MoH CrTe guideline

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

The Level 15 CrTe guideline in Magi of Hermes says “Repair a crafted item, returning it to an ‘as new’ state”.

Am I right in thinking that this should be a ritual if I want it to be permanent?

The only use in the book I can see is in an item that has the effect being used constantly to keep it in perfect condition, which could be because it means you don’t have to worry about further things breaking the tool, or because the spell needs to be ‘reupped’ so all the breakages don’t reappear.

I’m pretty sure I’m right that it’s a ritual, but if someone has a dissenting opinion I’d like to hear it

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It has to be a ritual if you want it to last, but if you want the ability to repair something immediately if it's damaged, or do something cool with things like having a broken bridge or staircase that you repair whenever you want to cross it, a temporary effect can do the trick. Additionally, if you want something to seem whole but break later, this could do the job.

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IMHO, this should be a ritual if you want the repair to be permanent, in the same way as you need a ritual to permanently heal a wound.

You can, however, enchant it into an item as a constant effect to that the item repairs itself from regular wear and tear. It would certainly make the item harder to destroy, but I'd still rule that anything that damages it badly enough (destroying its integrity) will destroy its enchantments as well.

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Couldn’t this also be done with Re Te in an equivalent to the ReTe used to forge metal into weapons/armor?

That would not require a ritual to be permanent, though it might require the addition of materials. It would definitely require a finesse roll.

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Sometimes, probably. But, for instance, try to repair broken pottery this way. It won’t be the same.

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Why couldn’t you repair broken pottery with a Re Te and a chunk of clay?

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As @callen alluded to:

  1. ReTe craft magic would repair the item, not make it "as new"
  2. It would require a Finesse roll, that will be at least +3 to the ease factor for what the relevant Craft Ability would need.
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There is a reason the standard way these days is to use epoxy. You can't truly repair broken pottery by doing pottery. The problem is that the material is different before and after the kiln. Likewise with glass. Metal can be more forgiving, allowing you to heat what you have and attach things well. So, while you might repair pottery, you certainly won't just be restoring it to an as-new state like the CrTe guideline allows.

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The noblest way to repair esteemed pottery is still japanese Kintsugi. That could indeed be done by ReTe(An) or ReTe(He).

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Yes, very cool. It also demonstrates what I'm talking about very nicely.

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Of course you could always MuTe to change whatever you are repairing to clay then ReTe to reform it before the MuTe expires... though that only works if what you are repairing is made of a single material. Leather armor with metal rings? Well...

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That might not work with materials that have an internal structure, either.

Wood, for example, has grain that gives it strength. Mush up the grain too much and you end up with something that has the tensible strength of particle board, which breaks easily. Fabrics have weave. Etc.

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The thing being that if it is one material there should be something you can muto it into that you can then use craft magic to restore to new. Also given that there was no particle board in Medieval Europe I have to believe something that un-mutos back into wood would have grain and the basic properties of wood as they knew it, though "close" finesse rolls could leave weird situations like boards that appear to have been cut from a tree against the grain.