Spell I was thinking of for a character of mine while dwelling on someone else's Rego crafter. Figured I'd throw it up here before posting to the Grimoire
Craft the Symbolic Poppet
Rego Herbam 15
R:Touch D: Mom T: Group
Req.: None
Turn a bag full of cloth, thread, yarn, and other clothier's oddities into a detailed doll symbolically representing someone you know of. A Finesse roll of 12 is required to make a doll of sufficient correct detail and quality for a single use roll of 18 for a reusable doll.
(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Group, +1 Flexibility)
Obviously the point of the spell is to make a one use symbolic representation of a target for penetration purposes.
DC's based on page 84 in the core book. 9 default +3 for Rego crafting for the single use doll. 12 default +3 for Rego Craft +3 more for the typical crafting time for the permanent doll.
12 is fairly difficult on the surface but Multi-casting mastery would let you "crit fish" to make a good enough doll and the Precise Casting Mastery makes the required roll a lot more attainable. By RAW this is not a targeting roll so multi-casting is no penalty, but I would not count on your SG agreeing that crafting 4 things at once isn't harder...
The Flexibility might be overkill since it is for making a specific type of thing. But better safe than sorry and YSMV.
Stomp of the Detailed Mandala
Rego Teram 5
R:Touch D: Mom T: Part
Req.: None
Stomp on a section of earth, causing the soil to raise up, compress, and settle into a likeness of someone who's appearance you know. A Finesse roll of 12 is required to make a doll of sufficient correct detail and quality for a single use roll of 18 for a reusable doll.
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Part, +1 Flexibility)
Lowest level version I can think of. Also fun for just making random sand castle faces in the ground. Name might not be period appropriate, a little too Eastern.
I like the idea! A few points, and correct me if I'm wrong:
With a duration of momentary, it either becomes a ritual(and min level 20), or you need to fast-cast the spell, so the crafted poppet is still in existence when you cast your spell. Stick in that +1 magnitude for diameter duration, unless you need it for a ritual spell.
that other fact makes the difficulty 18 roll for a permanent poppet kind of silly, but in case you add some duration... I also think you need to determine if you're trying for a single-use or a permanent poppet before actually rolling finesse. I don't think you should be allowed to change what you're making just because you rolled well.
It feel a bit odd for me to make things like that outside the Imaginem Form; however I guess you could add a Mentem prerequisite because you are basing your spell on your own memory, freeing you from Finesse roll. But your spell seems to be ok.
Why Imaginem? Why the Mentem prerequisite? I could see using a simple CrMe spell to refresh your memory of the subject. But this is Rego craft magic. Rego craft magic doesn't normally use Imaginem nor Mentem at all.
You could make a MuIm(Co) 5 spell "The Enemy beneath my Feet" (R:Voice, D:Diam, T:Part) to switch ground's appearance (sight species) so that it looks like the face of a wanted character. (Base 1, +2Voice, +1Diam., +1Part, Corpus prerequisite for switching to a face appearance, necessary for the spell so it brings no additionnal magnitude). This spell arguably could elude the Finesse roll with additional magnitudes for complexity. Truculus of Tytalus loved to punish his detractors and this spell was of some help.
This would be very similar to your spell.
You could make a InMe spell "Refreshing the Air of the Previous Lover", in order to precisely check what is this character's look, in your own mind: with R:Personal, D:Diam. and T:Individual, and a base level of 25, this would make a level 30 spell. The main benefit is that an intellego effect will grant a more complete information than mundane remembering. The inventor, Drilla of Jerbiton, obviously was a very active Maga with the Flaws Luxurious and Poor Memory.
This spell could be included as a combination with either your spell or the spell "The Enemy beneath my Feet", increasing the spell level to 35 in both cases (30 is the higher level of effect, +1 for additional level).
I don't think an illusion would work as a symbolic representation for the sympathetic bonus. If you just needed species in the form of their face then you would have a +2 sympathetic bonus for being in someone's presence.
Ouch! That's a high level. I expect most magi who could cast that could more easily cast a variant of By His Works (HoH:TL p.73). Switching from Concentration to Diameter keeps it at CrMe 5.