requisite's-inteligo animal(herbam) 25
duration-inst
target-food
range-sight
effect-you instantly know if the food in front of you is legal according to jewish dietary laws!
tell me what you think of this spell & how it might be used in a adventure.
First, why is there a herbam req?
Kosher food means it's bloodless, generally. Although technically, the laws on that are more complex, most sagas are unlikely to go into too much more detail on that, since while it was persecuted, at the time, a kosher character could still acquire food from his fellows in the faith. I suppose the herbam requisite comes into play if you want to go for the full laws on Kosher food.
There is no 'Target: Food'. You're looking for Target: Individual, in this case. Target: Individual affects the entire dish, going by the comparative guideline in Imeg, (Taste of the herbs and spices).
Range: Sight is correct, if mildly excessive. Does your mage need to be able to spot the kosher food from the top of the tower 4 miles away? Use range voice, it lowers the spell level without losing the effect.
Up the duration to concentration... it's not that costly.
Note that your original level was wrong anyway. you only need a base 3 intellego spell.
Base 3 (detect the mundane property's of an animal. This extends to the mundane properties of an animal product, such as food.)
+1 for complexity (particular properties compared to magus' knowledge of what is Kosher. Magus needs Jewish Lore to be able to check successfully. Roll against Hebrew lore, perhaps?)
+1 for Requisite (herbam)
+3 for Range Sight.
3+1+1 = 5. 5+(3*5)=20.
What I suggest is a Base 3 spell.
Detection of the Religious Preparations. (25, Int Ani (Herb)
Base 3.
+1 Complexity
+1 Requisite
+2 Range Voice
+1 Duration Concentration
3+1+1 = 5. 5+(15)+(25)=20.
Detects the food's state, preparation wise. This includes whether it has been blood let, where it came from, whether the utensils were correct, etc. All mundane properties of the food. The magus must still be able to identify whether these are sacraments by their own faith's lore or the appropriate faith's lore, using appropriate skills. Hence duration concentration, as the magus must have time to work out these facts.
I can see it being used. Especially since there are both the Iberian and Levant tribunals, both of which have large Islamic populations, and while Halal and Kosher are not exactly the same thing, they are similar enough that a magus from an Islamic background could use this spell for checking his food just as easily. However, it's not that hard to fool it, if someone were so inclined (though doing so would be caucus beli for Wizards War).
Edit: also spotted another flaw after posting. Which part of the food isn't kosher? It's treating the whole meal as one item, so you can't know. As such, someone can ruin your whole meal with a tiny slipup or on purpose act.
Second edit. Traditionally, Rabbi's have upheld the idea that as Christianity stems from the Hebrew faith, foods prepared by Christians (and presumably Muslims, for similar reasons) are acceptable by that portion of their creation as Kosher.
Hi,
Because some aspects of kashrut apply to Herbam. There aren't many, but there are a few.
No, it doesn't. Not even close.
Here's where things get really iffy: Is kashrut a mundane property? YMMV. Also, if different rabbis have different opinions about what is kosher, should a Hermetic spell be able to sort it out? I don't think so.
In a similar way, Hermetic magic ought easily to detect whether a man who confesses his sin is truly repentant, but a magus should probably should not be able to cast a spell on a target to determine that he is in a state of grace, having confessed to a real priest.
....
I think this is close to the mark, revealing mundane properties and forcing the magus to decide what they signify. The spell misses some critical items, though. For certain preparations, for example, if a non-Jew was involved, the food isn't kosher. Knowing about the utensils requires the utensils to be targeted: A different spell.
If cast on a meal, the spell is Group.
[/quote]
No, no, no. Traditionally, rabbis have (quietly but firmly, and sometimes not quietly enough) upheld the idea that Christianity is polytheism, what with its trinity and statues and icons, that it stems from Judaism in the sense that a tumor stems from an otherwise healthy body, and that non-Jews cannot be trusted with preparing food, except under supervision and in some cases not even then.
Hermetic magic is great for preparing kosher food:
PeAn cleans every trace of animal matter from a target vessel, allowing it to be used alternately for meat and dairy dishes. PeHe(An) is great for making pots kosher, either after they have been made treif (not kosher) or especially for Passover (which has stricter rules).
ReHe prevents dough from rising, allowing matzo to be prepared at a leisurely pace.
MuTe not only sharpens a grog's sword, but also a shochet's butcher knife, for that perfectly smooth cut.
Someone drop a bit of pork in your pot of kosher food? PeAn to get rid of all the pig stuff. Or a numerologist's InAn, to detect whether there is less than 1/60th, keeping it technically kosher.
InAn is also great for checking the health of the animal just before slaughter, and after.
PeAn gets rid of blood even better than salting!
Anyway,
Ken
No, no, no. Traditionally, rabbis have (quietly but firmly, and sometimes not quietly enough) upheld the idea that Christianity is polytheism, what with its trinity and statues and icons, that it stems from Judaism in the sense that a tumor stems from an otherwise healthy body, and that non-Jews cannot be trusted with preparing food, except under supervision and in some cases not even then.
Hermetic magic is great for preparing kosher food:
PeAn cleans every trace of animal matter from a target vessel, allowing it to be used alternately for meat and dairy dishes. PeHe(An) is great for making pots kosher, either after they have been made treif (not kosher) or especially for Passover (which has stricter rules).
ReHe prevents dough from rising, allowing matzo to be prepared at a leisurely pace.
MuTe not only sharpens a grog's sword, but also a shochet's butcher knife, for that perfectly smooth cut.
Someone drop a bit of pork in your pot of kosher food? PeAn to get rid of all the pig stuff. Or a numerologist's InAn, to detect whether there is less than 1/60th, keeping it technically kosher.
InAn is also great for checking the health of the animal just before slaughter, and after.
PeAn gets rid of blood even better than salting!
Anyway,
Ken
[/quote]
ken you have the jest of what I was going with this spell.
it was meant to be cast by jewish magi mostly though.
Actually, it is target individual, as per the only other spell affecting a DISH of food being Taste of the herbs and spices, which affects a serving of food. I agree that if you target the entire thing it is served from, it's group, but an individual portion is individual.
any non-food based spells to help the jewish magi?
Hi,
For a dish, sure. For a meal? Like, say, a meal that starts with a goblet of wine, then some bread with salt, then some gefilte fish, then a bowl of chicken soup followed by the main course, which consists of generous helpings of chicken, cold cuts, a side of carrots with raisins, and another of pudding, followed by dessert?
Anyway,
Ken
that is a group of food if I ever heard one.