On Features, Focuses and Fantastic Effects

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Mmmm.... Long title.

In Covenants pg. 121 under Magic Items for Laboratories it says that a Feature (and thus a Focus) can be enchanted as a Magic Item, and that a Magic Item can be turned into a Feature (Focus). I am planning a Magical Forge. Thinking either medium or large, and of base metal, so a score of 20 or a maximum 200 levels of effect. According to the ruels in covenants I could then add say +2 Safety, +2 General Quality, +1 Aesthetics, +5 Items and +5 Ignem. Well that's certainly nice... the damned thing'll come to cost me more'n what's decent. But, and this but is rather important; can this Magic Item give me some (or all) of these bonuses while at the same time giving me Virtues and/or Flaws? I'm thinking Greater Feature and Greater Focus as well as Magical Lighting and Magickal Heating. Would these Virtues and Flaws "cost" effect levels just as Specialities and Characteristics? Perhaps one could look at each of the Items effects and decide what each of them did. Say I gave it an effect like Heat of the Searing Forge, only slightly more powerful (base 5) give it touch (+1) unlimited uses (+10 lvls) concentration duration (+1) and item maintains concentration (+5 lvls) fianl lvl 30. Then i could use these levels to gain a bonus of +3 in Items. Or possibly Ignem, but certainly not Texts. Then I could give it a Lamp Without Light effect only with base 5, +1 Concentration, +10 levels for Unlimited Uses, +5 levels as Item maintains Concentration for a total of 25. Could this be translated into +1 Safety (as there is no chance of random papers catching fire) and Magical Lighting (as, well, that's what it does)? Id certainly call it logical, but it sort of smells broken...

Example:

Forge of Wonder:
Several Effects, a total of 200 levels.

Magical Heating (heating being one of its magical effects)
Magical Lighting (another effect, or more precisely; a side effect of it)
General Quality +2 (the magic offsets the lessened quality due to focus)
Safety +2 (no jumping sparks etc)
Aesthetics +1 (A very nice looking forge)
Ignem +5 (Powerful fire effects)
Items +5 (Aids in forging items)

Also: Consider a magical lamp (or a few of them actually) that shines for ever, whose brightness and heat can be adjusted by the Magus, it will count as bothe Magical Heating and Magical Lighting, but will it also (and this should be entirely logical) allow for a reduction in Upkeep? As an example -2 Upkeep. This is absed on the Defective Lighting and Defective Heating, both of whom gives a -1 Upkeep (makes a total of -2) due to less money being spent on candles and fuel. Well, using a magical lamp is the ultimate in energy saving isn't it? So this thingy should give two virtues in all as well as a -2 Upkeep. Its level would be something like base 10, +1 Concentration, 10 Unlimited use, 5 Maintains Concentration for a total of 30. Seems way easy. Maybe if one made more of them, and gave each one of the attributes, make three of them for a total level of 90. But they only work in conjunction... Still smells of broken to me. Hehe.

(btw, it's 0349 here, and I am exceedingly tired, so this rant probably isn't alltogether coherent... sorry :blush: )

EDIT: Forgot one of the main questions... If I then make this Item (which will take probably a year or so) must I then spend another two seasons just installing it? I know I was claiming this thing smelled broken earlier, but having to waste two seasons on something like that would be even worse... :confused:

2

If you wish having the magic lighting virtue in your lab I say go for the magic lamp option. The glow from the forge would not give you sufficient light to illuminate the whole lab. The light would come in an odd way if your magus is sitting in the opposite corner of the lab and reading a text. But I can agree that giving +1 on safety is good effect of your non-sparking forge. It will be a lot easier to have lab text close by. No burning precious lab texts.

I have no problem imagining the forge giving you bonus in items, perdo or ignem however I find it hard that I should give a bonus in general quality. Just give it a larger bonus in items or something else. Why do I then object to the general quality bonus? The forge doesn’t seem to be use full in all lab activities. I could most certainly agree that it’s hard to imagine any items that would but the covenant book suggest two items. The tireless servant and some form of distillation equipment. I posted two items somewhere else (on this forum) that was lab item. One thing was a distillation equipment the other one was an item that either would reduce upkeep or that would increase the general quality depending on how the magus would use it.

As an alternative on enchanting magical lamps, try enchant the whole ceiling so that it shines with magic light. That would give a great deal of illumination for the entire lab without you crafting a dozen magic lamps.

About the upkeep reduction. I could agree with you about that magic lighting and heating would lower the upkeep but I cant find in the book. But superior lighting and heating increase the upkeep but magic lighting and heating give the same effect without raising the upkeep cost and without taking up the space needed. I imagine that even if you have magic lighting and heating you would still need fuel an candles, for example you would probably need on the post light that your magic doesn’t provide and you would still need fuel for mundane distillation equipment and similar items. You could probably invent items that provide you with those improvements and thus reducing the upkeep.

Hope my thoughts where of any use to you.

/Max

3

I'm waiting the answer of other for it but I think that one of my player, a Verditius, is very interested. How many Vis do you want for the laboratory Text?

4

Hello

Just remembered that I think you are stuck with the two seasons of installing the feature/focus. Try to give the task to an apprentice any read a book while he or she works.

/Max