So lets say you wanted to pay another Magus to teach you a spell(s) during a season during character creation. How would you say that is handled? I was thinking 3+ pawns (as that is what you could earn in a season) are paid to the teacher. The situation is one where a character is a member of a cult known for these big rituals and doesn't have the lab total to learn the spell in a season. However, if someone who knows the spell were to teach him... And honestly that's probably how half the cult members learned these spells.
The other alternative is to learn spells from Lab Texts - which is also very fast. A teacher who's better than you will be faster, but the Lab Texts also don't eat up a season of the teacher's time, so~ buying the texts is probably cheaper.
Oh absolutely! But for someone's who's first learning a big honking ritual that is meant to be group cast, he might not have the totals even for something with a text... Sure it's obviously more expensive to go the teacher route. I'm just curious as to how much more expensive...
I think you misunderstand what a teacher can teach with regard to spells. The teacher can teach their highest applicable lab total in a season in spell levels, so long as one spell of that TeFo was taught during the season. The student can only learn individual spells up to their Lab total in a TeFo, which is, for all intents and purposes like a lab text. So, if you can't learn it from a lab text, you can't learn it from a teacher.
Nithyn, I noticed the following thread. I thought about commenting there, but felt it might fit better here. The Hermetic Shipwright is a difficult concept to pull off. It requires relatively broad Arts, and importantly, without being a Verditius, the time and patience to get to an astounding Magic Theory score to be able to invest a ship as a magic item.
Oh I'm well aware of what it takes, although I appreciate the warning! I should have been more specific, I'm not so much interested in actually enchanting the ships (maybe eventually?), rather I'm more interested in being able to produce them quickly via Rego Craft Magic. Does that make sense?
It does.
Acquiring the materials is not an insignificant hurdle, though. Whereas conjuring a a boat for a sun/moon duration requires a high degree of finesse, too, but doesn't have the raw material requirement.
Indeed the costs are quite high, but I'm making strides towards resolving those issues as well. Thankfully wood is fairly easy to get thanks to CrHe magic that can mature trees.
At some point in late 1236, Lucas will corner Arachne to ask her advice on spells she'd like to see him have that are Tethered, Harnessed, and/or Boosted. He's going to try and squeeze a few more seasons out of his Sa Dragonera lab, which is optimized for learning spells, and he'd like to know what she thinks the covenant needs in the way of Tethered/Harnessed/Boosted spells.
Possibilities I can think of:
Veil of Invisibility
Silence of the Smothered Sound
Image Phantom
Phantasm of the Human Form
Disguise of the New Visage
Preternatural Growth and Shrinking
Cloak of Black Feathers (Touch version)
Wizard's Sidestep (Touch version)
Edge of the Razor
I'm sure there are others. But that's what I can think of off the top of my head.
Having a hard time picking virtues for a character that will be along time away from starting Magus . I'm still reading the Apprentice book to determine how a beginning Apprentice is created, and how that character is supposed to transition into a starting Magus. At present it appears the character is designed before apprenticeship (age 7-14), and then the desired Magus virtues and flaws are kept as aspirational goals, with no guarantee once play starts. That also seems like the right way to play it too, allowing that the character might greatly change in play.
I also opened a thread in the general forum to discuss if "Minor Magical Focus: Teleportation" would be valid; and will need buy-in from this troupe too. Responses vary (as expected); with a few folk stretching the limits of plausible, and others saying no issue.
Failing that I'm also thinking of a MMF: Stone or Damage, as I think either could do some wonderful things.
For a shipwright at Andorra/Sa Dragonera, material expenses are indeed trivial. The cvenant is incrediby weathy and there are trees everywhere. Andrra has a sparse ppuation and vast tracts f uninhabited wilderness. No one will notice or care if you grab an acre of woods and mow it down.
And you can craft small enchanted items that affect a whole ship and do cool stuff.
Yes.
This comes up from time to time, I know it by heart now
This was explained in at least Legends of Hermes.
In short: If there's a ghost actively haunting a place or person, and you've got an AC to it, you can use a "regular" formulaic summoning spell (Not IoSD, then).
I believe Spooky would qualify, for exemple, at least part of the time.
But if there's no active ghost, like with the majority of deaths, you need something with more oomph (IoSD). IIRC, once you've used it, you can use formulaic summoning spells on that ghost.
