This topic came up in another thread, and I find it fascinating. What small spontaneous spells do you think magi cast on a routine basis to improve their daily quality of life?
Some magi with the TMRE p.91ff Minor Mystery Virtue Hermetic Numerology have designed TMRE p.92f Rotes for this purpose. But their better Casting Score will rarely beat an Aegis either,
Light Candle/Lamp (touch or voice range)
As I mentioned in that thread, Sub Rosa 20 'Wizards and their everyday magics' actually covers this. In our Saga, everyone has their casting totals for 'Magics of Gesture' and 'Magics of Intent' calculated on their character sheets.
These are different from Rotes, because they are actually Spontaneous magic and so do not have to be pre designed. Rotes (or Cantrips, same basic thing) do have the advantage that they can generate more powerful effects Silently and Without Gestures, but you have to design or learn them. Since they are so simple though, you can design or learn a bunch of them in a single season.
Turning pages of a book (ReAn2), "fetching a coin purse from the magus' belt (ReAn2), Sharpen a quill (ReAn2), Knock upon a table, calling a room to order (CrIm2), Wipe a spillage from a writing desk (ReAq2), Create fine sand upon a page to blot the ink (CrTe2), Blow dust from a page (ReTe2), Blow dust and cobwebs away from the magus as he walks down a corridor (CrAu2), Feth a book from a shelf (ReAn3), Light a candle by touch (CrIg3), Wash with magical water (CrAq4), Protect the caster against rain while concentrating (ReAq4), Open/close a distant door (ReHe4), Light a distant candle (CrIg4), Ascend/descend stairs without the effort of walking (ReCo5), Disrupt unpleasant smells (MuIm5)...
The effects produced can vary wildly. Once you have a Casting Total of ~32 in a TeFo, your 'Magics of Intent' are up to level 5. Once you have a Casting Total of ~40 in a TeFo, your 'Magics of Gesture' are up to Level 5. If you look at the TeFo Guidelines, you will find that there are a ton of useful low level effects.
There are some fun examples of this in Apprentices, including the (I think) rather sensible rules for Learning Cantations in Play. I also think some low-level spells, like Eyes of the Cat and the Unseen Arm are so routinely useful that a mage probably learns them at some point, perhaps with any additional Lab Totals while learning other spells of the same Technique and Form, But to add to those; off the top of the head, and with minimal spell checking:
Perfectly Prepared Poultry (CrIg 5)
Heats a slab of meat to exactly the temperature necessary to drive out the leukodemons that besiege those who eat raw meat, while still leaving it tender and juicy.
Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Diameter
Berchta's Overcoat (PeIg 5)
A cloak, jacket, or sweater suddenly becomes remarkably cool, as if removed from a well. A favorite of those travelling in the summer. Usually refreshed every half hour or so at most, to avoid an inverted discomfort of being too cold.
Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Diameter
Inviting a Sunbeam to Make Itself At Home (ReIg 10)
The solution to the gloom of staying in a castle with only narrow arrowslits to let in the light, a ray of morning sunlight coming in the window is made to travel further than it should, illuminating more of a room or bouncing into adjacent rooms without windows.
Base 4, +2 Circle (the traced window)
(this is a bit high for a spont/5, but trivial for a spont/2; alternatively if you'd make this a Base 3 then it's trivial either way.)
A Day of Rags (CrHe 5)
Creates a huge mound of cotton cloth, which the grogs can use to do the cleaning for the day, or when no better alternative is available in the privy.
Base 2 + 1 Touch +2 Sun
Ascent of the Weary Wizard (ReCo 5)
Sometimes, a magus commissions the construction of a perfectly excellent circular tower with three stories of stairs around a grand open center to let the air flow freely - it looks extremely grand and allows him to survey the covenant's holdings from all directions as he passes the windows. Then, after a few months of using the tower, the magus realizes he will have to climb said stairs forever, and begins using a version of Rise of the Feathery Body with a Personal Target when going to his lab in the morning.
Penny Against Sloth (ReTe 5)
A coin is held in place until dawn, whereupon the spell ends and it clatters to the ground, or, in this common practice, into a metal bowl just below placed at a mage's bedside, ensuring they will not sleep in too late, without having to be spoken to by grogs first thing in the morning.
Base 2 +1 Touch + 2 Sun
Thanks!, I will also be seeking out the Sub Rosa you mentioned.
