Does using the special power associated with Mythic Blood require any Concentration rolls to cast Hermetic spells ?
For instance, say the special power is "Winds of Soaring Wind", or other flying effect.
Normally, according to the spell description, you need to maintain Concentration to avoid falling out of the sky. So that should distract from casting Hermetic spells. But as much as if it were a maintained spell?
And what happens if your mage is maintaing a spell and yet wants to fly? the special power is activatable at will, so no Concentration roll required?
According to the core book, "Invoking this feat takes as long as fast-casting a mastered formulaic spell (see page 87), and requires the same level of concentration."
Without my rules in front of me, I seem to have forgotten that bit from the rule book.
Well, that certainly answers this question:
Are you implying that the special power has all the Concentration requirements of normal spellcasting ? So it will also attempts to cast Hermetic spells to the same level as if the special power was a cast Hermetic spell?
It is getting difficult to design a Hoplite who believes maintaining aerial supremacy is the key to winning.
If you want to avoid concentration, just design a spell with Diameter and fast-cast it often, or a spell with sun for an extra magnitude and less worry about restarting the flight spell.
Isn't the issue the suggestion flying is somewhat unnatural and challenging to do, so it's not maintaining the spell, it's maintaining ones thought when travelling at unimaginable speeds with the wind whipping past you?
Wings of the Soaring Wind requires concentration checks because it has a concentration duration. Without a concentration duration, it would only require a Finesse check at high speed levels which is mostly to direct your path rather than maintain the spell. Spellcasting while flying probably requires a concentration check if you're moving, just like casting while walking/running requires a concentration check. If hovering in the air, I don't see why it would require a concentration check while being still on the ground doesn't. However, duration concentration does come with its challenges, namely that you usually want to stick to just the spell you're maintaining until you get to the point where you have a high skill in concentration, or can rego/muto vim your way out of that problem. Those challenges are a reason I frequently invent diameter versions instead.
Hovering in place is difficult, and requires a Finesse roll against an ease factor of 9 per round.
If you need to make one Finesse roll per round, your magus can't cast another spell at that time without a solid Concentration roll. Failing at any one of them has the magus at the mercy of the SG.
EDIT: A ReCo base level 15 "Move a target quickly in any direction you please" with R: Per, D: Diam, T: Ind gets level 20, with D: Sun level 25. Such spells, that don't need to control gusts of wind, should allow a magus to hover more easily.
Thank you for quoting that. It does make sense that the Creo Auram approach would have such issues given it may require a more precise control to have "just enough wind". I'd recommend looking up alternatives such as Mercury's Winged Sandals, which have less issues with hovering.
