Paired Items ending the effect

Okay. I'm sketching out an (established) covenant, part of which is on a small island about 450 feet from shore. The island is just big enough for one laboratory, but it has an Aura of Magic 6 (as opposed to a 3 for the rest of the covenant).

In some throwaway descriptive text, I mentioned that there's no bridge to the island, but there's a post on shore and on the island that are enchanted with a CrHe effect (Bridge of Wood, p. 135 of the core rulebook, with an additional +1 magnitude for more size). My original idea was that one would activate the item (creating the bridge) at one post, cross the bridge, then end the effect at the other post. Basically, something like a Concentration duration, with the item maintaining concentration until told to stop.

However, thinking about it some more, i don't know if that's possible with the RaW. Am I mistaken in this, and there is a to do this that I'm missing? Or is each post also going to have to be enchanted with an Unraveling the From of Herbam effect targeting the bridge?

There are a few other ways you could do it, for example: having a physical/audible trigger to end the effect on post 1, and then having post 2 remotely cause the physical effect. You could do something complicated involving muto shape changes at arcane connection range, but a more practical way to do it would be to enchant one of the two posts, and stick an identical bell on the top of both of them. The sound of the bells is the trigger for both starting and stopping the enchantment, and should carry across the 450 ft.

I dont think it works by RAW no. But it´s a cool thing, fluff it and go with it anyway, just state that it´s an exception that normally doesn´t work. Have one post act as a remote for the other. You can probably even set it up in more or less detail.
Mmm, maybe like give the "remote" post an effect that is just AC+Linked Trigger? Should keep the "size" of the item effects down to a reasonable level.

You would then have to give both posts both spells, it should work fine like that but it feels rather wasteful.

It can be a single item with 2 parts (the 2 posts). Concentration duration bridge. item maintains concentration. It stops concentrating when you do something to one of the posts, like drawing a rune on them, hitting them with something or ringing the bell you said. Then the bridge retracts. It is recommended that the bridge has several uses per day.

No need for more elaborate stuff here :slight_smile: SIngle effect, 1 season to enchant if you have a high enough lab total and that would be all :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

Doesn't this usually require the Hermetic Architecture mystery? Or am I still too sleepy to think?

Does that work at all by RAW? :question:

Now you make me doubt. If that does not work in your saga (we have had several items like those IMS...) just link both poles by a long chain that goes deep underwater and that nobody except the guy that created the item knows is there. There you go: A single item: a long chain with 2 poles in the extremes. :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

Exactly what I thought ...

What about this. Take a pole and chop it into two. Fix the the arcane connection. Enchant one half with the trigger "knock three times on it". Enchant the second part (the AC) with ReHe? "knock the remote counterpart.

And make sure only you can end the spell ... it would be fatal if someone else could end it while you are on the bridge ...

Or: Take a rope and span it over the gorge ...

Salvete
Widewitt

Oh i dont mind saying that it works, it´s actually a rather nifty concept, it´s just that by RAW it feels like it shouldn´t work.

I know i did something roughly similar when i designed a Haineko style sword (on command, the blade dissolves into a cloud of ashlike particles which is directed by thought, you can swing the swordhandle to attack wherever the ash is(if it´s all around you, you can cut in all directions at once), or use the cloud as a shield(or any shape imaginable), without needing to switch between offense and defense), from all i could find, the control effect would have to be Range AC, but that upped the effect level to an unrealistic level, so in the end i used Range Personal on the basis of "it´s still a single item, even if it´s scattered apart while activated".

What's the problem? One of the posts is enchanted, the other one is mundane.

Then use an environmental trigger, so that the item doesn't have to be touched, but only in the same environment (the lake). I'm sure those rules were intended to be read more strictly, but it doesn't specifically say so in the RAW if you carefully read the wording.

Of course, it's sensible to simply ignore the RAW for a beautiful and balanced idea like yours (which makes all this read the exact wording nonsense superfluous anyway).

so very true indeed!

I don't see why not. Nothing says that "one item" must be made of a single piece. After all, one can enchant a chain, right?

A chain is still philosophically speaking ONE item, and it´s also physically linked(literally :mrgreen: ), while 2 separate items are exactly that and have no direct connection...

Since it's an established covenant then you could assume that a senior member (or ex member) spent the time and resources to do the expensive and complex AC range intellego effects or did the original research to make multipart items or is/was a hermetic architect.

I would have the master post within the aegis boundary and give it a touch range InVi to determine if the person knocking has freedom of casting within the aegis and an AC range InHe to extend its senses to the other post.

Indeed.

Well, a drawbridge is still philosophically a single item, and in this case one would be enchanting only part of it (the extremities at the two ends). A lightsaber stays a lightsaber even when it's turned off and it looks as if you only have the handle!

An interesting exercise for the reader is the following: can one achieve the same or equivalent effect through non-ritual spells alone, ideally with just "vanilla" Hermetic magic? Note that this must still allow a mundane to use the bridge.

The main problem is the distance - 450 yards as I recall, which would mean a reasonable standard Bridge of Wood with an extra magnitude or 2 for size (CrHe 25 or 30, depending).

Prepare a post to recieve this enchantment with a relevant number uses per day. This is place island-side, inside the Aegis.

Activation from the landside 450 yards away can be acheived in several ways.
Voce/sound-based activation s probably out due to range, especially if there are crashing waves, so I would probably invest the post with the ability to use sight and or hearing (senses) at range, based on an AC to the far post. This could be a fixed AC but need not be - simply cut a new piece of the post once a month.
All magical effects are now based island-side, inside the Aegis.

Main drawback is that vistors can complain about scrying, but I doubt most tribunals would prosecute this, especially if the senses have pen 0.

  • The main drawback on that is ofcourse that the bridge must be invoked by a grog or a magus with lowered Parma.

Ofcourse it the island-side covenant tends towards paranoia, more fancy effects can be invoked to test visitors, but this would give strength to any charges of scrying.

450 feet, actually (150 yards). And I'm thinking that the base spell would be Bridge of Wood with, I believe, an additional +1 for size.

Fwiw, both sides of the bridge would be within the covenant's Aegis...the island is within an aura of Magic: 6, while the rest of the covenant is Magic: 3. And the covenant is located on the south end of Loch Ness, on the western shore.

Tellus, I probably was not clear about the terms of my puzzle.

You want to make the stretch of water between island and shore passable by anyone (including mundanes) who has an appropriate "key" (password, item, activation method etc.).

You want to achieve this result without any enchanted items and without any rituals. No vis. Ideally, only using "vanilla" hermetic magic, preferably sufficiently low level that it can be cast spontaneously.

So your covenant is Fort Augustus. Nice :slight_smile: Just in case you missed it (I doubt it) there is Lock Tarff just to the east of Lock ness, around 1 km away. it has the kind of island you describe.

Cheers,
Xavi