I've now finally got round to creating something. And i'd like some feedback. As far as i can see its all legal but comments are always helpful. Also i still have the problem that a level 15 PeCo spell instantly destroys them wasting all those seasons in the lab. I clearly need to do something about this. But i don't know what. Any ideas are welcome.
This skeletons are created as magic items and have 4 effects. Obviously these are quite a time investment but they are very nasty.
Skeletal Guardians
These sinister creatures are human skeletons animated by Tenebrous magic and enchanted with a number of powerful effects. Typically these skeletons are clothed as humans wearing chainmail over dark leather. Their heads and hands are swaddled in dark cloth similar to the way that lepers shroud themselves and they wear long cloaks. Tenebrous is often accompanied by a pair of these who act as his bodyguards.
Animate the Dead
ReCo(Me)20
This effect animates the skeletons and gives them the ability to follow simple verbal instructions from Tenebrous. Wary of his enemies, Tenebrous has enchanted the skeletal guardians to follow ONLY his commands.
(base 10, +2 sun)
+1 for 2 casts a day (permanent effect)
+3 environmental trigger (permanent effect)
+3 Only usable by Tenebrous
Total: 27
Vis used: 3
Hide from Mortal Alarm
PeIm10
This effect allows the Skeletal Guardians to become invisible to hide from mundanes. Typically Tenebrous uses this to appear alone when he isn’t or to escape situations not of his choosing. In combat this turns the guardians into invisible terrors.
(base 4, +1 conc, +1 changing image)
+5 item maintains concentration
Total: 15
Vis Used: 2
Sap the Mortal Essence
PeCo20
This powerful effect triggers when the skeletal guardians strike anything. The spell saps life energy, leaving its victims with burst blood vessels, bruised tissue and shattered bones. Needless to say a few swipes for a guardian’s claws rapidly finish off most mortal targets. Each strike does a heavy wound.
(base 15, +1 touch)
+5 for 24 uses a day.
Total: 25
Vis used: 3
Try investing a waiting spell triggered to PeCo attack and a mirror of opposition (Corpus) so that the spell Dust to Dust could restore damage (at least for a day). The more PeCo cast on the Skeleton, the tougher it gets. That is really nasty.
If I were you I would use Ignem for damage because it would affect animals, too. Something like Wizard's Icy Grip.
I don't know if it worths to protect them too much. There are too many possibilities to kill them for a competent magus. It is enough if they provide a bonus turn. Their main defense is invisibility.
Enchant +2 sized skeletons and they will be immune against the most of Co spells.
If you are afraid they will be simply cannonfodders enchant maces with an effect 'make invisible itself and the person who hold it'. And enchant the attack spell on the mace, too. This way if they will be killed some way you can give the maces to another skeletons and you save a lot of work. And weapons give bonuses to hit and damage and this is also useful.
I was about to say something similar.
Why not instead creates a magical item that creates the skeletons and give them their powers? This'd solve most of your problems.
The question, as I see it, is what are you actually trying to do?
1 - You want to create true, magical undead.
2 - You want to create permanent animated corpses.
3 - You want to protect your minions from magical destruction.
These all overlap somewhat. The first is outside the bounds of normal Hermetic magic without insanely high-level CrCo spells, but would give magic resitance and they would be permanent. The second is easily acheivable simply by enchanting the corpse, as proposed, or creating them as Automata (which, save for the ability to imbue them with Abilities, are severely underpowered for their cost). The normal enchantments would be vulnerable to having their physical forms destroyed, as normal, but the automata would also have magic resistance. The third could be achieved by sticking a long-duration PeVi spell on them which (since you're targetting something more specific than just "Corpus magic" should dispell things more effectively than the normal baseline). Making it more specific also means your Sap The Mortal Essence works unhindered.
Another option is to find a spirit of the dead which can possess and animate corpses and bind it to your service - the corpses then have the spirit's Might for the duration of the possession, and destruction of the corpse doesn't cause you to lose your spirit.
Finally, normal Hermetic magic can bind spirits into things, and it is a normal function of bodies to be able to move, so a ReMe(Co) spell (probably base 15 or 20, taking into accound the +1 for the requisite[ReCo 10 to animate a corpse, ReMe5 to control a spirit]) should force a spirit to animate a corpse even if it normally cannot. Adding a magnitude would then allow animating unnatural or modified corpses. This is, of course, only as long lasting as the spell, but does mean that the spirit animating the corpse passes on the minor magic resistance.
I'm trying to avoid creating creatures from scratch as my PC's creo is only 5 Given that he is on the path of strife, its unlikely to get any higher.
Idid think about enchanting items to stick on the skeletons to avoid wasting all that time if they got destroyed, but my character is a necromancer, it seems more thematically appropriate that he would use the skeletons themselves. Also, his focus counts then
I thought about flaming mits of death for the skeletons and this would certainly give me more versatility, but again my arts are what they are, Cr 5, Ignem 7, Perdo 12, Corpus 17. I get much more bang for my buck with PeCo than with CrIg (or PeIG, although this works better).
Now i do like the +2 size skeletons idea. I was hoping to keep them human size to aid mobility, also i only know one living person with size +2 and he is a fellow PC in my characters covenant. Can't really kill him for his skeleton.
Harrison, I love the idea but i just read the muto Vim guidelines and it specifically says that MuVi cannot alter a spell once cast. Thats why you have to fast cast, its not to intercept spells but the change them as they cast. Hence a waiting ward would have to trigger while the attacking spell is being cast, not when it affects the skeleton (when it HAS been cast). Shame because its an excellent idea.
Given that he is on the path of strife, its unlikely to get any higher.
