^^ That, combined with my normal quietness and emotional grumpiness.
Iapetus needs to spend some time studying basic utility spells methinks. Like Palm of Flame, and Hey I'm Blonde. And an amusing thing is that Iapetus hasn't actually declared the reason he joined this covenant. He should find some time to speak with Sophronia sometime... but the poor Tytalus is so easily distracted.
Starting tomorrow I'll be away from my home until next Tuesday, but will likely be able to check and post, just with less frequency and might not have all my books.
I'm debating a house rule to eliminate Size modifiers for Personal range magic. I understand the reasoning for it, from the design standpoint, but it doesn't pass the final "does this make sense in context" test (much like the Red Dot). Any thoughts on the matter?
First thing that hit my mind when I read this was Fiona going "F^@k yeah!"
But I agree, having to take a size modifier for spells that you cast on yourself is counter-intuitive. After all, if you spend a season inventing the spell, you would have taken the fact that you're half Giant into account.
As far as Spontaneous magic goes, I'm torn but leaning toward ending the size modifier (by about two degrees). On the one hand, my above argument would apply. On the other hand, everything you're taught about Corpus magic says that it only works up to a point, and that you spend a season inventing a spell (e.g. Fiona's Aura of Ennobled Presence) to work around that core concept.
So, I'm thinking Yes on Personal Formulaic Spells, and Maybe on Personal Spontaneous Spells.
I wouldn't differentiate between formulaic and spontaneous magic. Either Personal magic is a constant difficulty regardless of size, or it isn't.
I'm leaning towards ditching it altogether, the more I think on it. Small people don't take more damage from Corpus, or are any easier to affect, than size 0 people. So it's not consistent that target size is specific in spell design.
If I may play Devil's Advocate for a minute...pretty much all the Form descriptions state that you don't get a bonus for trying to affect something smaller than the base amount. That being said, the more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to agree that it is counter-intuitive to not be able to affect yourself with your own spells just because you're too big.
Anyone else have an opinion before I make a decision?
Remember, what works for the PCs works for the NPCs too!
That letter was half-written in my browser cache for a REALLY long time. Sorry it took so long to finish it and post it 
That's okay, I got a few out-loud chuckles out of it.
4th Ed 
Although I do like the change for Archery 
.
Totally agree on the premise, slightly differ on the conclusions: IMO, it's the spell to become Matt Damon that's wrong.
A good exemple of simple MuCo personnal, target individual spell is "trick of the succubus". It changes your sex (one change only), affect your whole body (so no part), but you still looks like you.
A spell to change your skin color to a specific color would probably use the same parameters, just like a spell to change all your body hair color to a specific one(thus, I agree with you on this). Both are all-encompassing changes, and broad changes, but limited to changing one thing only. And you still look like you, otherwise 
Now, IMO, a spell design specifically to allow you to look like a specific person might work in the same way. I may be wrong (There's a spell like it in MoH, I shall have to check), but I usually tends to trade specificity for power.
But a spell like "disguise of the new visage", allowing you to tailor the changes, but working on the whole body? Same parameters, add one magnitude for affecting multiple parts, which makes the spell to change your appearance as you wish within the same mass lvl 15 (although impersonnificating a specific person would require finesse to get things exactly right, unlike a "tailored" spell).
That was me, ranting 
The evident solution is, rather than change the whole system, to rule that, at chargen, a character can have Corpus spells with an added magnitude for size (these must be reasonnably common), and allow Fiona to change her spells retroactively.
This makes more sense, IMO, and also lets you take damaging corpus spells.
Edit: Now that I think of it, this could be a great Research project for her!!!
Players already have the ability to customize their spells at character creation (including size adjustments), and it doesn't address the issue that size magnitude requirements on personal spells, do not pass the final "Does This Make Sense" test.
I'll wait for a weigh-in from qc, since it's ultimately his character that'd be affected.
OK, I'm back. So sorry I was not able to post. I followed a bit from where I was, but I could not log in. I'll go through the debates presented regarding size, it definitely is an issue dear to me. I think that Giant size does provide a heck of a benefit, Sinmore might have been killed earlier on if she was any smaller. At the same time it does make magic tougher. I'll weigh in shortly.
