Order is ‘magi’.
We also have in ArMDE 08-Laboratory Fixing Arcane Connections:
A magus who has an active Arcane Connection (see page @@) may make it permanent by spending a season of laboratory work and one pawn of Vim vis. <...> This activity must be performed in a laboratory, even though it is not based on a Lab Total.
This magus might not be in the Hermetic Order for some reason (apprentice, marched etc.), but will have to be able to "use Hermetic magic", not just "know" it. You can't "use Hermetic magic" unless your Gift has been opened to it. See for that e. g. ArMDE 08-Laboratory Apprentices Opening the Arts:
Once the Arts are Opened, the apprentice character has a 0 in each of the five Techniques and ten Forms. She can immediately cast spontaneous spells. She can read any casting tablets the covenant may have, providing she has a score of 1 in Artes Liberales and 4 in Latin. Barring some logical limitations — the apprentice can't cast formulaic spells because she doesn't know any — an apprentice can undertake any magical activity a magus can. Simply use the applicable formula based on the current Arts scores of the apprentice for any magical activity she undertakes.
Yep, this includes "Fixing Arcane Connections", if the apprentice can use one pawn of Vim vis in the lab.