Wooooo!, threadomancy!
Well, its been a while since my first post and i've finally come up with hard rules. Feedback welcome.
Also, please note that i've done the rules using my sagas house rule about being able to use 3 times magic theory a season rather than 2 times.
Sanctums are a new form of enchantment, similar to binding a familiar or enchanting a talisman. As binding a familiar binds you together with an animal and enchanting a talisman binds you to an item, Sanctum enchantment binds you to a place.
A sanctum is a place of power for a magus. It is a place of safety, providing shelter and magical defense and it is a place of strength, aiding a magus to strike at his enemies. Furthermore it is a place of comfort, where a magus can feel relaxed and where his magic surrounds him, dripping from every wall and wrapping tight about him.
Enchanting a sanctum follows a series of steps.
First a suitable place must be found. Given the effort that this process takes, a magus is advised to choose somewhere solid and suitable that he can imagine staying in for decades. A wooden hut is not appropriate (although it certainly could be done), a complex series of catacombs, or a tall stone tower are.
The amount of vis needed to enchant the area is worked out according to the chart below.
Wood – 2
Soft stone or earth – 3
Hard stone - 4
Size multipliers
Room - * 6
Structure / huge room (30 paces by 30 paces) - * 7
Boundary / structure * 10 / immense room (100 paces by 100 paces) - * 8
Therefore a wooden room would be 12 points, where as a stone tower would be 28 and a small monastery made of stone would be 32
Boundary is the largest size that can be turned into a sanctum. The personal nature of a place is just too hard to stretch over vaster areas as they necessarily become less personal.
Second, the enchanted of the sanctum must prepare the ground work and open the sanctum for enchantment, spending a season memorising every facet of the area, exploring it down to its smallest detail. This requires a number of pawns of vim vis equal to the size points (calculated above). It also requires a magic theory of one third that value (round up). During this time, no other sentient soul can be allowed into the area or their presence will contaminate the personal connection the magus is building. This is an exception to the usual rule that items to be opened or enchanted must fit in the lab, although the magus’ lab must be within the sanctum to open it.
Third, the magus spends a season attuning the area as a sanctum. During this season the magus attunes the whole area, sharing his soul with the place and binding himself to it intimately. The area becomes an arcane connection to him and he becomes and arcane connection to it. In practice, a foe with an arcane connection reach spell would only have to cast the spell in the sanctum to affect the sanctums owner, likewise the sanctums owner could scry or teleport to his sanctum without further arcane connections, using himself as the connection. After the sanctum is attuned the magus doubles the aura bonus on all spell casting roles, while in his sanctum. This applies only to spell casting and not to lab work or any other activity that would use the aura.
Attuning the sanctum requires the magus to place a number of magical “place holders†throughout his sanctum, one for each point of size. These can be made of anything but typically must be fairly large, the size of a shield for a size 6 area, the size of a door for a size 7 area and the size of a Great hearth for areas of size 8. These place holders are focuses for the magic of the sanctum and typically are appropriate to the magus’ magic. Pillars, columns covered with glyphs, gargoyles, heraldic shields, thrones, stained glass windows and statues are all popular choices for these place holders and it is far from rare for these items to be separately enchanted with defensive spells and effects to protect themselves and the greater sanctum. These items are placed somewhere of significance in the area but where exactly is not important. They are focuses of the sanctums magic but are not themselves enchanted during the process. If they are all destroyed the magic of the sanctum binding is shredded and the sanctum destroyed. This is always a deeply painful event for the owner of the sanctum and they are always aware of when it happens.
In further seasons a magus may further enchant his sanctum, much as a magus binding a familiar or enchanting a talisman can. The total level of effects placeable in a sanctum is equal to the number of pawns of vis used to open the sanctum initially * 10.
