CrIg 20 - Upsetting the Humors R: Sight, D: Moon, T: Ind
The desert can be deadly event to the best prepared. This curse will heat a target to be warm to the touch. The spell was invented by a Flambeau that wanted to teach a lesson to some desert tribe guides that kept bragging about how they could live in the worst of the desert while he could not.
An object under the effect of this spell will be hot to the touch which can comfort you during a cold night. The curse is when cast on an individual during day time. No matter where you hide, how well prepared you are, you will be hot to the touch. With this persistent fever, you begin to lose your focus, then hallucinations kick in and if you do not ensure to keep well hydrated and limit yourself to rest, you may die!
In game terms, if an individual is under the effect of this spell, a debilitation roll is required daily with an ease factor of 9 or hourly with an ease factor of 9 plus one for each consecutive hour of exertion. Storytellers are encouraged to apply modifications to the roll such as if the victim is under the supervision of a physician, in cold water or in the middle of the desert during the zenith.
Wants a Corpus requiste at least, given that it's affecting the body quite directly. I'd say that a spell that makes someone uncomfortably hot would be CrIg, but giving them a fever-like symptom without corpus (at base 2, no less) is being a little bit cheeky.
Base 2: warm to the touch... If you want fever-hot, at least go with base 3.
If this worked, you could CrIg base4 to boil humans. Compare to p181 boiling water +3, complete immersion x4 = +12 damage which should be base10. So, 2 extra magnitude because humans aren't objects.
We sure can add extra magnetudes at the end for game balance but lets stick to guidelines for a second.
Why do you see a corpus requesite here? do you have an aquam requesite to boil water? Or terram to heat a rock or herbam to heat wood?
I opted for base 2 as a fever is define as to when you are hot to the touch. Atleast, that's what we all do right? Not sure if physitians had termomiters then ... Base 3 seemed to end up killing the victim too quickly.
I agree with the need for requisites, but personally believe this is a Corpus spell with a Ignum Requisite. you target is the body. That you are using Ignum add a Free Requsit (no additional magnitudes required).
I could see the opposing view (Ignum with Corpus requisite) having some traction as well, and I think some saga's will go one way or the other.
I will also note that you want some mental effects as well, which would require a Mentem requisite, and probably not a free one since this is an Additional effect (confusion).
Heat does not confuse you, sickness does. Yeah, i know sun stroke is caused by excessive heat, but that is modern science, not 1220 science.
I kinda dislike requisites in general these days as I find that they rarely add to the game. That being said, I agree that you could give most diseases using personal corpus but that is not the intention here. The spell simply heats a target to be warm to the touch. A lizard familiar will appreciate the gesture while a rock will be comforting during a cold night and the hard working peasant will need to be bedded after a few hours to rest his magically sustained fever which is not really a fever as it is not a disease that is afflicting him.
I pretty sure that even in 3000BC they knew that heat could cause heat exhaustion... A good physician of 1220 would probably see that it is not actually a fever but a simple heat exhaustion and recommend rest and hydration for the day only to be baffled that the symptoms were still there the next day. That is probably when the good old blood letting would kick in If the troupe agrees, I'd even make it so that blood letting actually stops the spell... Just for flavor.
For these cases, I would go with similar guidelines for Aquam: to destroy water on a person has no requisite, to destroy water in a person most certainly does. For the majority of heat-related spells, the on/in divide is irrelevant - a metal blade that is hot to touch is hot to touch.
But the main reason I would reject this spell is you're not looking to warm them, you're looking to give them a medical condition. Medical conditions are firmly in the Corpus camp. This is why I would not let the spell fly in my saga.
If it were my saga, I would offer a compromise effect. Something that made people have to make long-term fatigue rolls for being uncomfortably hot, for example.
Anyway, individual SGs can make whatever call they want on this. I would say no, but I'm not SGing your game.
And incidentally, to make water instantly boil is Rego Aquam.
If you skip the bit about thinking of it like a fever I think it's fine. Creo Ignem can pump heat into any object without the need for Requisites. So rather then thinking of it like a Fever with the heat coming from within think of it like a personal magical sauna or one of those hot boxes in old prison films. Someone in those would be hot to the touch compared to someone who wasn't.
Mechanically the spell would still have the same effect. Still making rolls to avoid debilitation.
The key difference would be the heat would be of obviously unnatural origin, rather than mistaken for a natural occurance. So while the mechanics may be similar (I'd go with rolls vs. long term fatigue for being unnaturally hot), the results are decidedly not.
If obvious magic isn't an issue, then technically the two effects are very similar. I see the distinction between 'unnaturally hot' and 'has a medical condition' being quite an important one, however.
I would say the person under the effects of the spell could notice the difference. And anyone with medical knowledge would have a good chance of noticing, including a lot of commoners and wise folk who have to deal with fever all the time. Beyond that it's an argument in special effects and rubber magic explanations. Though I like the idea of a haze of heat and disturbed air around the target.
Speaking as a person who has had a fever and who has been in a sauna, the two sensations of heat are very different. Chances are most village wise-women, if not peasants themselves, could work out that the effect is caused by an external malignant force. What they do about it from there is where the real fun starts.
Against a peasant, chances are slim much will happen. However, if cast against a knight or potent mundane who has connections, chances are much higher that they will either:
a) come knocking at the covenant door demanding an explanation
or
b) come knocking at the convenat door asking for help dealing with the curse
If the person actually has a fever, it's much less likely it'll be traced back to / cause problems for the magi.
As an aside, the 'I need you to...' came across a bit strong. You don't need me to. As mentioned earlier, YSMV. I'm only giving you my reasons why I wouldn't allow it in my saga. I'm not running your saga, so my voice carries no weight there.
If the troupe agrees, I'd even make it so that blood letting actually stops the spell... Just for flavor.