Let's make apprentice created enchantments

Actually, that's why I am using the Level 4 guideline ("Completely change a person’s emotions") rather than the Level 3 one (" Make a major change to a person’s emotion"). And that's what the "social" effect of the Gift is:

That's a completely different guideline, from a different Technique. Soothing Voice is a Level 2 ReAn guideline "Plant a single suggestion in the mind of an animal." That's completely different from "Completely change a person's emotions". Saying that one should "take a cue from" Soothing Voice when designing Belin's Gift is like saying that one should "take a cue from" Pilum of Fire when designing Rain of Oil. No, they're completely different things.

It would, as long as that distrust, fear and envy came into the same "combined feeling" that the Gift produces. I could very well see a non-supernatural Social Handicap producing the same sort of effect. The Story Flaw Envied Beauty in many cases produces the same sort of effect, but not always. A plain looking, lonesome female redcap, who sees a beautiful, younger, powerful noblewoman about to marry the most eligible bachelor of the duchy? Oh sure, that would qualify, without the need of any Virtue, Flaw or supernatural intervention.

The raw terror inspired by a dragon looming on you? Nope. The rational mistrust you feel for a well-known cheat? Nope, that's reason talking to you, not a gut feeling.

Speaking about the particulars of your spell with regard to the guidelines, doesn't address why I find it distasteful. I never thought the effect was wrong from a technical perspective.

that's the description certainly. The gift is an byproduct of the character's magic, using magic to solve the issues of the gift is a plan that from a story perspective is completely unfulfilling. You wouldn't write fiction that way, at least I wouldn't.

The guidelines are clear on what the item can do, the nature of the gift is such that having anything short of initiating the gentle gift remove the negative consequences of having it is really really unsatisfying. So when you change the target's emotions you should have some other drawback pop up. The gift still works, the spell still works. That is the thrust of why I suggested taking a cue from soothing voice, because it provided a thematically appropriate side effect to stifling the immediate negative effects of the gift.

I find it distasteful and cheesy to get around the stink of magic by using more magic, at least as cleanly as you've done it here. I wouldn't want it at my table.

I think that moving everything rather than something does significantly increase the power of the spell. The example rego Terram spells use casting requisites,yet they're only moving one thing at a time so it's not quite as strong a counterargument as it could be because power jump is smaller, one item is still one item, terram and herbam versus just terram could be ten items versus twenty.

Are there any published examples of items that include casting requisites for free? My first response was based on thinking that they weren't a thing.

I've always played "Unseen Arm" and "The Unseen Porter" (basic ReTe from the core rules) as using casting requisites for free, and they have "casting requisites of an appropriate form for he target are required" so if it's entirely stone/metal then just ReTe is enough, but add He if there wooden stuff, Aq if liquids, etc. Likewise "Supple Iron and Rigid Rope" and "Object of Increased Size" from MuTe.

Does "Curse of the desert" (PeAq 25) need an extra magnitude when it affects a living target? I'm sure the requisite of An for beasts and Co for humans don't add a magnitude.

Hmm. Well. First of all, note that extending your Parma to someone removes the "effect" of the Gift, too! Wouldn't that also be using magic to get around the stink of magic?

Second, note that it's not such a "clean" solution. The choice of removing the effect of the Gift is not left to the Gifted, but the other party. Who needs to activate a magical item (that cost time and vis to create, and if kept active too long will warp the user) and tamper with his own mind to do so. In fact, only someone with long experience with the Gift would probably do so (if already in the presence of the Gifted, it becomes very hard to activate something that you know will tamper with your own mind and make you trust those devious, untrustworthy bastards...)

A possible solution to make the emotional effect of the Gift much more "resilient" would be to house rule that it creates "True Antipathy" in the other party. This makes it proof against Hermetic tampering (and, in fact, tampering by other magical traditions too). Note that Parma in this model prevents the Gift from "reaching" the target, so it does not quite affect the "True Antipathy" but instead prevents it from forming, by removing the cause. However, other spells such as Trust Me from HoH:TL would not work in this paradigm.

that went really fast as well. A set of level 10-15 spells took a full two years to get done, and that was when the board was busier (in terms of views anyway).

