[New spells] Caltrops and Marbles

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Hi all

We haven't designed very many original spells in our Troupe although I'm constantly trying to renew our Grimoires. My new Magus (who has yet to enter play) has both a knack for inventing original spells, but also what seems to be a compulsion to do so :slight_smile:

Could you guys please help me with the following spells:

Glass Beads of the Magus in Flight
Creo Terram 15
R: Touch, D: Diameter, T: Group
Scores of glass beads (or sphere-shaped stone pebbles) flow from the caster's sleeves for a few seconds tumbling to the ground. Anyone passing through an area covered with such beads must make a Dexterity + Atheletics 9+ to avoid falling flat on the ground. The following circumstances may modify the difficulty of said roll; Hard surface +3 (stone floor), Soft surface -3 (soft ground), Even surface +3 (wooden boards), Uneven surface -3 (forest bed), Enclosed space +3 (hallway), Open space -3 (open on all sides), Fast movement +3 (running), Careful movement -3 (tip-toing). More than one of the above may apply to the same roll. Additional modifications may apply such as a bonus to the roll from the Perfect Balance virtue, or a penalty for someone being shoved into the area, attempting to make a 90 degree turn or being similarly unbalanced.
[tab][/tab]Originally invented by Cargan of Ex-Miscellanea when being chased down a flight of stairs in a Keep tower. Cargan poured the round stone pebbles onto one of the floor landings, and hurried down the next flight. The guards giving chase soon caught up with him, and actually passed him on the staircase - tumbling down the hard stone steps.
(Base 3 - Create 1 cubic pace of glass or stone, Touch +1, Diameter +1, Group +2)

The situation discribed in the flavour text would require a Dexterity + Atheletics 21+, owing to the Hard and Even stone floor, the Enclosed space and the Fast movement of the guards, but this is a situation of optimal use. Using the spell on an open corn field would probably be to no avail. Even if you succesfully led your victims across the area the difficulty would be no more than 0+, being practically useless as the beads would just be pressed into the soft, uneven ground.

What do you think about the Difficulty and the modifications to it? I went for +/-3 modifications since that seems in tune with the game, but I realized that the Rego Terram spell Earth Shock uses 2-point steps... Also should the difficulty start at 6+ instead?
What about the actual spell level? Do I need a magnitude for perfectly round and smooth beads/pebbles?

Cantrip of Conjured Caltrops
Creo Terram 15
R: Touch, D: Diameter, T: Group
A series of sharp stone shards (or pieces of glass) pour from the casters palm in a steady flow for the duration of the spell. If not moving these shards land at his feet in a rough pile, but if he moves along a path he will create a trail of caltrops behind him. Anyone passing through such an area will take +5 points of damage from the cutting of the stones, double that if barefooted. The damage might be higher if the victim falls flat into such an area, especially if something heavy lands on top of them. Anyone damaged so by passing through such an area will have their speed halved for the round (unless he 'ends his movement' in the area). If the victim is aware of the danger, he may tip-toe through the area without suffering any damage, limiting his speed to a handfull of paces per round, with a succesfull Dexterity + Athletics roll of 9+.
[tab][/tab]Cargan later developed a less discrete variant using range Voice and Concentration duration. As a result of his dislike of horses Cargan has never learned how to ride, and thus often found himself letting enemies on horseback escape him being unable to keep up the pace. He invented this spell to wound the horses; slowing them down, tripping them or sometimes making them throw of their rider. After catching up he would focus on beating the rider (and possibly the horse) bloody, without fear of stepping on the hazardous shards himself.
(Base 3 - Create 1 cubic pace of glass or stone, Touch +1, Diameter +1, Group +2)

Again I would like comments on the level. When I think about caltrops I usually picture them made of metal, but since these are not for car tires, glass shards or sharp stones should be enough, right? In addition to not having to spend another 2 magnitudes on upgrading to iron, I would like to use Cargans Focus on stone. And similar to the other spell design, would I need a magnitude for the shape/sharpness? The damage is totally random btw, just grasped out of thin air - do you deem it 'correct'?

... I just realized my character might not survive for long; for some reason it seems he expects to be chased a lot :stuck_out_tongue:

2

Two comments on the marbles spell.

First of all, if I recall correctly, there was a spell in the Wizard's Grimoire (original or revised edition?) that did something like that, maybe with pearls.

Second, I think you are making it too easy to trip. Unless the floor is hard, you will not trip on the marbles -- you should have no chance of tripping (save on a botch) if they are scattered on a forest floor. If the floor is hard, anyone who's aware of the marbles can avoid falling by moving at a brisk walking pace -- just drag your feet shoving the marbles out of the way.

3

Thanks I'll try to find it. I've only got the revised edition (4th right?).

Thats why I made the example where the difficulty was 0+, showing that for many situations only a botch would cause tripping. On a forest floor you are likely to have open space to maneuver, soft ground and an uneven surface reducing the difficulty by -9. I'm not saying that you're not right though. I suggested lowering the difficulty to 6+ myself, which might solve the problem? Or would you like the discription to mention specifically that the spell has no effect at all on soft ground areas?
I just realized that I forgot to add the '-3' after Slow movement (I'll just correct that), but I guess you figured that out and that it was not the cause of your concern. Maybe moving slowly should reduce the difficulty by -6 instead... or again, would you prefer the description to include that anyone aware of the hazard taking the right precautions would not have to roll?