Alright, I'm back and even though this basically reinforces certain disadvantages, I'm not in favor of changing any rules just because of size. There is a major virtue that allows for that (Flexible Formulaic) and making a change lessens the power and value of that a bit (even though I'm not sure anyone has it).
Having said that, I'd have no problem if a Virtue were built that allowed for that (the ability to have an easier time casting spells at Personal range) and a Mystery that perhaps could lead to it. Based on what I saw in the discussion, it might need two levels or perhaps just one (it's only powerful to Giant blooded and perhaps shapechangers) to cover both fomulaic and spontaneous.
When presented with a quandary like this I tend to favor the rules as written, and then use the rules as written again to develop a story based alternative, which I think this would be. Creating Virtues and Mysteries is I think the better route.
???
I don't understand you.
On the contrary, to me, it makes sense that, barring any special power, a corpus spell would work the same way, whatever the range.
If a spell that didn't work on you because you're too big, reinvented just with a shorter range, would suddenly work "just because", it is then that it doesn't make sense.
On the same way, say, you have a personnal Endurance of the berserkers whichs works just fine, you reinvent it at Touch Range, and, suddenly, the new spell doesn't work on you or on similar sized targets? This is inconsistent.
The "doesn't make sense" isn't in the rule, IMO. It's in the character that would begin with Personnal spells that are useless to him
=> Let her retroactively change her spells so that she can be affected, and everythin's fine
BTW, I'm very interested about the customisation thingie. If it isn't a HR, could you give me the reference, please?
Yup.
And we get back to my previous idea.
She could engage in Original Research, searching for a kind of limited Flexible Formulaic Magic that allowed her to add one magnitude to any corpus spell in order to affect greater size corpus targets. This seems a nice goal for her, and, if successful, one that would give her an edge against opponents and a trade tool with other giant magi.
No more so than having a healing spell at Touch range that works on other people but not on yourself.
In that event, it would work on you, and it would work on everyone who isn't a giant, whom you touch.
It's not a house rule, per se, but post-gauntlet advancement is season by season, which can be used to invent spells, and those can be designed however the player wishes, so long as they make sense, and are within the character's capabilities.
Back to qc's original post-- since it ultimately affects his character, he does get veto power. We can definitely have a minor virtue/mystery that allows Giants to be able to affect themselves with magic at no added magnitude for size.
I'd like to go with that. I think it could make for some very cool stories as Sinmore perhaps researches her roots. Maybe consulting with an entity like Loki (or claiming to be Loki) might allow her to bridge the limits of magic.
From Death and Taxes thread, posted here because I'm not in that one and don't want to have my snide comments in the way.
We totally just discussed the magic of changing hair color in our other thread. Amusing, isn't it?
Err... No.
You forget that it doesn't work on any BIG target, which is consistent. Try it on any giant, be it you or someone else, it won't work.
And it's not just healing spells. It's EVERY corpus spell. Everything works according to the same basic rule. No exceptions. It does make sense that, if you're too big a target to be affected by one basic individual corpus spell, you'd be too big for every basic individual corpus spell.
Ah, it seems I did not understand you well.
I thought your idea was for range: personnal Corpus spells to ignore size restrictions, while it is in fact that Corpus spells cast by yourself on yourself ignore these?
Well, I don't understand how you can find "normal size Corpus spells don't work on giants, save when cast by a giant on himself" more consistent than "normal size corpus spells don't work on giants", but it must be me...
Ah, of course.
I had understood "at character creation" to mean that in the strict sense, as not every character will begin with some years post-gauntlet. Too bad 
Yet, it is still possible to retroactively allow the change.
Same thing here. I thought Original research, but it works just as well with integration of ancient secrets
An advice, though: try to avoid the "one short story later, and it's done". It was done to me once by a GM who thought well by giving me what my character wanted, and it just felt lame, and diminished his accomplishment, making it so trivially easy that we were left wondering why it wasn't commonplace.
And your conclusions?