Voices of the Unseen Enclosure
Intellego Terram
level 20
Herbam requisite
R: Personal, D: Sun, T: Hearing
This spell allows the magi to hear the location of surrounding walls, floors and ceilings, permitting them to navigate through the structure without otherwise perceiving them. Note that they can only hear the enclosures which they could otherwise see and each 'voice' is identifiably different. This spell cannot function outside a structure.
(Base +2, +2 Sun, +3 Hearing, +1 Herbam requisite)
This is my first genuinely original spell under the 5th edition rules (rather than adapting an existing spell) and I'd appreciate any feedback.
Well, I imagine this spell touches upon one of the major issues with teh hermetic system. the limit iof arcane connections stipulates:
... Hermetic magic cannot afect an unsensed object without an arcane connection. .... [SNIP] Intellego can determine if there are people behind a wall the magus can see. (main rules p.80)
Although Intellego is allowed to circumvent the rules a little this particular spell seems a bit generous.
I would also be inclined to suggest a base level of 4 'See an object in its surroundings' (p.153)
Just my thoughts of course, interestde in what others have to say.
I chose to work from a base of 2 because level 2 usually allows one to "Learn one visible property of an object..." I decided an object's location would be such a visible property. I also noted that intellego herbam 2 permits one to "locate a plant" (and by extension plant based products, such as wooden doors). Extrapolating from that it seemed level 2 was a good place to start.
Indeed level 4 seemed to both be too much and not quite enough. I can hear myself saying "yes you can see the surroundings of your diamond pendant but it's dark so all you see is darkness..." and at the same time I wanted to focus on hearing as the primary sense provided by the spell. The fact that a spell based upon seeing from level 4 would become level 35 didn't exactly endear me to it.
I am aware of the limit of arcane connections but as one can use intellego to perceive behind a wall that one can see one should also be able to use it to perceive the location of the walls of a structure that one knows one is within.
I like level 2. I'm a bit hesitant with this spell (as I am with eyes of the bat) with giving perfect vision from audio information, so your specification of "can navigate" sits very well with me.
The restriction about the spell working only indoors is great. I think that most spells should have a cool restriction rather than taking advantage of the guidelines as if one were a lawyer arguing for one's client.
I still have quite the interest for spells for the visually impaired (still having an unfinished project of a blind magus) and this spell might fit him too.
I dont think the level or the effect is unreasonable or any way generous. Just take a look at the InAu Eye of the Bat spell - it does the same, just better.
Kaiser you are missing one very important fact. The target of the spell is not the walls. The target is in this case the hearing of the caster himself, so the limit of AC is not the least bit relevant. Even if the Target:Sense spell often require a sort of leap of logics, I've struggled with that when thinking of Target:Sense spells, as one has to imagine that a wall can be heard. The real tricky question then is how to figure out the limitation of the various senses - an InTe spell making solid matter audible to the target must raise the question of how "loud" a wall is and from what distance it could be heard.
As for the spell I might suggest that you raise the base to 4 - not due to the "see an object"-part but due to the "Learn one mundane property" which actually coincides with the base level of Eyes of the Bat. I would however also argue that even if a Herbam requisite might be sensible, and thus influence the Casting Score, I wouldn't say it enhances the effect enough to add a magnitude. In total it would then be Base 4, Sun +2, Hearing +3 = level 25). I know the Forms doesn't need to balance individual spell by individual spell, but on the other hand it should put most worries aside when it is around the same level as a somewhat similar effect (even if more powerful) with another Form.
I agree and I also think that "can navigate" is a better description than when Eyes of the Bat allows one to "move about confidently".
I also think that with these spells, where the target experiences very unusual, maybe even unsettling, sensory input, that is important to distinguish between what the spell objectively allows the person to do and what the person is subjectively able to do. Without making this into a question of seasons or experience points I do think that a person used to this effect should be able to make much more of it than a person not used to it. Moving and navigating by the use of your ears, even being dependent on it on a daily basis, should make you better able to take advantage of this magically enhanced sense. To the first-timer it should be a wierd or harrowing experience and moving should be more in the lines of stumbling...
That, however, also leaves plenty of room for interesting effects, descriptions, scenes and plottwists.
I was wondering whether this effect couldn't be done by using Target:Structure as well. In that case the challenges for the person moving about would be somewhat different, than with the ongoing adaptive use of hearing.
IIRC T:Structure and T:Hearing are equivalent. Yet again I chose my words carefully; I see the spell working equally well indoors, in caves and even in a castle's courtyard but definitely not out in a meadow or the depths of a forest (although an equivalent spell reversing the focus on Herbam and Terram, Voices of the Unseen Forest, would be interesting).