I'd say the second case could be seen with Hermetic Theorician being divided as to whether this snatches the spirit from whoever it was, wakes a slumbering ghost unable to "hear" lesser summons, or just uses the vis to create a spirit based on the dead.
So, if, say, you know bob's ghost is haunting the covenant, you can use a formulaic spell to summon him and asking who killed him. But if Bob has no ghost, you need IoSD.
I am glad you take interest into our mutual safety. Neglecting it is the way of defeat.
Now, as you very well know, it was told to me that such spells can only be cast by magi from your line (with the virtue :-/)
So, while useful to the covenant as you can cast them on our grogs, they're definitely less useful that magic items, which may endure centuries after our passing. (You can do tethered... items)
Now, all your ideas are all useful, but I'll try to concentrate on your special powers. Let me see...
I wouldn't waste your skills on a Cloak of Black Feathers. Due to the focus used, there's little difference between what you could do and what a magi lacking your abilities could. Mind you, this is nonetheless a great effect, and you'll have my full support if you want to donate such a cloak to Andorra.
So, if we're going for Sun or more duration spells that can be ended or controlled by the recipient without him needing either you or your item. I'd leave out "Phantasm of the Human Form", just because grogs won't be skilled enough in Finesse to shape the illusion convincingly.
I'd also leave out Edge of the Razor. It may be useful to drop the spell when facing Magical Resistance, but our grogs can just as well carry mundane weapons. I ain't much worried about threats lacking Magical Resistance.
I'll also leave out Disguise of the New Visage. It's a great spell, but too often relies on personnal knowledge of the one yu're impersonnificating.
Preternatural Growth and Shrinking may be great, if we can get our smith to fashion giant swords and you can also enlarge armor. Who cares if they're resisted, so long as their sword isn't.
This leaves us with
Veil of Invisibility
Silence of the Smothered Sound
Preternatural Growth and Shrinking, maybe
Cloak of Black Feathers (Touch version). I'm keeping this, just because it's so damn useful.
Wizard's Sidestep (Touch version)
What do you think of it?
Skimmed through the thread.
I'm of the exact same opinion than Marko there. Copy, paste.
My understanding is that the cloak requirement is only used so that the spell can be dropped whenever the target wishes by symbolically taking off the cloak. That's not a problem with Lucas. He can make a similar spell that is Tethered and Harnessed that has no requirement for a cloak.
Shape of the Hawk (because hawks are more Lucas's thing) ReCo 35
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind [Boosted, Harnessed, Tethered]
Req: Animal
This spell allows the target to transform into a hawk.
(Base 20, +1 Touch, +2 Sun)
Now, normally, anyone using this spell would be stuck as a hawk until sundown or sunrise. But because it's Harnessed and Tethered, the targets of this spell could end it when they wanted.
Furthermore, since it's Boosted as well, at the cost of just 2 Corpus vis, it could be cast with a Group target, allowing an entire group of grogs to be targeted at once. (Same goes for Veil of Invisibility). And all it takes is a little study of Te on Lucas's part to allow them to take their swords and armor.
Can you imagine sending a troop of grogs as a flock of invisible hawks to outflank the enemy? Sounds good to me!
Unfortunately, making that into a device would be tough. I'm already at two seasons to learn the spell. A truly useful device would be ReCo 45 for unlimited uses, and that would make the required LT too high.
You could probably get away with as low as six uses a day. Having the item is much more useful than not. And if we're conducting more than six infiltration/flanking/retreat actions in a day, I think we might need to rethink our approach to whatever problem is harrying us, no?
Unfortunately, by going for an item, I lose some of the benefit of my lab, which is optimized for learning spells. That lowers the LT by 6, which makes a real difference. I can only get to 49, which is low for a level 40 device.
I can, however, easily make a device for Preternatural Growth and Shrinking, if that would be of use.
Wand of the Giant Soldier or the Tiny Spy MuCo(An,He,Te) 25
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind [Boosted, Harnessed, Tethered]
Adds +1 to the target’s normal Size or decreases it by up to 2 points.
(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 because the spell allows growth or two kinds of shrinking, +10 Unlimited uses)
. I'm still reading the Apprentice book to determine how a beginning Apprentice is created, and how that character is supposed to transition into a starting Magus. At present it appears the character is designed before apprenticeship (age 7-14), and then the desired Magus virtues and flaws are kept as aspirational goals, with no guarantee once play starts. That also seems like the right way to play it too, allowing that the character might greatly change in play.