Yes, but that was before the modern era, where everyone still on the forums is a complete madman.

1 Like

Flambeau's Bloody Greeting

Muto Herbam (Terram) 8 (Base 4, R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Individual, +3 Restricted Trigger)

Two dozen cherry stones in a sackcloth pouch, collectively enchanted as a charged item. When any person or animal which does not live in the enchanter's covenant steps upon the stones, each seed simultaneously transforms into a rough iron caltrop for a brief moment. Trespassers with soft shoes must pass an Athletics+Quickness stress test of 12, or take +4 damage. A horse who is wounded by caltrops may be frightened and routed without an experienced rider's help. The lab text for this item includes the cherry's bonus to causing bloodshed, though it has not realized its full potential. To the surprise of the young enchanter, they managed to invest two charges into what they assumed would be a single-use trap.

Originally named Flambeau's Christmas Greeting, the apprentice's parens took umbrage at the casual blasphemy and spanked the boy for the rest of the night. Quite unfortunately, his shield-grogs liked the original name better. This started a long tradition of threatening enemies by sending them dried fruit for Christmas, to the confusion of every other covenant in the area.

1 Like

Mark of the Mundane
CrIm, final effect 14.

This enchanted ring causes the image of very brief mark to appear on someone's knee for just a fraction of a second. The main utility of this item is the instances where it doesn't work. It is designed with no penetration, at a target the magus suspects has magic resistance. If the wearer sees a brief image flicker on the target's knee, the target has no magic resistance. If nothing appears, then for some reason, magic resistance is in play. Admittedly, the target will know a spell was cast against them and fail, but will not immediately know what kind of effect or who did it. The momentary duration and innocuous location will help make sure that most casual observers won't notice anything happening, if the target is indeed a mundane.

Base 1, +3 Sight, +10 for uses per day

1 Like

I've been trying to be too clever. I think it's time for something... simple. Something obvious. Something an apprentice would think of when asked to make an enchantment. Something like a sweet magic sword.

Consummate Sword of Fire

Creo Ignem (Rego) 15 (Base 5, R: Personal, D: Diameter, T: Individual, +1 Rego modifier, +-0 Once per day)

An iron longsword with a soft leather wrap over the hilt, and a pommel of basalt imported from the Mediterranean. The blade has a single chopping edge, more common in barrow artifacts than modern weapons. When the bearer recites the first line of the Lord's Prayer, the blade is wreathed in fire for one diameter. This flame doubles the weapon damage score for the blade (or adds +5, whichever is greater), and can start fires as well. The Rego requisite prevents the flames from damaging either the sword or the bearer's hand. The lab text for this item includes the material bonus for basalt's Ignem sympathy.

The Consummate Sword of Fire was smithed at a covenant deep in the Rhine. When the covenant drove the local highway robbers out of the area, continued rumors of banditry attracted faeries who took on the same role. A clever Merinita spread stories of monsters who were afraid of bright light, and the faeries were honor-bound to follow the rule. Of course, a flaming sword will dissuade human robbers as well.

Gladius Plus Ultra

Rego Terram 15 (Base 3, +2 metal manipulation, R: Personal, D: Concentration [+5 holds concentration], T: Individual)

A bronze shortsword, simple and solid in construction, with a hilt wrapped in gold wire. The name Gladius Plus Ultra is engraved along the flat of the blade. The enchantment on this sword causes it to repair itself to the best of its ability whenever it is damaged; it reshapes itself when bent or dented, and sheds rust the moment it forms. The Gladius appears largely the same as it was when first forged, with only a small amount of bronze worn away like a bar of soap. The lab text for this item is either lost or buried in a library somewhere.

This sword was a product of House Verditus' third generation of apprentices, in a more innocent time when an "indestructible sword" was a novel idea. The Houses' early internal vendettas eventually saw this sword fall into the Mediterranean Sea, where it rested under the seafloor until it was dredged up recently. The value of this centuries-old artifact is mostly sentimental.

Not sure on the Gladius Plus Ultra, as 1) there is a published CrTe 15 guideline to repair items in MoH (pg 31, example use on page 32), 2) the ReTe box says great precision may require extra magnitudes and 3) the enchantment skips a finesse roll on what is arguably a Rego Craft Magic spell.

