She might not be able to enchant a whole ship, but she can still open & enchant parts of the item. A ship is just a large item. The main problem here is the need for a large lab Or a Muto effect to reduce the effect of the ship while you enchant it in the normal lab.
Enchanting the rudder, the mast or other parts of a ship would be fairly normal, I would say. and she can certainly do that earlier Opening up the whole huill is trickier, true, but enchanting these parts or the keep should be easier. Or she can concentrate in smaller boats as a test bed.
I hear what everyone is saying and it seems to consistently discount what I want for the character. Let's let it lie, shall we? As it is, I'm not sure a third cycle is going to get her to the point I want her to be able to enchant a ship, but at least it's much closer than with a second cycle.
I am not discounting it. Just pointing out smaller steps along the path. These all produce lab texts you can use latter on for the big project.
And I figured out what's holding you up. A massive enclosed shipyard/lab is not that big of a problem. Drydock it
The hard part is opening it for enchantment in the first place and getting your magic theory score high enough. That has always been an issue for me too, because I think the old "Magic Theory + Vim" formula worked better, and David Chart admits to miscalculation and recommends using three times the magic theory score instead of two. But the rest of the world around us uses x2 for the formula.
I propose that we say that certain things that add to your Lab Total are actually added to Magic Theory, adjusting both the total and the amount of vis you can use. Bonuses that cound would include Shape & Material and Lab Quality. And the Items specialization. The Vis Extraction adds that number of pawns, and an Art specialization ads it's value for pawns of that type.
Or maybe not. I dunno. There are certain mysteries that greatly multiply the amount of vis you can use.
Also, you can commission the work on building the yard, and while it is under construction, finish up learning what you need to know.
And Roberto can help you!
Certainly not by RAW, and I don't see a HR in the Offical HR thread that mentions this. It must be an item of the same exact type and make.
Yes, it (my holdup) has nothing to do with work, or just a generally busy month of October for activities on the weekends. My last three weekends involved daughter's birthday party, a local gaming convention, and an almost annual trip out of town for Boo at the Zoo at the Columbus Zoo, we've only missed one year in the last 6 due to being at Disneyworld.
I have a few tricks up my sleeve for getting her to the point where she can prepare an entire ship for enchantment. I don't object to MT x2, and I'd have to see that quotation from David Chart to accept it, otherwise it would just be made errata, and it would pretty much obviate the need for several mysteries, making mysteries even less powerful.
I'm not interested in a lot of HR jujitsu to make it so, and make it happen for Talia sooner than three cycles. At two cycles, Talia's effective magic theory is going to be approaching or at 8. The physical building of the ship's soak is one thing, but making it an Hermetic lab will require a lot of refinement, and a lot of time.
I'm withdrawing. Really too busy with the other things I have going on IRL and my existing game commitments. I'll keep my eye on what's going on, and if circumstances allow, I might seek to come in later.
Or a Muto effect to reduce the effect of the ship while you enchant it in the normal lab.