That is why I used the +2 magnitudes for the finished goods.
The +1 seemed to imply a single item of one material, while the +2 refers to a composite object. (Can't remember the page (Serf's Parma), but it was in the guidelines for CrAn)
Remember that traditionnal hermetic magic cannot look into the past. Hence, the writtings loss should remain loss. Magic cannot decifer Latin, only the magus can. Meaby you could have the magus read the lost line during the ritual to allow a proper restoration.
Ahhh, but it does not need to look into the past. The ritual is repairing damage, and as the book in its proper form includes the writing that was put into it, the limit is not breached, and you still get all the writing back.
Much in the way you would get your own arm back with the proper CrCo healing ritual.
Spell Name: Rebuilding the Tome of the Mind
InAn(Re)
R:Touch D:Sun T:Ind
This spell forms an image of the book touched in the mind of the caster, for the spell's duration. The image can be manipulated by the caster to view every page in the Tome, allowing the caster to accurately copy the tome into another volume. Auricus of House Bonisagus created this spell to allow him to copy a badly mangled text that came into his posession, and was supposedly created by Bonisagus himself. Unfortunately that text was a fabrication, but the spell he used to view the damaged text and allow him to copy the tome is still of use.
Spell Construction:
After looking at the InAn guidelines (p.117), I figured that Level 5 would be a reasonable base for this, since it allows the gathering of a large amound of information from a fabricated object.
So: Base 5, +1 touch, +2 Sun, +1 Requisite, +2 Complexity of information returned. Final level 35
A Creo Ritual can repair a book.
Can the actual writing be replaced?
If the writing is faded , certainly.
Totally missing , probably not.
I see this as abusable.
By simply removing ALL the pages from a book
and then using this ritual to replace the entire contents of the book.
Repeat as desired for multiple copies.
This also assumes clean fresh parchment when creating a new book.
What if the parchment was re-used ,
the original text having been scraped off.
Which writing is restored , or are both restored.
An InIm spell would probably help you memorize a single page (see InIm guideline lvl 1). I also think Imaginem is more "correct" as it's about the content of the book, not about its material. But that's just my personal view.
HOT
From what I can tell, I believe that it would. The spell targets the book, which is a created item, containing a certain text, illustrations, etc. The book, having been created has an identity i.e. Lucidius' Requiem d'Auram, and as such casting a spell to repair such a tome would necessitate the original text being restored as well.
I say go ahead and spend the 12 pawns per casting. It is a ritual. If the PC's want to waste that much vis when hiring a scribe only costs a little cash...
The answer to this is the same as above, the book is what is being restored, and the book has an identity as dictated by having been created as a specific book.
An interesting question is what happens to marginalia and illustrations that were added after the original was completed. I would assume that they would be lost, but that would be the call of the storyteller, they may not because the marginalia and illustrations are not damage per se.
True, but I have no interest in memorizing the page, only having a perfect representation to copy from for one day at a time, thus allowing the caster to copy the tome onto a new volume.
Perhaps, but there is no indication of such in the InIm guidelines, while there is in the InAn guidelines. The InIm guidelines speak of enhancing the caster's current senses, not investigating an item.
Maybe I misusnderstand what you're hinking of here, but the InIm guideline clearly states: Level 1: "Memorize or perfect your memory about an image you have encountered". So you can memorize the book "image" by "image".
My point is time , not cost.
In a Vis poor Saga , this is unlikely to be an option.
What if a bind a large number of books into an Anthology?
Simply placing any books you feel like in a compilation of 10,000 or 100,000 or more pages.
Remove pages and copy for a mere 12 pawns.
Entire Libraries can now be copied simply and relatively cheaply.
I'm not disparaging the spell ,
but allowing missing writing to be replaced may be unbalancing.
As always , YMMV.
Interesting.
I can see the book "healing" to include the text it once had, returning to a more perfect self of the book as an Individual. The high raw vis costs make this an expensive option, but I don't really think it is game unbalancing for someone to be able to copy or repair a book (or a library) by magic. The only significant threat is from magi not wasting Seasons copying magical texts; I don't see this as a problem, as scribes with a grounding in Magic Theory can do this anyways.