Okay, let's try a slightly more appropriate enchantment.

Gladius Plus Ultra

Rego Terram 15 (Base 3, +2 metal manipulation, R: Personal, D: Concentration [+5 holds concentration], T: Individual)

A bronze shortsword, simple and solid in construction, with a hilt wrapped in gold wire. The name Gladius Plus Ultra is engraved along the flat of the blade. When the sword is wielded, it is inexorably bound to the wielder's hand until they willingly drop it. Any mundane attempt to disarm the sword results in it returning to the wielder's hand the very next turn. Due to its sigil, the Gladius is followed by the low rumble of thunder as it swings. The lab text includes the +3 bonus to Terram magic which bronze offers; copies of this text are available upon request to any Verditus magi.

This sword was a product of House Verditus' third generation of apprentices and their vendettas. Two apprentices sent champions to duel with magic swords, victory decided by disarm or surrender. The Gladius Plus Ultra is currently on display at Verdi, with a mummified severed arm still holding the hilt in a death grip.

Now for a themed set which was bouncing around in my skull all afternoon.

Pastilles of Winter

Perdo Corpus 13 (Base 5, R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Individual, +3 targeted effect) charged item

An ash wood box of sour cherry and honey medicinal lozenges, with the covenant's crest moulded on top of each. Biting down on a lozenge renders any woman temporarily infertile, an effect which heals as a Light Wound. As a side effect, women using a Pastille of Winter skip their mensural cycle while infertile. Folk Witches using this medicine are still ravaged by the Blood Moon, but the damage is internal and leaves no tell-tale marks. The lab text for this item offers a +3 bonus for cherries' sympathy with bloodshed, which could be higher if the apprentice worked on it further.

These lozenges were a side project by a young Tremere apprentice, destined to be a great healer. Part of his medical training was to cook up inert sugar pills for practice, but he eventually grew bored and wanted to make something the covenants' grogs would appreciate.

Pastilles of Summer

Rego Corpus 15 (Base 4, R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual) charged item

A white pine box of dried fig and honey lozenges, spiced with cumin and asafoetida resin. Biting down on a lozenge makes a person's body sexually aroused until the next sunrise or sunset, even if they were previously unable. The person's will is unaffected and the choice to make coitus is their own. The lab text includes a +3 bonus from the fig's sympathy with fertility.

Another early creation by the young Tremere healer. He famously warned his patients to take the Pastille only a few hours after midday, and that an arousal lasting more than four hours may cause harm (not entirely incorrect; this effect causes the loss of a Fatigue level if it lasts more than Sun duration). Even more famously, one of the lozenges fell into the hands of an elderly couple unaffiliated with the covenant, who bore a child while past the age of 60.

Pastilles of Autumn

Creo Corpus 15 (Base 4, R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual) charged item

A hastily repurposed white pine box of birch syrup and honey lozenges, wrapped in sweet basil leaves. Biting down on a lozenge affords an expecting mother +3 to Childbirth rolls until the next sunrise or sunset. Because of how long giving birth can take, multiple doses might be required. The lab text includes the +3 bonus towards childbirth granted by the birch tree.

The young Tremere healer found himself in dire straits after his parens heard about the miracle conception he indirectly caused. Under very close supervision, the apprentice was ordered to do everything in his power to clean up the mess he created, including making sure the elderly mother-to-be survived.

Pastilles of Spring

Perdo Vim 15 (base 5, R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Individual, +5 for Penetration 10) charged item

A rounded tin canister filled with lozenges of frankincense, honey and a pinch of hot paprika. Biting down on a lozenge triggers a Demon's Eternal Oblivion effect, stripping 5 points of Might from any demon which happens to be possessing the target. This is enough to slay a demon of Childbed Fever or drive them away, unless the demon is both very powerful and very petty. The lab text grants the +3 bonus frankincense provides to Perdo Vim effects in particular.

As a final precaution, the young Tremere's parens had them practice their anti-magic talents for a season. This medicine never had to be used on the elderly mother, but the potion became common in the Transylvanian Tribunal regardless.

4 Likes

Those pastilles are clever!

Thank you! I figured not every potion would be a literal glass bottle of syrup. Glass is EXPENSIVE, everyone! Though, come to think of it...

Oil of Glass Fingertips

Rego Aquam 13 (base 1, R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Part, +1 slightly unnatural control, +3 for Penetration 6) charged item

Despite the name, this green glass bottle contains doses of a thick, gritty ointment of ground clam shells which barely resembles oil at all. Rather, it is named for its effect; rubbing this ointment on a person or object causes liquids to bead and slide off like rain on a seabird's back until the next sunrise or sunset. Acids and other malign liquids only cause damage on the first round of contact or partial immersion, with full immersion regrettably breaking the ointment's effect. The Oil of Glass Fingertips does not prevent the user from drinking water unless it is ingested orally, a foul idea unlikely to happen by accident. The lab text for this item provides a bonus of +2 from the clam shell's protection sympathy; copies of this text are spread across the north shore of the Mediterranean and are simple to find.

In an unsurprising case of divergent evolution, nearly identical versions of this potion were developed in both Rome and Athens before either city's tribunal had begun sharing correspondence with each other. In the Theban Tribunal, it is easy to spot a Hermetic apprentice because they are perpetually covered in lumpy gray paste. The slight penetration also allows said apprentices to fetch pharmaceuticals from the local village without accidental self-poisoning.

Oil of Rain Dancing

Rego Auram 15 (base 4, R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual) charged item

A waterskin made from a sealed sheep's stomach, filled with the oil from pressed acorns. When the oil is rubbed onto a person's forehead, falling rain cannot touch them until the next sunset or sunrise. Wind may still chill and lightning may still threaten, but clothes and hair remain dry. The lab text for the Oil of Rain Dancing provides a +3 bonus; oak's protection from storms is far stronger than that, but the thoroughly researched version of this text tends to be buried far back in any given covenant's library.

Apprentices who are regularly sent to harvest vis in the wilderness will eventually cook up a similar potion if they have any sense of self-preservation. Those living too far south to find oak trees are stuck with the Oil of Glass Fingertips instead, much to their chagrin. Covenants producing this potion tend to leave behind astounding amounts of dry acorn mash, which either attracts birds or makes the grogs angry at the dinner table.

As an aside, assuming this is probably based on Blade of Virulent Flame, the spell says the blade gets hot enough to melt after about half an hour of fiery use, however since this only activates once a day for 2 minutes, you could probably get rid of that rego requisite, perhaps even trading it in for extra uses if the apprentice can manage that level of skill.

Doylist answer; the apprentice was so excited about "doing it better" that they didn't think that they didn't need it.

Watsonian answer; well... the part where the fire doesn't damage the user appealed to me. I imagined the apprentice passing this sword off to a turb captain who wouldn't have any Magic Resistance of his own, who would appreciate the protection. I don't know what else I'd change about it if I removed the Rego. Penetration might be fun given that it's meant to fight faeries.

You could also assume the apprentice made the sword before he actually got all the way up to a lab total of 30, and instead made it at lab total 24, and thus has only two uses on his awesome doom sword of flaming manliness. :wink: My home covenant has a lot of lab texts in the library that 'waste' potential because they were made a little before maximum efficiency was obtained.

Incense of emotive awareness.

InMe, final level 15
An apprentice prone to impulsive decisions decided to craft this item as a means of making wiser choices. When breathing incense lit in the center, he gains a very clear understanding of the emotions driving him to action. He still feels the emotions as strongly, but the self knowledge gained often helps him make a more appropriate decision.
This was inspired by effects that strip emotion from the target, but the apprentice in question has a deficiency with perdo.
Base 10, +1 touch.

1 Like

Note that items from this thread must be Level 15 or less.
My favourite option with such a "flaming sword" item would probably be to drop the Rego requisite and make it Level 10, which costs just 1 pawn instead of 2, can be recreated from a Lab text even by very green apprentices (MT 1 (+1 S&M), Int +1, Aura +3, and a bare 4 points in the relative Arts), or invented from scratch by more mature ones (MT 2 +2 S&M, Int +2, Aura +3, 11 points in the relative Arts).

2 Likes