I'm new to AM and I have a question about obtaining an arcane connection. I tried searching the forum for a previous post and did not find any specific matches. My apologies if this has been covered.
My idea is to create a spell that captures exhalations.
Rego Auram
Base 2, Range sight +3 = 5
Dur. Con. + 1 level = 10
Target Part + 1 level = 15
Works as such - The caster watches a creatures breathing. The spell is cast so that upon an exhalation the caster captures/controls the air as it leaves a body, keeping it together & intact as if there were a plastic bag a millimeter away from their mouth or nose and the act of exhalation fills the bag. The bag is an analogy, I simply wish to hold or collect the exhalation.
My thinking is that once the air has left the body of the creature/person it is no longer protected by any parma or magic might/resistance. Would that be an accurate assessment?
Can such a sample be captured?
Would that qualify for "Air from a specific place" for an hourly arcane connection? Would it be more appropriate to assume that such connection would only last minutes, not hours?
I think that this is an ingenious spell, and that it should work just as you want: you capture the air and it is an arcane connection. A couple of quibbles ensue.
You'll almost certainly want a longer duration. The spell holds the exhalation together, rather than letting it dissipate, and if you want the arcane connection to last an hour, you'll have to concentrate for an hour. I would go with duration: Sun.
However, that's immediately compensated for by the fact that I would go with target: Individual. It seems to me that the exhalation forms a distinct weather pattern: a small but distinct breeze.
A larger problem is that you just capture the breath, but there's nothing in your description for storing or moving it. I would add those abilities to the description, possibly ad hocing on one magnitude.
To follow the spirit of the rules, if you want to bypass Parma, you will need a Finesse roll to accurately capture the breath. It would cover such things as getting the timing right, capturing the correct volume of air, etc.
Well, considering that people constantly breathe in and out, I'd be in favour for the shorter duration.
For duration I was thinking more like Fruny in that because of the nature of the exhalation the connection would only last minutes. I was assuming that this would give me enough time to use the connection as leverage to penetrate with another spell.
But I suppose that another spell means I lose concentration on the original. So perhaps a longer duration would be in order. Fire & forget, eh?
Part vs. Individual I was thinking part because while the exhalation itself can be seen as an individual it is made or air which is part of a larger thing, the atmosphere. Like the brick example from the core rule book, while it's an individual unit, it is part of a whole.
Ah, good point. Makes things harder, but good point.
So level 25 with the increased duration and the ad hoc magnitude to return the captured sample to the spell caster.
Base 2 + range sight = 5
Dur. Sun + 2 levels = 15
Target Part + 1 level = 20
1 ad hoc level to return the sample to the caster = 25
If the connection is only going to last a few minutes I don't see the advantage of making the spell duration sun instead of duration diameter.
That would make it 20, you could make a range voice version for level 15 but, if you can swing it, the level 20 spell is probably more useful in that you can cast it silently.
The base individual for auram is a weather phenomenon, such as a specific cloud, lightning bolt, or wind pattern; not the atmosphere. The base size is 100 paces in diameter; apparently this is the diameter of a cylinder with its base on the ground and its top as high in the atmosphere as one likes. A breath is exactly as distinct from the atmosphere as a breeze, so it should be an individual.
Note that, if the atmosphere is the base individual, then every Auram spell will have target: part. I don't have the book in front of me, but I'm sure there are examples of auram spells with other targets.
Base 2, Range sight +3 = 5
Duration daimeter + 1 level = 10
Target individual
Ad hoc + 1 level (to move exhalation to caster) = 15
The spell requires a Finesse roll to be successful. Upon successful completion the caster captures and controls an exhalation from a chosen person or creature. That volume of air is retrieved by the caster and can be used as a minor arcane connection lasting approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
It's absolutely brilliant! I'm seriously crestfallen that I didn't get the idea first... oh, well... i can always steal it! 8) So HAH! on you...
Anyway... You were thinking of using this spell for penetration totals, right? Well, the idea is good, but it needs (in my mind at least) some more work. ArM5 pg. 84 is really good reading. Especially the example on Penetration is good. The Shortest measurable time an arcane connection lasts is "Hours". Going to the Penetration Multiplication ... uhm ... table we can see that this only gives a bonus to the Penetration Multiplier of +1, normally that makes give you a Penetration Multiplier of x2, good, but not massive... On the other hand, is you then went off and made this thing permanent...
Well, i'm sure you get my point. x5 is better'n x2. This of course requires far more work, but ALSO allows you to be all Ninja in your attacks... Cast the spell with Still and Subtle Magic, and you're set!
oh, well... i can always steal it! 8) So HAH! on you... 