I would rule that comments and other marginillia would be destroyed as the book is brought to its pristine shape.
It can be made more difficult by insisting the book is a Group of sheats, or so on; but I don't think that's warranted.
On the other hand, I can see why restoring a lost image can be considered breaking the limit of time. This would still allow for minor physical "healing", but a spell could not restore any lost content.
While tempting, I think this argument ultimately fails. You can heal a person who has lost a hand, magically bringing him back his hand. By the same means, you can heal a partially lost image. Only if the image is totally lost is it beyond healing. Treating the book as an Individual, I see no problem restoring it even if only part of it remains.
Speaking of images, I agree that making a mental picture of a book touched fits well under InIm. It can also fit under InAq (for the ink), however, or InAn with requisites (for the book), or so on - there are a lot of ways to blow out a candle with magic.
The most fitting is InIm.
Nice ideas! I thought I'd jump in and suggest a couple of modifications, based on the two spells in True Lineages that target books.
Firstly, the Target. I think these should probably be Group, since what you are affecting is actually a collection of pages bound together, not a discrete thing. Granted a book can sometimes be an Individual thing, like when using Rego to pick it up and move it from the stacks, but in this case you want to affect all of the pages separately.
Secondly, I'd set the base level at 5 for both. You're mending a non-living thing, which I think should be easier than mending a living thing. Both healing a Light Wound and creating a mammal are the same Level, so I suggest that mending minor damage to animal products would be about the same Level as creating them.
Thirdly, I'd rule that the more damaged the book, the greater the intricacy cost for mending it, from +1 magnitude for a few torn pages, to +5 for a book that is so ruined it cannot even be opened. Pages that are missing completely cannot be "healed," much like other healing spells do not reattach severed limbs, though if at least a fragment of the page remains, it may be reconstructed in this way.
Finally, I don't believe the two requisites are necessary in the first case. In my opinion, this is comparable to the example of the clothed man changing into a bird. The requisites to "heal" the book's cover and the ink do not significantly increase the power of the spell. Creating most of a book from scratch, yes, but not just sewing up a tear.
This makes the first Ritual Level 30, and the second Level 50. Incidentally, Twinning the Tome is also Level 50, and this makes sense because you are essentially creating a shiny new book based on the old one. This suggests that like people and animals, it's probably better to take care of your books, because mending them is expensive. It's only worthwhile to do this for really important books.
Interesting! I don't have any complaints, but I would have done this differently. For me, Base 1 seems closer to what you want, "get a mental image." What's the Rego requisite for? If you were swayed by my arguments above and changed the Target to Group, you could probably see each page as part of the effect, just like a spell to get a mental image of a group of animals. I'm also unsure about the complexity cost (you're just looking at the pages, right?), but I doubt you could copy the whole book in a day, so I'd probably make the Duration Moon.
If I've calculated that right, it would be Level 15. That's not too shabby, and only two magnitudes lower than Opening the Tome of the Animal's Mind, which seems about right to me. If you dropped the Duration to Concentration, it would let you read a book by touching it at Level 5, which also seems an appropriate level. I imagine a common use of Rebuilding the Tome of the Mind would be to cast the spell on a book that is not otherwise accessible, perhaps one belonging to another covenant, and then rush home and make a copy of it.
As far as the origins of these: I ran a saga in Scotland using version 4, and the covenant was built on the remains of a former covenant. The library from that covenant had been blasted by fire, and most of the books there were burnt beyond useability. What was done is separate the remains of each book, then use a "restore the book for a day" spell each day and copy the book out by hand.
I have been looking at re-creating ways to handle this situation in 5th edition.
i.e. someone antagonist manages to light the covenant's library on fire, and severely damage all the books in it, what do you do?...
Then taking your suggestions leads to:
Spell Name: Opening the Mind of the Tome
InIm
R:Touch D:Moon T:Group
This spell perfectly creates a memory of the contents of one book within the mind of the caster. The memory remains perfect for the duration of the spell and then fades normally.
This spell was invented by Acquisitus of House Bonisagus, who successfully used this spell to acquire a great many of the tomes in the library of Durenmar.
Spell Construction:
Base 1, +1 touch, +3 Moon, +2 Group. Final level 20