4

I'd like it better that way: less math, and fewer cases where the results may be unrealistic. Something like:
Anyone on a hard smooth surface completely covered with these marbles, who is either unaware of the marbles or tries to move faster than walking, needs to make a Dex+Athletics roll of 9+ every round to avoid tripping and falling.

Unless you have a preference for Terram, I'd note that you can achieve the same effect, on a larger area, with fewer limitations on the underlying surface and a lower final level -- using Creo Aquam to create a layer of smooth ice, half an inch thick, on a surface up to 50 paces by 50 paces (a base Individual of Aquam). The final effect would only be level 5: Base 3 (create Aquam spread over a surface) +1 Touch +1 Diam. In our saga a Flambeau apprentice used a variant of this, with Duration reduced to Momentary and +2 magnitudes for size (total level 10, cast spontaneously) to completely break a charge of several hundred knights on the field of battle.

5

ThereĀ“s also the option of using MuTe to make the ground unnaturally slippery.

6

I agree. And this could even be possible starting with a very low base using mud, and would work on uneven surfaces to.
I intentionally took the colourfull and slightly comic route though :slight_smile: Also I'd like to do as many things as possible within the focus on 'Stone'.

7

Mud would need some depth to it to be really effective, if you just make the surface super-slippery, you can affect a larger area, and by using Muto you can at the same time turn the ground surface into stone and get the focus bonus as well. :wink:

8

Aaah, altering the surface to become unnaturally slippery - rather than adding something to the surface that makes people fall. Please, I invite you to post such a spell here. I assume you would use MutoTerram Base 3 - Change dirt into stone, combined with another MutoTerram Base 3 - Change dirt so that it is highly unnatural. Range Touch or Voice depending on the spell's application; Duration Diameter (or Concentration for ambush-like setups); and target Part - all seem fairly given. And since stone is the upper limit we get to 'create/change to' 1 cubic pace (enough for a 4x4 pace area with a thickness of two inches), but we get to 'destroy/change from' using dirts large 10 cubic pace mass to transform enough dirt to even out the surface area, right? Or how did you picture it?

9

Uhm, lol you practically wrote out the spell already... :smiley:
1 cubic pace and we dont need to even out the surface, itĀ“s actually even better with it uneven as that gives lots of places to slip on.

The advantage of the spell as i thought it is that you dont need any specific thickness for it to work(unless the ground is VERY soft, then you need enough for the altered surface not to break).
So, even if you leave plenty enough depth, you can still probably quadruple that area. And of course if you want to go munchkin, you say itĀ“s more like <1mm thick. :smiling_imp:

The result is basically a spell similar to one someone here used, but instead with the effect of turning the surface supersticky, aka instant flypaper for people. :mrgreen:

Mmm lets see then, Base 3+1 for added effect, +1 Diameter(or Conc), +2 Voice(or +1 for Touch), +1 Part, a nice little level 20 spell, not bad. Using Touch you can get a Sun Duration if needed, not bad at all.
I would consider making a Target Group version as well to allow for a large area effect.
Might want to have both the slippery and the sticky version as well. Both useful.

10

:smiley: I actually meant the discriptive text of the spell. I would like for someone else to try to stat out the effects of such slipperyness, to compare it to my own leager attempts.

Could you share a link to this, I don't recall seing it in here?

I agree.
Muto (and Rego) Terram is his speciality so he could actually spont such a spell straight from Gauntlet (since it fits his focus). Thats why I'm looking for usefull new spells within Terram - the more the marrier, as he can expect to spont most of the low level spells.

11

:smiley: I actually meant the discriptive text of the spell. I would like for someone else to try to stat out the effects of such slipperyness, to compare it to my own leager attempts.

Could you share a link to this, I don't recall seing it in here?

I agree.
Muto (and Rego) Terram is his speciality so he could actually spont such a spell straight from Gauntlet (since it fits his focus). Thats why I'm looking for usefull new spells within Terram - the more the marrier, as he can expect to spont most of the low level spells.

12

:smiley: I actually meant the discriptive text of the spell. I would like for someone else to try to stat out the effects of such slipperyness, to compare it to my own leager attempts.

Could you share a link to this, I don't recall seing it in here?

I agree.
Muto (and Rego) Terram is his speciality so he could actually spont such a spell straight from Gauntlet (since it fits his focus). Thats why I'm looking for usefull new spells within Terram - the more the marrier, as he can expect to spont most of the low level spells.

13

:smiley: I actually meant the discriptive text of the spell. I would like for someone else to try to stat out the effects of such slipperyness, to compare it to my own leager attempts.

Could you share a link to this, I don't recall seing it in here?

I agree.
Muto (and Rego) Terram is his speciality so he could actually spont such a spell straight from Gauntlet (since it fits his focus). Thats why I'm looking for usefull new spells within Terram - the more the marrier, as he can expect to spont most of the low level spells.

14

Ah, the fluff part... Sorry thatĀ“s the part i almost never write because i totally and utterly suck pathetically at it.

ThatĀ“s because itĀ“s not online in any shape or form, it may be somewhere in my gamenotes but it wasnĀ“t me creating it so i doubt it. But itĀ“s a very neat spell that can double as making it possible to climb any surface with a little care.

Oh but then, definitely use the sticky one as well. Use the Group Target and either Conc or Sun Duration and you have a pair of nice spells. And using them as formulaic means you should have enough penetration for them to be effective.

And i see you too had a little run-in with the forum software. :mrgreen:

15

Nice, thanks for the comments and inspiration Direwolf!

True, I actually made 3 or 4 attempts to post that one- apparently 2 of those succeeded :laughing:

16

I counted 4 when I first saw them... :unamused: