THE SHADOW OF HUMAN LIFE CrIm(Me)
Req: Mentem
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 intricacy, +6 Mentem requisite, for a very elaborate effect)
ReHe Guideline: Base 10: Make a plant or thing made of plant products move with purpose and
intelligence, without requiring your constant control.
I'm trying to design an "The Unseen Porter" ReTe B3 effect with intelligence. I don't know why the RAW effect does not have extra magnitudes to affect items not made of dirt... if someone knows, plz share.
Core question is: Can a ReTe effect obtain limited intelligence such as Imaginem & Herbam have in RAW?
I think the answer is yes. If we try to port the imaginem effect to Terram, we get:
ReTe(Me) 40 - B: 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +6 memtem - The Independant Unseen Porter. Unseen porter acts as a servant would, albeit a stupid one.
Would a Cr Rq. also be needed here? I'm asking as the TSoHL is a Creo effect with a memtem requisite so it isn't clear if the intelligence also requires the Cr. I lean toward no as the parameters indicate +6 memtem & not +6 CrMe)
If we try to port the Herbam effect we get:
ReTe(Me) 25 - B: 10, +1 Touch, +2 Sun - The Tasked Unseen Porter. The Unseen porter carries a specific tasks such as bringing the luggage upstairs or take the garbage out. Each Command required a separate casting or use if in an object.
The Unseen Porter is acting in Terram's purview of affecting solids in general. At the beginning of the Terram section it is noted that "Terram spells, ... can sometimes affect inanimate objects in general." This is an example of that case.
The Unseen Porter doesn't need extra magnitudes to affect stone or gems or whatever, because it can also be used to affect wood, bones, or solid ice. Think of it this way: it's not an effect that is reliant in any way of the composition of what is being affected; only that it is a solid.
The two telekinesis spells are odd. You'll note they don't pick up requisites when you handle objects made of something other than Terram, either: they just fail against physical resistance. This apparently doesn't include gravity or inertia, just conscious resistance, and they have a six foot limit for some reason.
I just write all of their oddness off as being a non-Hermetic thing bought in by a Founder. In the case above I'd just whack on the intricacy and Mentem requisites for 7 magnitudes, or less if it wasn't doing something complicated.
Note that in The Shadow of Human Life the six extra magnitudes (the seventh is to make the illusion detailed enough that it can form e.g. words instead of inarticulate sounds) and a Mentem requisite are enough to make something operate at the level of a human being, albeit a stupid one.
By comparison, an illusion that moves at the caster's direct, mental command (as the Unseen Porter does) adds two extra magnitudes (vs. six + the Mentem requisite). The difference (four magnitudes and a Mentem requisite) is then difference between the Unseen Porter as written, and ... an hypothetical Unseen Valet, that if cast with D:Moon can be instructed once and then will (among other things) faithfully clean and mend your clothes, bring you breakfast at the right time every morning, pick up anything you might inadvertently drop/leave behind when traveling, etc.
So, I'd roughly use the following complexity modifiers for progressively more complex tasks: +1 magnitude for a simple task (chosen when the spell is designed) that does not require great creativity. For example, making a weapon actively parry attacks directed at the caster, without the caster concentrating on it or even being aware of the attacks. +2 magnitudes for a single, more complex task chosen when the spell is designed (e.g. keeping one's home clean and in good order), or for flexibility in the execution of simple orders (the same spell, on different castings, can be ordered to wield a sword to defend you, or a comb do groom your hair). The latter seems to be what the OP was asking. +3 magnitudes for a flexible, generic spell to carry out complex tasks, one per casting. +4 magnitudes for something close to the Unseen Valet, above, except it can't quite anticipate or exhibit human behaviour (things like patting you on the shoulder when you are crying). +4 magnitudes and a (free) Mentem requisite for what is essentially an invisible, if stupid, human valet.
I don't think The Shadow of Human Life is the proper comparison for what is wanted here: it makes a fake person; the ReHe 10 Guideline better fits the stated intent.
The problem is the Form. The ReHe 10 Guideline affects a wooden object, but The Unseen Porter is the thing affecting an object. There needs to be an intermediary for the similar-to-ReHe-10 effect to target, and the enchantment/spell needs to use the Form for that. It's probably within extrapolation of similar Guidelines if it was a wind acting with purpose and intelligence without requiring constant control... but as the "unseen force" starts getting more exotic it may need some Original Research. For example, it you've created a magical effect that acts with purpose and intelligence that's probably a Vim effect that applies to a ReTe effect and seems somewhere in the MuVi bailiwick?
Finally, I'll note that ReHe 10 Guideline doesn't require a Me requisite at all. Maybe because Hermetic magic seems to assume that trees have some sort of base volition (see Calling the Council of the Trees) and you can evoke that volition out of wood?
The ReHe Base 10, along with the matching ReCo Base 10 and ReAn Base 10 (derived from ReCo) all function because those objects have a "mind" to awaken, even if it is only to Cunning level.
There is no matching Base for things like the elemental forms because those do not have a "mind".