Rules Questions

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Vengeance Rides a Slow Hor
1

I hate pressing rewind after a game event due to missing a rule. For example, I've already made a major screw up with the rules in regards to a certain troll blooded magus that was able to walk in with a magical disguise through an Aegis, or was able to cast it once within it. Don't worry, I'm not changing anything that happened in there, obviously there was a momentary harmonious resonance caused by Venus being in the house of Jupiter. Yeah, we'll go with that.

Here is where rules will be discussed. It's the Art of Magic, not the science of it. As is often repeated through the books variations exist within the saga, rules can be applied loosely or to the fullest.

I'm for a default Rules as Written (RaW) type, but I do allow exceptions. Plenty of characters are able to take advantage of that, within reason.

So, if you have a questions about how rules will be applied or need a rules interpretation, here is where we'd do it.

So I shall open the floor with Warping. It's a hot topic, and rather than catch people by surprise I'll let you know how I intend to handle it.

Refer to pages 167-168 and you'll see my opinion of it. It will be RaW. Oh if it were that simple.

For example, if a Cr Te spell that creates a boulder and drops it on you, if it was level 30, would that cause Warping? Same for a Ball of Abysmal Flame, or Incantation of Lightning? What about Imaginem spells?

Yes. There's plenty of good reasons to be more lenient here. And feel free to list them (like should Imaginem and Mentem spells cause Warping). I'm happy to discuss them and maybe I'll change my mind, but I believe Warping will be RaW no matter the Form, here's a few reasons why:

  1. It's minor. Only spells with long durations will likely offer enough Warping to really mess someone up.
  2. Many of them can be avoided. Spells that you intend to cast frequently on a certain subject might be worth a Season in the lab to design them with him in mind, you either already know the spell and will get a large bonus or better yet will have a lab text.
  3. The most anyone would likely get is a minor flaw one time. That's five brief spells of level 30 or higher, and the flaw would be representative of the spells that are often cast. Mentem spells can easily lead to paranoia and delusions, as can Imaginem. Rocks on the head could lead to mental problems or scarring. It makes for good story elements.
  4. People generally don't like getting spells cast on them. This is just one of the reasons why.

Warping affects Magi differently, so they will avoid flaws and just need to worry about Twilight, and since the source of most of the spells cast on themselves will be themselves, they avoid many instances.

So then the question will become did the spell cause warping? If it met the requirements, did it cause Warping? My basic ruling is this; if magic or a magically created medium affected the person (I'll avoid using the word Target) then yes. I'll try to keep it as simple as that, but I doubt it'll stay that way. So a magically created rock of 6th magnitude would Warp, but a Rego controlled Mundane rock of 6th Magnitude wouldn't. Another way to look at it would be if Parma would protect a person from being touched by the magic or the magically created medium, then the person should get Warped (if they don't have MR or if it penetrated).

Feel free to discuss this, but in the long run this shouldn't be a major issue, I mainly bring it up so as not to catch people by surprise. As we come up with other questions and issues please post them here.

2

What is your house ruling on magical item durability? Do they wear out like a mundane item would, or are they imbued with enough magic to make them last longer?

For example: Do magical boots fall apart after a couple of years of use, or do they last a decade or two, or three. A century?

If an item does fall apart as a normal item would, is there an enchantment to add that would negate some of the damage, or can you only hold it off for a while (kinda like giving the item extra soak)?

3

Ah, I was checking this out on the main page. Important considering that we have a couple of Verditius!

Some items are built to degrade, so no changes there.

But let's say a magical cloak, sword, shield or something. It will be more durable than a mundane item of the same type. If it stays in a magical aura of the same level it was created in (or higher), it will potentially last indefinitely (barring damage done to it). Once it leaves a magical aura, or goes to a weaker one, its physical form can degrade over time even if it's not subject to strenuous use.

Don't have a formula handy, but a reasonable one might be that a magic item will last its highest effect in magnitudes times the normal lifespan of a well made mundane item of the same type, or it will last an amount of time equal to the amount of pawns of Vim vis spent opening it times the normal lifespan. I figure an invested device should last even longer on average than a simply made device without investing.

How does that sound? I didn't actually read through that whole thread.

Edit Let me add, that if the item goes to weaker magic aura it will still last longer. Add the strength of the new aura to the above formula. So an item that was made in a +5 aura gets moved to a +1 aura, and it was invested with 8 Pawns of Vis. It will last 8 times as long as a normal item with normal use, plus 1 more, for a total of 9 times longer.

If it goes to an area of no aura or to any other aura it degrades at the same rate, no need to go too far into this I think.

4

That works fine for me. I didn't mean to be too nit-picky, but a general idea helps.

5

With all the magic items that might be made this will be important.

Now then, there are enchantments that can be added to the items that will prevent them from degrading and even repair damage. They have two example items with this in the Broken Covenant of Calebais (a sword and shield). So if it's an item that is important to keep forever that could be added. Basically a Creo enchantment with a constant duration.