Happy new year all,
I'm a little unclear about the rules for using a magic item in an aegis.
There are 6 slightly different scenarios :
Item is crafted and used by a magus inside his aegis, what happens? (they are permitted to cast spells in aegis)
Same item is used by a servant inside the same aegis (they are not permitted to cast spells in aegis)
Visiting magus uses this same item inside the aegis
Item is crafted by someone in another covenant, it is used by a magus inside his aegis, what happens? (they are permitted to cast spells in aegis)
Same foreign item is used by a servant inside the same aegis (they are not permitted to cast spells in aegis)
Visiting magus uses this same foreign item inside the aegis
The question is, if you take part in the aegis ceremony, do all of the items you make items work fine in the aegis (because they use your gift), even if you don't use them?
If the items are crafted by someone else, does your aegis resist them?
If so, this would limit the market in devices, and my Verditus will be upset. But if a magus aquires a magic item, and works out who made it and where they are, they can then use it inside that covenants aegis.
(visions of demons using my own magic items against me.....)
Off-hand: "authorized" magi can use any magic item within the Aegis, other people are limited to magic items which were within the Aegis boundaries when it was cast. Alternatively, you could decide that the entire Covenant (including non-magi) gets to participate in the Aegis ritual in some fashion or other: this goes well with the idea that the ritual involves a procession around the Covenant boundary or something like that.
His own Aegis that he participated in? Everything works fine, as long as the item was inside the Aegis when it was cast...
The item was inside the Aegis when it was cast...works fine
works fine
Won't work/degraded (not sure about degraded-see below)...if it wasn't inside when the Aegis was cast..
as above
as above
It all comes down to whether the item was insid ethe Aegis when it was cast.
My general view is that any item that has an effect, that takes place outside the Aegis, will continue inside the Aegis..
I guess the best way to handle items that are inside a foreign Aegis, it to subtract the Aegis from the items total..if the item has a high Penetration (extra power) the spell can work just like normal (with a reduced casting total)...but if the items lab total drops below the item effect level...it won't work.
Thanks for the clarifications. I hadn't considered the fact that the item needed to be in the aegis when it was cast to work. I can forsee all magi specifying that an item must be delivered to his covenant by the day before the aegis, or they will have to wait a year to use it. Nice. (Fines for late delivery )
On the other hand, it means that if you want the item to work if it wasn't present then, even if you are making it for yourself, have to add penetration to even the most simple magic device.
I have a magical ring which I always carry with me, I am absent from the covenant when the aegis is cast. When I return I am given a casting token by my soldales, but I will be unable to use the ring unless I added penetration into it. Hmm, I can see myself adding an extra 40 penetration to every item I carry about myself - even the non-combat stuff. Ah well, its only a few more pawns of vis per item....
It's not so much a fact as a possible house rule. One place where you need to be careful is at Tribunal: since they cast an Aegis specifically for the tribunal (how the host covenant deals with its Year duration is anyone's guess) an enterprising magus would plant a device within the boundaries and then...
The way we suggested to treat magic items is a house rule. The casting of an Aegis at Tribunal is addressed either in Guardians of the Rhine or the Guernicus section of True Lineages. I think it's in that latter, but I can't quite remember.
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