I'm thinking of this for a defensive item, which is then enchanted for +5 for 24 uses a day. Final effect MuTe/Au20. My idea is that any attackers can be targeted, which will stop a charge or wreck a horse's movement.
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I'll add a few more as I draft them.
Looks useful. Even more useful with a +1 size modifier, although I don't think you have the lab total, sadly (I make it Int 3 + MT 9 + Aura 6 + Mu 21 + Au 0 + IG 3 = 42? Which would only give two uses per day, unless you dropped it to voice, or spent a season with the Auram summa).
Agreed, more size would be great, and I suppose it does not need to be R: Sight.
I was also thinking of these for the guardsmen. The idea is that the pins can be used by many different grogs each day, and be stored in a central place.
and
Ah, found Mystery Cults. I was thinking something a bit more devious--maybe changing enemies' equipment into faeries. The one hitch with Animae magic is that you can't control the resulting faeries without a second spell.
Scott
I've realised there are a couple of additions to the lab total I'd forgotten:
The Perceptive Watchman is probably the most useful. The Nose of the Bloodhound is probably the least (I wouldn't expect us to need the grogs to track things by scent on anything other than rare occasions, and we can probably spont it then). Probably not worth spending a season on, although possibly worth slotting in if you can fit it in to another season (subject to a review of vis stocks - I think we're going to have to use Muto Vis for the MuTe(Au) spell, as Tasia's been running off with all the Terram and we've never had any Auram.
I was interested in using the lab for more than a level 10 lesser item. Either stack a few items together and use the combined art level as the total, or increase the power in the item. I'm hoping we are able to perform similar lab activities concurrently.
If the hearing/smell boost isn't handy, then a soak bonus item might be, and its not too high.
By changing the device's form to get more Shape and material bonuses I might still be able to stack a MuCo/An10 and MuAn20 effect together in one season. Just need a lab total of 60, which as you point out Fray is close to.
Int 3 + MT 9 + Aura 6 + Mu 21 + An/Co 11 + IG 3 + Lab-Muto +1, Lab-Items +1 = 55. Then add some combination of Mercury (muto) +5, Cloak (transform wearer) +4, or Jewellery / clothing (transform) +4, assuming that the bonuses need to stack across both items is fair, which they would.
I would suggest that for the Gambeson, rather than creating something for an individual to wear, we create something that can be pointed at what each of the grogs are wearing, and that way do loads of people in sequence. (Technically this is possible with jewelry, admittedly, but it's not what my mind immediately leaps to).
Also, I don't think symbolism counts for enchanting items (although I know there's stuff it does count for) - it has to be the actual shape/material, not just a representation of it.
I was thinking that both items would be jewellery with a small reserve of mercury in their centre, that grants enough of a bonus to make a LT 60. I take your point of it being a thing which is more akin to a rod or wand, but the token can be almost anything. I also thought that the charm might be something that is either worn by a trusted covenant member, or kept with the turb commander. A nice big decorative shield like Judge Dread's badge rather than a tiny ornament.
I agree.
Scott
Forgot about this - yes, you can stack activities, so long as they're the same type and use the same Arts (page 102). Not sure how this interacts with requisites (i.e. can you do both MuCo and MuCo(An) in the same season) - will leave that to MTKnife. Presumably if it was allowed, your total lab total over the season would be the lower of the two.
Not completely sure what you mean by "assuming that the bonuses need to stack across both items is fair, which they would." The way I'd do it is that you'd get the minimum shape and material bonus for any individual item to add to your lab total - is that what you're saying?
Sorry - it's a mechanic from my old Ars group because of min/max'ers. I meant that if a Magus works on two enchantment projects with the same arts but different shape and materials it's possible but complex to calculate how much the s&m bonus would apply in one season, by using the ratio of the activity levels. Level 10 and level 20 in one season means that the level 10 effect's s&m bonus is reduced by two thirds, and the level 20 s&m bonus is reduced by one third. I thought to keep it simple and make the s&m bonus be the same across both activities.
Ah, right. Yes, using the same bonuses for all projects is definitely a good plan in terms of keeping things simple.
Okay, I'm back after a bit of a health issue. Not sure where I fit in here anymore.
When you paused we had jus found Tasia and now we are planning the follow up from returning to the covenant. There wasn't a lot of elapsed time you missed.
Welcome back. As Ironboundtome says, you've not been written out of the saga at all, so I'd suggest just reading through the bits of "Tasia is Missing" that you've missed, and then just jumping in.
Hey, Gregorius has never been anything other than entirely courteous! Albeit from a position of having unknown but probably vast power, even more powerful friends and a willingness to use violence to achieve his ends...
To be fair, a Bonisagus not being especially combat focused is hardly surprising, although having one level of penetration between the three of us is quite bad. Gregorius' excuse is that his spells are aimed. Which overlooks the fact that that's mostly only relevant for attack spells. (He's the first Ars Magica character I've played as well).
I suppose I could add a speciality (perhaps art: Muto), to make a tuft of fur which would alter the Pen when using an AC. With a bit of fur that makes Pen (1+1)*3 = 6. Its not great but better.
Adding a specialisation in play is always a little questionable, but I think I'd be okay with it in this case if other people are - Muto is pretty much the obvious thing for Fray to have specialised in anyway.
You can get a bit better penetration than that - the formula's (Penetration Score + Penetration Spell Mastery) x (1 + Arcane connection bonus + Sympathetic Connection Bonus). So in this case that would be (2 + 0) x (1 + 3) = 8 as base, and you can trivially include Alcimus' name as a +1 sympathetic connection to get +10. (Other sympathetic connections are possible, but more work).
Sounds fine to me.
Scott