Spell: Tendril of Extended Reach

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

In my exploration of a Verditius wand-maker, here's a possible effect that he might want to enchant into his talisman.

Tendril of Extended Reach (MuHe 4, Re)
This effect makes the wand to grow a long and supple tendril, much like an animated vine, that can reach out up to ?? paces away to touch or wrap around a distant target. The holder controls the motion of the tendril. The object or creature thus touched can then be affected by Touch-ranged effects in the wand or staff. The tendril can be broken or cut, although it is fairly strong, but the wand is undamaged should that happen. The tendril (or what's left of it) retracts into the wand when the effect ends.

(Base 3, +1 Conc , +1 Rego requisite)

As an enchantment, I would add: +5 item maintains concentration, +X for number of uses, +Y for penetration (X and Y to depend on his lab total at the time this is enchanted)

What would be a reasonable maximum reach for such an effect?

Would this need a Creo requisite to avoid damaging the wand?

Comments and suggestions on how to better describe this effect and make it workable?

2

Wouldn't need Creo, but would certainly need Rego unless the "vine" acted as any vine, growing in a random direction and then randomly entwined itself around an object, end of spell.

I suppose Finesse might control part of that - the direction of the growing - and/or that might be defined by the spell effect, but beyond the growing (which Creo causes), vines don't "move" without Rego.

3

Yeah, l had already included the Rego requisite. But perhaps I should add a magnitude as well for the movement.

4

Finesse to control. Look at the terram guidelines for changing the size of an object, that's the basic principle at work here. And it'll need to penetrate if you want to use it against things which have magic resistance.

5

I think it's a Cr(Re)He[1] effect. If the idea that the tendril can be cut, it's very similar to the spell Conjure the Sturdy Vine, it create a tendril/vine from a piece of wood. Muto changes the underlying piece's properties to something else, or makes it pliable and allows one to change the shape, so cutting a piece off something that has been affected by Muto magic to split off pieces of itself will affect the remaining portion.

[1]I'd switch it around to a Re(Cr)He effect, because the Rego effect to control plants is higher level than the Creo effect of creating the tendril.

6

I think that if the "tendril" is to be part of the Talisman (so you can extend your reach with it and cast Touch spells on whatever the tendril is touching) then damaging the tendril will damage the Talisman. I see no way to escape that.

However, I could maybe see an effect that allows the wooden Talisman to "repair" itself over time by turning into living plant (you plant the wand into the earth, speak a word, and it turns into a flower that heals wounds with the same recovery intervals of a human, or maybe much shorter).

7

Perfipherially related, I was thinking of a similar effect for an object made of an animal product. Namely a wolfskin glove.
Could anyone offer some advice on what base guideline would be most appropriate?

8

Is it wrong that when I read the subject line I was hopping for a similar MuCo range personal effect.

9

I was thinking of a similar effect for my magus gold ring talisman. Mu(Re)Te the ring into thin iron which snakes out to touch things.

Of course, this would be my talisman which was now thin iron, so would have to have a toughness modifier...

10

Yeah, there is no(?) way to escape that - Muto allows the item itself to morph and touch something, but a Creo effect creates something else, something that is not the Talisman.

(Healing the tali - that's a diff discussion, but sounds more possible.)

11

Yeah, that's why I was going the MuHe way rather than using CrHe.

Of course, I plan on also enchanting another MuHe(Te) effect to make the wand as though as iron, or even more if possible.

The repair effect is certainly a good possibility.

The Base 4 guideline in MuTe grows an object to eight times its previous volume. So I guess this could mean the tendril could extend up to, say 16 times the original length of the wand, assuming that the tendril is of a smaller diameter than the wand, right? Thus, a 12-inch wand would have a reach of about 5 paces.

The end result would be level 10 (Base 4, +1 Conc, +1 Rego requisite). I can live with that.

Finesse indeed to control the movement, and touch a distant target. I think that even in combat, it would probably be fairly easy just to simply touch a target, as the holder is not trying to inflict damage, just contact.

Thanks all!

12

*** Potential spoilers for Legends of Hermes ahead ***

One of the characters in the Herisson chapter has a very similar enchantment in his talisman:

Note that this does not actually transform the talisman, although that would have perhaps been better (speaking as the designer!). However, it might give you some ideas.

Mark