What base effect should a spell that grants a regular human being wings and the ability to fly have?
MuCo 2 is giving someone a minor ability (no mention of "major" abilities otherwise), MuCo 3 utterly changing the appearance or size of a person, MuCo(An) 20 is turning a person into a bird.
I'd tend to say that the ability to fly is definitely not a "minor" ability. So MuCo 3 might be the better fit. This should come with a (most likely free) Animal requisite. In order for them to actually allow the target to fly (making them functional) I'd personally throw in another magnitude for an Auram requisite.
So for a first try...
MuCo 15: Gift of Wings R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual Req: Animal, Auram
Grants the target a pair of wings and the ability to fly.
(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 requisite)
While it does feature two requisites, it still seems kinda low, doesn't it? Throwing in a Rego requisite seems overdoing it as well. But using the MuCo(An) 20 base effect of turning a person into a bird with Target: Part would end up extremely high (MuCo(An) 40, not figuring in an Auram requisite or any magnitudes for wing size in this case).
But then on the other hand it's more limited than equivalent Rego Corpus effects. It's effect is plain obvious, and it can't be used indoors or in any confined area. Also the wings could be bound if the target is caught.
Are there any examples for this in any publication?
Also, once you manage achieving the effect: How does the person actually fly? What ability does flying use? Athletics? A whole new ability called "Flying"? For a magus Finesse might be an option if he's controlling the spell himself, but that seems off as well.
I seem to recall seeing in some book (maybe Magi of Hermes?) a MuCo guideline for giving somebody an extra, functional body part -- level 5 if I recall correctly, which would make your spell (+1 Touch, +2 Sun) level 20, without any requisites...
Definitely goes way beyond "changing appearance". If you merely add something that looks like wings, sure that´s probably MuCo 3. To make them fully functional and good enough to actually allow a human to fly?
I´d say MuCo 15 or maaaybe 10.
Also, if you want to go realism, dont forget that birds have a good deal lighter bodies compared to volume(so a human needs lot bigger wings in comparison).
Then of course, having wings doesn´t have to automatically mean you´re good at using them.
I´d probably go for a separate Ability for it yes, otherwise use Athletics with a need to train long enough for it to apply first.
No, the level 20 is too high, but based on the addition of Ezz, i´d say 10 sounds decent.
That would put your spell at level 30, easily in range for anyone who wants to have it, but still not something anyone can get as is mostly true for a level 15 spell.
Definitely goes way beyond "changing appearance". If you merely add something that looks like wings, sure that´s probably MuCo 3. To make them fully functional and good enough to actually allow a human to fly?
I´d say MuCo 15 or maaaybe 10.
Also, if you want to go realism, dont forget that birds have a good deal lighter bodies compared to volume(so a human needs lot bigger wings in comparison).
Then of course, having wings doesn´t have to automatically mean you´re good at using them.
I´d probably go for a separate Ability for it yes, otherwise use Athletics with a need to train long enough for it to apply first.
No, the level 20 is too high, but based on the addition of Ezz, i´d say 10 sounds decent.
That would put your spell at level 30, easily in range for anyone who wants to have it, but still not something anyone can get as is mostly true for a level 15 spell.
Note the emphasis on 'human'. Without an Animal requisite, this level of guideline would only grant extra human limbs. An extra magnitude might be in order to achieve good, fast, 'true' flight.
MuCo 30: Gift of Wings R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual Req: Animal
Grants the target a pair of wings and the ability to fly, while at the same time decreasing your body weight, which allows the wings to lift you.
(Base 5 for the extra body part, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 Animal requisite for the animal body part, +1 lighter body)
Depending on the vision on how this works in ME, the "lighter body" might be useless, which would make the spell lvl 25. After all, winged angels and demons are very well known to exist, and don't have especially light bodies. OTOH, even if going that way, one might instead replace it by a +1 "strong wings" modifier, to give the wings the strength to lift the body.
I'd say that having the wings work instead of being ornamental would be covered by the Animal requisite. And I'm called to mind the legend of Icarus, who flew quite well without a lighter body...too well, one might say. So, I'd go with the Level 25 version.
I'd say the requirement for altering the target's body density or weight really needs to be considered in relation to how large the wings are. If the wings have a small span (say less than 10 ft) then something might be needed. If the wings are large then the Animal req should cover it, and also allow them to be used in a basic manner without dedicated training.
The final version using the new guideline from Magi of Hermes:
MuCo 30: The Gift of Wings R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Part Req: Animal
Grants the target a pair of wings and the ability to fly. The Athletics ability is used for maneuvering.
(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 Part, +1 requisite)
The MuCo5 guideline requires Target: Part, so it ends up being 30 after all. On the plus side it's just a magnitude more for a Group spell and thus a flying turb.
