Terram Spell Trouble

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Hi, everybody! I've been trying to create a spell that's proving to be a bit of a puzzle.

What I want to do is create a spell that allows the mage to travel through earth or stone as though swimming. I want her to be able to sink into the ground, travel in any direction and and emerge from the earth like the wicked witch of the west. There are a number of ways to accomplish this and each has their advantages and disadvantages but none seem exactly right.

1.) Mu Co req:Te
r:per d:sun t:ind
base 30 +sun = lvl 40
Turns the maga into living stone
problem: just because I can turn into stone doesn't mean I can travel through it. I don't know how to adjust for that.

2.) Re Te
r:per d:con t:ind
base 3 +1 stone +1 precision = lvl 15
moves a human sized area of earth around the maga as though she were moving through a tunnel.
problem: displaces earth. this would leave a big messy hole in the wall if she went through it. Also, it would require her to hold her breath and displacing earth could cause a building to collapse on top of her.

3.) Pe Co req:Re
r:per d:sun t:ind
base 20 +sun = lvl 30
destroys the tangibility of the mages body so she floats around like a wraith. She would be able to pass through any object.
problem: there has GOT to be something I'm missing on that one. that can't be that easy.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!

2

Ocean of Earth Level 25 Mu(Re)Te
Range: Touch, Duration: Diameter, Target: Part
Base 4 (Stone to liquid), +1 Touch, +1 Diameter, +1 Part, +1 Size, +1 Requisite

Turn up to 10 cubic paces of stone or earth around the caster into liquid stone, which, while allowing you to temporarily swim through it like water, will remain and return to it's natural shape after the ripples of your motion have subsided.

Obviously that's only going to be of so much use unless constantly recasting, which might get annoying during swimming, so I'd probably stick it in an item of some kind, +10 Unlimited uses per day, for a not too bad level 35 effect.

Of course, you still need to figure out how to breathe.. which is a lot trickier.. unless you turn the stone into some weird breathable liquid.. .. which I'm unsure is possible or not within the medieval paradigm.. anyone know?

3

Why not gor for ReCo with a Te-Req. ?
What you want to do is move yourselves, after all.
Thats just like teleportation, with added style.
Step into the mountain here, step out of it on the other side.

I don't give spell levels, I'm still to much stuck in 4th ed...

4

As I can understand this, you're not looking for a form of teleportation (where you must see the destination, or have an AC), but rather a way of moving through the stone...

Options:
MuCo(Te) (??) to directly give you the ability to move in rock... This doesn't match any given guidelines, but you might be able to work with the MuAn25 guidelines (give an animal a magical ability), which would give you lvl 30 for a dur: conc spell..

MuTe(Aq) (??) Make the stone swimable... Target part, and it would be tricky to use exept as an enchanted item with unlimited uses - activated by touching stone?

PeCo(??) Destroy the solidity of yourself... This is really tricky, for 2 reasons... 1: what is destroyed by Perdo, usually doesn't return without Creo rituals, and 2: You can't really swim in the stone this way - any more than you can swim in the air normally...

5

Nice spell idea !
Let's see how I would do it.

Rego seems the most natural answer here. Yeah, Rego Corpus with a Terram Requisite like fury proposed.

Let's see...

With a little "outside the box" thinking, Move a target slowly in any direction you please, even if the target is unsuported seems about right for a guideline.

So that's a base 5 spell. With it you can walk in the air or on water. The Requisite of terram to move dirt around you is good too.

So we say it's personnal, concentration (could be messy otherwise), +1 if you want to go trought stony fields or the like and +1 for a sightly unnatural earth movement (if you don't want the spell to leave a big hole)

Well... lower than I though

ReCo(Te) 20
R: Personnal D: Concentration I: Individual
That permit you to navigate in earth, sand, mud, dirt and the like, even if there is stones in the way, it doesn't permit you to go through stone but just to displace individual sized ones out of the way. You still need some kind of method to breath or to see while in earth.

It balance itself, while you cannot (really) be hit by mundane means, you must throw additionnals spells to be wholly efficient in the earth.

Well, that's the best method I came up with, hope this help !

Perdo spells that affect something that cannot be lost naturally must have a duration because their effects don't last. The solidity, the weight, the visibility are some exemples.

For that spell I think that would be a valid option. But I'd throw a additional magnitude to your spell BellaDonna for the Rego requisite. Still you need to find a way to breathe and see in stone though. And be immaterial for sun duration have quite a bunch of downsides too...

6

That's exactly it.

That was the first one I have up there. I was using "Transform to Water" as a guideline.

That has potential. I didn't think of the Aquam requisite. I would like to try to come up with a way to do it where she wouldn't have to hold her breath, though.

I meant "swim" in a more figurative sense. I might be able to move this way if I attatch a mentem requisite.

This seems like a Re Te (Co) to me. The only problem is that it's messier than I wanted. (displaces earth) But it might be the way to go. Can't have everything.

Yeah, you're right about the magnitude. (I cant have Rego as a requisite, though, can I? Oops. That should be a mentem requisite.)
It would have a sun duration, but the spell would end on command, like "transform to water" so she wouldnt have to be stuck that way all day.

7

If you want to be able to breathe, you should add a CrAu or a MuTe(Au) effect.

The second one means you transform the stone to air so you can breathe... you should make sure to take a few large breaths before stopping the spell or you will have stone in your lungs... CrAu seems safer :slight_smile:

For the main effect, a MuTe(Aq) has my vote. You want to give the stone a property associated with water. It looks the same as a MuCo(An) if you want to have eagle wings.

ReTe works for dirt because you displace the dirt as you move, like a worm. You need to transform the stone if you want to swim.

For the duration, Concentration should do it. I don't have the guidelines handy so I can't help for the levels of the spells. Just bear in mind that you must calculate the levels of the two effects separately. Take the higher one, add one magnitude and you have the level of the final spell, with all the requisites.

Another more economic solution might be to make two spells: one for breathing, one for swimming. The breathing one could even have Sun duration while the other one (probably higher in level) would have Concentration duration.

8

Hmm - I'm growing more attached to the MuCo(Te) variant myself. It's basicly imbuing yourself with an earth-elemental's ability to move in solid rock... Breathing would require either another spell, comming up for breath, or adding a auram req (and a magnitude).

For sun duration, you'd be looking at a lvl 35 spell, which sounds about right...

9

I think i'd go with MuTe and change the stone around you to air, after you walk through it would change back.

10

Ahhhh... MuTe (Aq). I think that will work! I knew you guys would help. Thanks so much!!