Speaking as someone who's not yet there, it seems to me that True Sight of the Air is the key spell. (Though really we'd need a Touch version of that spell to make it useful for the grogs.) Visibility on all of the other spells is limited by the fog. I'd imagine if we could get that eliminated as a problem, we'd open up the way to a lot of potential improvements.
The real question is how high an InAu lab total can we manage? Konrad can only get a 12. (Though he has room for improvement since his In and Au are so low.)
Not if you invent it as a formulaic spell. The real question is whether any of us could get to the LT needed to learn a non-standard Touch version of that spell.
The magic device idea isn't bad either. We could get a better LT that way with S/M bonuses, though the target number would increase because of uses/day. We'd also need the vis to create it.
As Trogdor mentioned, once you know the formulaic version and are not in a stressful situation, there is no risk of botching.
Though of course having it as an enchanted device would make it less trouble for the magi. They wouldn't have to cast it every day on several different grogs. Depending on how it is enchanted, it might also avoid causing warping to the grogs over the long term.
I am basing it on the following text in the core book. Vision of Heat's Light isn't hindered by darkness, but the fog simply blocks the line of sight of a T:Vision spell, much like a wall of stone would. I think it's a reasonable interpretation.
I note that Ludovicus has a 15 InAu LT. So if he had a lab text of the personal version of True Sight of the Air (say from the Fengheld library), he could learn it in a season, then cast it at Touch range using FFM. Problem solved (possibly). Granted it may take a few times before it works because he needs to roll a 3 on his die to make the target -10 (and even then, he's tired). But it would work with minimal effort, and without chance of botch.
Ludovicus has to cast the spell at dawn/dusk. Figure he casts it on two grogs and one magus. That's 3 castings (call it 4 to account for one bad roll). That's maybe a half hour each time, or an hour a day - not nearly enough to interfere with lab activities.
It's probably better on Ludovicus that me as I don't have FFM and have to be in Ibis form to cast them. It's a good start, but I believe it would be better on an enchanted device as Ludovicus will sometimes leave the chapter House whereas the enchanted device isn't.
I totally agree that a device is better. But the device will be in the low- to mid-twenties for InAu level (depending on uses/day), requiring more than that to make. It will also cost 3 Au vis. I'm not sure we can make an item that complicated yet, not with InAu LTs of 15.
Remember that your magi are not living in a vaccum. Your are (probationary) members of Fengheld. So you could ask your covenant to create that item for the chapter house.
I'll be quite busy at work for the next two weeks. I will still try to post a couple of times, but I can't be sure when and the volume/complexity of my posts will be limited.
In a bit of bad timing, just when your workload eases up, I'll be heading off on vacation (March 18th through March 29th). I'll have limited Internet access, and will be on my phone, so I don't expect to post much.
I'm preparing a story for the saga and I'd like all of the players to be implicated in it. Which doesn't mean that all of the magi will, far from it, but I just want to be sure that everyone gets some enjoyment out of it. Including Trogdor, even though his magus may have not arrived yet when the story starts.
It is basically the hunt for a new vis source for the chapter house. So I am guessing that one or two magi will want to participate, with the rest of the actors being grogs.
So I will start the opening scene for the story, but I want all three of you to think what character(s) you will want to play for the story. I remind you that each of the magi have a personal grog assigned to their security. These would accompany them, but should be played by a different player. Furthermore, the chapter house has a number of grogs that can be used.
So, here's a rundown of the grogs:
Giuseppe Ratto (Ludovicus' grog): A former thief with a strong streak of laziness (needs to be updated to reflect the last year spent at the chapter house).
Andreas (Renatus's grog): Tall and strong but a bit slow-witted; knows a bit of Latin.
Caspar and Mathias: Brothers and a bit novice; used to be butchers and are good with knives.
Ruk: Short but sturdy; a bit sensitive about his short stature (even though he is Size 0)
Well, honestly both our mage are quite well fitted for the job : I'm in my favorite environment and he's a vim specialist. Assuming the exploration takes place in the bog near the water, I'd like to take my mage. Otherwise Ruk or Giuseppe or even Burkhard, I like scout in general but he's less attractive without a short decription
That's the thing with grogs, they can be expanded as they get played (that what the "Grogs and Covenfolk" topic is all about). For now, that is all the description I have built for them, so anyone who first plays them will get to develop those grogs. Occasionally, some of the grogs will get reassigned to Fengheld and new grogs will join your turb.
I have some basic (and incomplete) stats for the chapter house's grogs. I don't expect whoever plays them to create complete stats, these should be enough most of the times, but we can add to those abilities, virtues and flaws and personality traits as we go along.
I am using the concept of packages for the grogs. Whenever a stat or ability of mentioned in a grog's description, that value over-rides the base value.
Base characteristics: Int -1, Per 0, Str +1, Sta +1, Pre -1, Com -1, Dex +1, Qik 0
Base abilities for a standard grog: Area Lore: Fengheld 3, Animal Handling 2, Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Bargain 1, Bows 3, Brawl 3, Carouse 3, Chirurgy 1, Great Weapons 3, Language: Low German 5, Profession: Soldier 3, Single Weapon 6, Survival 1
Base abilities for a novice grog: Area Lore: Fengheld 1, Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Brawl 2, Carouse 1, Language: Low German 5, Profession: Soldier 1, Single Weapon 4, Survival 1
The grogs' variations:
Andreas: Shield grog; tall and strong but a bit slow-witted (Size +1, Str +3, Int -2). Cheerful and loud. Brawl 5. Knows a bit of Latin (2)
Ruk: Shield grog; short but sturdy (Dex +2, Qik +1). Mostly quiet but sensitive regarding his size (Still Size 0, but Oversensitive).
Burkhard: Scout. Awareness 5, Hunt 4, Single Weapon 3.
Caspar, Mathias: Brothers; novice grogs. Used to be butchers and are good with knives.
