Fountain of Youth

Games Discussion Ars Magica
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In Mythic Locations, page 81, there is the Fountain of Youth in Purgatory. It mentions:

A magus can use the Fountain of Youth as a source of insight into the Limit of Aging or the Limit of Warping if he is able to remain here for at least a season. The Fountain provides an insight towards the creation of a 50th level effect.

What does would this 50th level effect be, if you were to allow it in your games? The fountain's effect is:

A single mouthful can remove up to 3 points of Decrepitude (and associated aging points) or 3 points of Warping Score, or some combination of the two. The character also subtracts 30 years from her Apparent Age, or is reduced to an Apparent Age of 15, whichever is older. Finally, all drinkers acquire the Unaging Virtue. It is only possible to benefit from the Fountain’s power once in a lifetime.

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The level 50 effect would have the same effect as the Fountain of Youth. In essence, if the researcher obtained Insight, he is able to duplicate the non-hermetic effect and gain breakthrough points. I would probably assess this to be a Creo Corpus (Vim) effect.

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That was my thought as well, but it sure seems... let us say OP or overpowered?

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Is the insight from breathrough and effect replication more overpowered for the magus than finding and using that fountain of youth, considering it's a one time effect? It can give him a lot of political clout for sure, if he lets that knowledge be known (but he could also find out archmagi wannabe clients afraid of death or final twilight don't accept no for an answer). I'd be wary of integrating that into my game for those reasons. Remember, if you think integrating such magic, or accessing such magic, to be problematic, you have a lot of options:

  • Don't bring your magi into purgatory;
  • Don't use the Fountain of Youth story seed if they go there anyway;
  • Change the Fountain of Youth effect to be more in line with what you can accept. Gaining the unaging virtue is no biggie. Losing 3 score in decrepitude and warping score is what is exceptional here. Choosing how to distribute that even more. Maybe pick one or the other, or reduce the bonus if you don't like it. It would still be an exceptional effect to lose a point in permanent decrepitude or warping, let alone 3 in any combination.
  • If you want the magi to benefit from the full effect but don't want to deal with the impact of integration... don't let your magi stay in purgatory for a season to study the effect. Maybe the angels or demons intervene and they are forced to leave or risk remaining there forever?
  • Maybe the fountain of youth is a divine effect, so studying it for insight is futile?
  • Maybe the insight can be gained, but the non-hermetic ritual can only be cast in purgatory, which limits its impact on the game to basically gaining the ten breakthrough points?
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Great ideas, thank you!

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Or you could change the fountain to remove 3 points of decrepitude in exchange for giving 3 points of warping. Could make some interesting choices for some people.

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I would suggest that the 50th level effect be similar to the Mercurian Ritual Purification, found on page 97 of Mythic Locations:

Purification
CrCo 40
R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Individual, ritual
This ritual may only be cast on another character who has a Decrepitude Score of 1 or higher. The caster cannot cast it on himself. During the ritual the target must be bathed in water, in a consecrated temple of Mercury.
The target’s apparent age is reduced by 5 years and his Decrepitude Score is reduced by 1. The player also removes up to 5 Aging Points currently allocated to the character’s characteristics.
Assuming that the vis is available, and the caster is willing, the ritual may be cast multiple times in quick succession (to reduce a high Decrepitude Score to a much lower value). The ritual has no effect if the target character has a Decrepitude Score of 0. Note that the ritual does not reduce the actual age of the character, so it has no effect on the Aging Roll.
Commentary included in the Lab Text suggests that the Mercurian priests used this ritual in a similar manner to the way Hermetic magi use the Longevity Ritual. The ritual is compatible with the Longevity Ritual.
This ritual breaks the Hermetic Limit of Aging.
(Base Effect, non-Hermetic)

The 50th level version created from studying the Fountain would remove 3 points of Decrepitude (+2 magnitudes over the 40th level version that only removes 1 point), but could only cast in a structure consecrated to God. (The Dominion aura will be a problem for casting.) It's a powerful effect, but I think that ultimately removing Decrepitude is less valuable than removing Warping. Conquering both would allow for mages that could live forever without changing into an immortal form with Might.

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