+2 metal, unless 'the item is simply being moved from one place to another'. So maybe as much as a level 15.
(Yeah, I'm a jerk.)
Spent some of today discussing DE with a friend of mine. We think the Aquam version of this would work, especially if you hover water over your apprentice.
Fair - this is a situation where the specifics of what Unseen Arm and its friends can and cannot do always loses me.
Aquam feels unseemly, so perhaps a solid clay ball for the discerning mage, which might crack but it's not like clay is hard to find, and the Aquam version for the apprentice. Or, would a ReTe(He) work, just hovering a shard of wood?
I would also allow that whatever falls is merely something to activate a little device that clatters, or perhaps knocks some bells - the sort of thing that develops more and more elaborate designs and becomes a common thing to commission and gift to your sodales at Christmas.
ALTERNATIVELY,
Summoning the Sunblock (CrHe 5)
The Mage keeps at their bedside, or in their pack when travelling, a metal plate and a metal dodecahedron with a bell in it. Whenever they go to bed, assuming they do so after sunset, they conjure a cube of wood about the size of the plate, place it on the metal plate and the ball on top of the block. When the sun rises, the wood fades out of existence and the ball falls, preventing them from sleeping in. This spell is not popular with mages in towers frequented by cats.
Base 2 +1 Touch +2 Sun.
Possibly a CrTe 4 version, creating a clay block, would be even easier, but I don't know if "clay block" would bump it up to Base 2 instead of 1 off the top of my head. Sandman's Parma.
A 'dawn alarm' seems like it should be the most popular kind of spell in the Order.
Time to do the Parma!
I think simply suspending a stationary object against gravity, with no appreciable resistance to other forces is on the order of 'simple movement', so the +2 may not apply.
I like the suggested variant with a small globe of chilly water, suspended over the mage's face -- the Refreshing Greeting of the New Morning. Probably not popular, but grudgingly used by mages who concede that they are difficult to rouse; or maybe used by a mage to ensure the apprentice is about their assigned tasks at an early hour.
The Tytalan version being Needle of Damacles, for apprentices.
I would tend to agree. Also, I love the idea!
Waking up your Apprentices, a survey:
Refreshing Greeting of the Morning: Favored by Tremere, and those Flambeau who by nature dry off fast.
Needle of Damacles: Favored by Tytalus, naturally.
Summoning the Sunblock: Favored by Verditius (to practice with different materials) and Jerbiton (for the sake of beautiful designs of the non-conjured alarm components)
The Breakfast Brambles (CrHe 4): Favored by Merinita, this spell grows a small plant in a pot of soil kept by the bedside, from which a few bells are hung - when the plant vanishes in the morning, the bells fall and make a sound. Sweet-smelling plants are preferred, or those with associations of rest, sweet dreams, or protection. Many Merinita apprentices will earn a new bell each year, or upon completing certain benchmark tasks of their tutelage.
The Night's Grasping Claws (ReAn 4): Favored by Bjornaer, a preserved foot, usually of a mid-size bird such as a chicken (though other animals may be used based on the caster's predilections) is fitted with a metal cap on the severed end. When the spell is cast, it grasps onto a perch by the bedside, and falls into the alarm plate at dawn when the spell wears off.
Criamon rarely utilize such spells - seeing a dream all the way through to its conclusion is always worth being late to breakfast.
I would be amused if the Bonisagus version to wake up their apprentices is a series of metamagic spells to set of all of them at once. Part of the Bonisagus apprenticeship is learning how to quickly get around their really annoying alarm clocks.
Also:
A Quick Sip (MuAn 5)
Transform liquid in a glass to your preferred alcohol (a formulaic would likely require a chosen alcohol but spontaneous would not.) This liquid does not pass Parma Magica, so it's mostly for private drinking, not public occasions.
A Pure Sip (MuAn 5 also)
Transform liquid in a touched pitcher to pure water. This not only makes it potable for grogs, but also makes a quick detection for creatures with magic resistance in public settings.
My Softest Robes (MuIm 4)
Transform the inner layer of a magus's robes into incredibly soft, velvety fabric. Note this doesn't make scratchy materials abrade less, but any acceptable material feels like an exceptional one.
(Base 1, +2 Sun, +1 Part)
I like that. I didn't have anything fun for Bonisagus.