[Spell Design] Multiple Targets?

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

The resident Terram specialist has decided, after defending a castle, that he needs better damaging spells.

I noted to him that damage varies by form, and Terram is really good at defenses and so on, but is slightly behind Ignem in terms of ease of damage output, IMO. No worries, he says.

His lab total is 60.
He initially wants to conjure a bolt of steel and then send it flying towards its target, automatically hitting for +20 damage.

I note the damage for a pole axe is +12, so this is a pretty big chunk of steel he's flying, and posit what if he was using Creo to make a trio of +15 steel bolts (target: group instead of target:individual)?

I looked for a spell that did such a thing with Creo as an attack spell, but could not find one.

Are there no Cr(re)(Form) spells that send multiple copies of a created item out to hit a target for damage?

Also, corollary - if you use Creo(Rego) to make a group of copies of a Form item, is it possible to send them off to hit different targets? I also don't see examples of such a thing in the spells given in the book. Can it be done, with perhaps a level increase due to complexity? Would it be easier if each individual had to use a targeting roll instead of autohit?

Thanks!

Vrylakos

2

Arc of Fiery Ribbons? This creates a dozen bolts of fire, although they don't all go in the same direction. Target is Group.

3

Hm, does the Group create the many ribbons, or does the Group refer to people inside the 60 degree arc?

4

The latter, I'd suggest, given that the damage is +10 for all in the arc, rather than being +X per bolt. The "dozen ribbons" bit is cosmetic.

5

For Creo spells, the Target is the thing created, not the thing being cast at. AoFR does indeed create multiple ribons of fire, shaped in such a way that they affect a number of people. The people being hit are not the "group", otherwise you could distinguish who gets hit and who doesn't (e.g. all people wearing hats are in your target group, the hatless grogs would be unaffected).

6

A pole axe must be swung manually, a bolt of steel sent flying with magic can be made the size of a pebble and still cause similar amounts of damage with ease. Not a problem.

7

This seems to be a bit of a murky area... For immolating someone, the Target appears to be the victim. Otherwise, PoF or BoAF would be R:Touch, and require Targeting. Also note that with AoFR you cannot "narrow the arc" to a single person, giving them (say) twelve times +10 damage. OTOH you are right that this spell does not pick out individuals in a group, so in this case having the Target as the fire itself seems to make more sense, yes.

8

also keep in mind that all of these are 4th edition spells reinvented for 5th. the 4th ed PoF had a range of "special". It was equivilent to touch, and shot out from your hand. It needed to be aimed, and after a certain distance it petered out.

9

Note that for PoF and BoAF the appearance of being thrown from the hand is cosmetic - and thus not really part of the spell design. The throwing is more a part of the gestures of the spell than throwing a physical object.