Hi,
while randomly selecting a set of V&F for an apprentice, I got mythic blood. Checking the area of its discovery (the Rhine) for ideas on wikipedia, I saw the god "Mani" associated with moon.
And it got me thinking about a focus on moon.
Then I'm wondering myself: a magical focus for a laboratory is not possible. But what about a magical focus for a parameter. The fact that "moon" is also a duration is quite intriguing in this case and coul lead to an apprentince trying to put every spell at "moon" duration, even when it's not the best idea.
But first is that even possible?
I personaly think not since the duration is not a part of a Tech or of a Form, but then not every spell can use moon anyway (some spells need year like the aegis, some spells can't have a duration like CrVi or many MuVi spells) and for most spells a duration is counterproductive.
If it were to exist, I'd certainly see it as a major focus anyway.
Read the description of Minor Magical Focus: "In general, the field should be slightly narrower than a single Technique and Form combination, although it may include restricted areas of several such combinations."
Moon duration could cover every single Technique + Form combination. That is far broader than a minor focus and even broader than a major focus.
Your idea roughly means D:Moon would cost as much as D:Sun (assuming mMF yields a +5). This might be a wider field than MMF. As such, cannot be a replacement for mMF.
Brainstorming 2 ideas to replace the mMF with something else:
Cyclic Magic (positive) - when the Moon is in the sky
Nyktophylax-adjacent: PM falls at moonrise/moondown (HoH:TL p143), as adjusted by dramatic need.
Magical focus: Moon is not possible, the same way Magical focus: Ring (as parameter) is not possible. Prone to abuse and not in the spirit of what is a focus.
I think magical focus "moon" would be allowed, but it wouldn't work on Moon duration spells (for reasons already given). You could get various Imaginem effects associated with moonlight. But not much else, given those irritating limits of magic.
It's funny you mention the focus in "ring" because I could totally see a magical focus on rings (as item) and using it a lot by putting your effects on your magical rings (even making one your talisman as is classical), those being the items, hence applied focus as per the rules.
Then using the ring form of the item to use the circle target and, with a static type of container/or ring duration (which can use individual directly).
If the counter- argument would then be "the ring is not making a sphere big enough to encompass the target" (I have not yet studied the whole discussion in DE about containers in details), add a MuCo to turn you into a -10 human during the duration, by a linked effect from each other effect (or/and add a mental trigger to make that MuCo effect be cast one round before activating the other effect), so that you are inside the circle itself (and perhaps it's the dynamic type of container... i'm still unsure). I'd find that weird but it still would work.
If the sword focus as minor would not exist, I'd say ring is major, but with sword as minor I cannot say that because sword are even more useful than rings so it would make no sense.
I'll do!
I didn't even remember it was spoken about in TMRE and didn't see it in the (exhaustive) lists of canon foci here or on ironboundtome so either I missed it, either it was missed when making those lists.
Thanks.
I played a Verditius with the Major focus: Ring, allowing to be applied on any enchanted ring, regardless of the instilled effect. It was utterly broken. I will never allow any focus to be applied based on the support and not the effect. There was not reason to use any other shape than ring. And I said, it was utterly broken.
Absolutely agree. *mMF: Swords* is a perfectly cromulent minor focus if you're making your allies' swords sharp, turning your enemies' swords into glass, and conjuring up a sword for whatever. All of that would be a subset of a Form. Applying it beyond that for anything that you enchant into a sword is too much.
Really, I'd side-eye a focus on "familiars" for the same reason, but fortunately don't have to deal with that in my game.
I mean a minor magical focus in moon could affect illusions of moonlight, maybe some low level ignem spells that create (or diminish) moonlight...maybe even some mentem spells that affect lunacy or some vim spells focused on lycanthropes...
I think the Astrological cyclical magic would be the better choice though.
I would never allow anyone to make a duration, target or range the subject of a focus, minor or major.
As far as the moon itself is concerned (not the duration), it's a celestial body, so therefore outside of the reach of Hermetic magic in most cases. You could do moon-themed spells (lycanthropy, tides, moonlight, etc), but none of those things imo are suitable for a moon focus, except maybe the latter. A moon theme might be better implemented as a sigil without mechanical effect.
For the sake of options, I had an NPC with a MMF of "Lunacy" - effects that relate to/lead to madness, filtered through some of the "I got my psychiatry degree from a curse" level of mental health understanding of the 13th century. Whether this affinity was what led him down the road to inflicting those horrors on a small Provencal town, or whether he would have been Like That either way, is a question for the philosophers.