A magus can at any time go to his sanctum and spend a season to expand the initial binding. The maximum that it can be expanded to is the combination of the magus’ highest technique and form. The magus can open further capacity a bit at a time if he wishes. i.e. a magus enchants a tower of stone as his sanctum (28 pawns of vis). Many decades later when he is a formidable master with his highest technique and highest form both at 20 (given a combined total of 40) he decides to increase the capacity of his sanctum. The difference of the initial opening and his current scores is 12 so he can put and extra 12 pawns of vim vis to open the capacity up. He could put one pawn in a season if he wanted (although that is very inefficient) but chooses to open it all in one season. His sanctum now has a capacity of 400 levels of effects.
A magus always gets a flat +5 bonus to his lab total to enchant effects into his own sanctum.
As a magical item, the sanctum can sustain permanent effects (using sun duration and the environmental trigger of sun up/sun down with 2 casts a day). Furthermore, the sanctum is always considered to have magical line of sight to permanent fixtures within its bounds. A magus could thus trigger an effect to light all the lamps in his sanctum, even if he can’t see all the lamps. He could also activate magical traps, as long as those traps don’t need to be specifically targeted at their foes (filling a room with gas is fine, firing a dart at an intruder in the next room over is not). A magus may target effects within his own line of sight. For instance, he could enchant a pilum of fire effect in his sanctum but could only target on things he could directly perceive.
Two special rules apply when enchanting effects into sanctums.
Firstly, boundary effects can be used but only to affect the entire sanctum.
Secondly, effects to affect something within the sanctum are at touch range. This applies whether lighting lamps or blasted intruders.
Example Sanctum effects
Evenings Bright Banishment
CrIg25
With a word the magus conjures light in each and every brazier in his sanctum. These lights burn until sun up but the magus has the option of turning them off at will, whether individually or as a group. This spell allows lighting for up to 100 lamps, torches and braziers. The magus must be aware of where braziers are to light them although he does not need to actually be able to see them.
(Base 3, +1 touch, + 2 sun, +2 group, +1 size)
+5 maintains concentration
- 10 unlimited uses
Total level for enchantment = 40
Zeus’ Fury at the Ignorant Burglar
CrAu30
This fearsome defense has been employed more than once as a means to obliterate intruders by masters of the art of Auram. At the command of the caster, usually observing his hapless target by scrying devices, bright bolts of lighting leap from the walls, floor or ceiling of the sanctum blasting the intruder apart. This does +30 damage to the target and others near the target must make size stress rolls of 6+ to remain standing.
(Base 5, +1 touch, +4 unusual effect)
+3 for 6 uses per day
Total level for enchantment = 33
The Wizards Doorway
ReCo40
A clever effect developed to allow a magus to easily move around a sprawling sanctum. This effect teleports the magus wherever he likes within his own sanctum instantly. Handily the arcane connection that the magus and sanctum share allows the magus to simply visualise where he wants to be and there he is. No further clumsy arcane connections are needed.
(base 35, +1 touch)
+10 unlimited use
Total level for enchantment = 50
The Pleasant and Airy Home
CrAu20
This spell affects the whole sanctum, providing clean, cool and breathable air to the every nook and cranny all the time. This is of especial use in underground cave system sanctums or areas that might be less than pleasant smelling such as dungeons or necromancers labs. This version is designed to work on structure sized sanctums, other versions exist for different sized sanctums.
(Base 1, +1 touch, +2 sun, +1 unnatural, +2 group, +1 size)
+3 environmental trigger (sun up, sun down)
+1 for 2 uses a day
Total effect for enchantment = 24
The Spaniards Homely Hearth
CrIg20
Designed by a Spaniard living in the Stonehenge area, this effect keeps the whole sanctum at a suitably Mediterranean level of warmth. This version is designed to work on structure sized sanctums, other versions exist for different sized sanctums.
(Base 2, +2 sun, +3 group, +1 size)
+3 environmental trigger (sun up, sun down)
+1 for 2 uses a day
Total effect for enchantment = 24