Thanks, food for thought there.
So, would Group affect the group of bugs, or the group of people I am aiming at?
When you are using Creo to create something, then the Target is always the thing created. See core rule book, p113.
If you create the bugs, they are the T: Group. The bugs then attack the people according to their disposition.
Ah, thanks. So the target is the Group of bugs I am creating. I then decide where to create it using my Range: Voice, so I can cast it over there and by doing so will dump a load of bugs on my opponent. If the bugs then choose to bite/annoy people that is their call. Right?
Back to the conversation of levels, what level would I need to pitch this at to be effect with Range: Voice, Target: Group, CrAn. We are talking thousands, if not tens of thousands, to actually be an effective spell.
oh, and Duration: Diameter...
Spell parametersl would be CrAn, R:Voice, T:Group, D:Diameter
Level 30: Base 5, Voice +2, Group +2, Diameter +1
A base Group contains about as much
mass as ten standard Individuals of the Form.
This can be split up in any way desired, so it
could be two Individuals, each of five times
standard size, or ten Individuals of standard
size, or ten thousand individuals, each one
thousandth of standard size. (ArM5 p113)
A base individual for Animal is an animal of about the size of a pony, Size +1 or lower (p117), so T:Group can create a ton or two of insects. That should be plenty for this purpose.
If you want to make sure that the insects attack the intended targets, and only the intended targets you can add a Rego requisite, which will add another magnitude to the spell, for a final level of 35
You should consider the fact that those insects are going to be magical, so a magus' Parma blocks them unless your spellpenetrates the MR of the magus.
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You should consider the fact that those insects are going to be magical, so a magus' Parma blocks them unless your spellpenetrates the MR of the magus.
Yes. Moreover, with a spell of such high magnitude, the Penetration will likely be rather low.
A thick cloud of bugs will at least gives a malus to targeting, Parma or not.
Could the ReAn guideline for generating "worms" in A&A (pg 30) be of use here?
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They are both Base 5 so it won't affect the total level of the spell. The ReAn version has the advantage of being a "Natural Process" and thus the created vermin are not magical after creation. It has the disadvantage of the total production being limited by the size of the source material and it generally having several requisites.
Thanks
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Thanks for giving the reference, I knew that there was something in A&A relevant to the topic.
Would it be allowable to reduce T:Group to T:Individual to create the equivalent size of one pony, but still break it down to more smaller creatures? So in effect a much smaller group?
Doing the maths works out that if a pony if 300kg and an ant is 10mg then I could still get 30m ants if this were allowed, and would reduce spell level to 20...
Then adding Rego to allow control at level 25 might be fun!
No. T:Individual would create one insect. Possibly a very large one, but still only a single one.
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Two approaches that might also be worth considering are:
- Illusionary insects. No damage, but definitely distracting. The basis would be Phantasmal Animal (CrIm20), with exactly the same parameters, except that it affects Sight, Hearing, and Touch rather than Sight, Hearing, and Smell.
I am not quite sure if the illusion of a swarm should count as T:Ind or T:Group, even though a swarm is certainly a Group, and the illusion of a group of grogs is probably T:Group. Any opinions? I am inclined to say as T:Ind because a swarm is like one big undifferentiated blob, but if T:Group then the spell would be CrIm30, a bit highish.
- Motivated, real insects. Magi can easily talk to animals with InAn, and it would be quite possible for a magus to strike a deal with a bee king (remember, medieval bees have kings, not queens!) for the loan of, say, a few thousand bee soldiers to accompany him in a backpack and serve as ... guardbees.
Illusionary insects. No damage, but definitely distracting. The basis would be Phantasmal Animal (CrIm20)
Would haptic species be considered like iconic species thus Parma won't affect them ? So in this case, beside the visual effect, itchiness will also be felt, triggering further Concentration check... I like this option if this is the case.
Regarding T:Ind or T:Group... there is possibility to debate and argue both way: as Ind. a swarm is created as a single entity (=one illusion): it cannot split and remains a cohesive cloud. It's behaviour might feels a bit off as when a real swarm will split (maybe because of going around a pole and flying both around both sides), this one won't.
As Ind +2 quantity multiplier (100 bugs), 100 illusions are created by the same spell. Each one of these illusions can behave slightly differently than the others, possibly flying at several, spaced targets.
I'd say so, yes.
I think that as T:Ind the swarm would still be able to "flow around" both sides of an obstacle not too much larger than itself - like the illusion of a fire, for example. However, it would not be able to "do two things at once", such as encircling a person while driving another away.
Okay, tweaking here.
If I made the spell Range:Touch, Duration:Concentration, Target:Group then it would be:
Base 5, Touch+1, Concentration+1, Group+2
So this equates to Level 25.
Adding Rego requisite makes it level 30.
Right?
If so I could then cast the spell and have an army of bugs appear at my feet or from my hands and flow out wherever I want, using Rego to direct them. If so that sounds fun!
Supplemental question: If I make the spell so that it creates land-based insects do I need to specify what insect, or can I choose at time of casting? I.e. could I say ants one time and then stick insects another? Also, do arachnids (spiders, scorpions, etc) still count as 'insects' for game purposes, even though they technically aren't?
You would usually design the spell with particular bugs in mind. A swarm of spiders won't have the same stats as a swarm of scorpions or bees... if you want versatility... that's extra magnitudes, which will in turn reduce your penetration and make it harder to research, so it's rarely worth it at that level unless you're very specialized (and if you're very specialized, it's often worth it to spend an extra season to learn the extra spell anyway).
Yes. See Octavia's one thousand legions for a spell almost identical to what you describe, just with an extra magnitude for size in case you want to confront armies. Note that such a spell may have to be a Ritual (due to its "massive" effect), depending on the troupe's judgement; a sufficiently "small scale" version would not be, however.
Well, there's a caveat there. Because Range is Touch, you can only provide new directions to the little critters when touching them, including upon creation. So you can create them and assign them a task, but you can't control them with magic from afar. Though you can certainly assign them a task that includes returning to you for new instructions at the end, and perhaps a task to follow simple visual instructions if you remain within sight of them (e.g. move left or right, forward or backward, depending on whether you are raising your left or right arm, both or none).