"The Cloak of the Winter Hearth Fire"

An overbearing stage-mom of a Mercere Magi is preparing a gauntlet-passing gift for her son, a gifted apprentice. Knowing that he will be spending time in cold, rainy, foggy Normandy (the saga is set in sunny Provence) she would like to enchant a travelling hooded-cloak for him. The desired effect, in story terms, would make the wearer feel as if he was sitting inside in front of a warm fire. Inclement weather, of the cold/wet sort would have no effect on him, and his humors would not become unbalanced from exposure to these conditions.

Ideas for how to achieve this mechanically?

It sounds like a few low-level effects, so probably a greater enchanted device. For rain look at Cloak of the Duck's Feathers (ArM5 p.124). For the heating you could use a CrIg2 base or perhaps do it as a low-level ReIg ward.

Chris

The effect to specifically achieve this shoud be on ArM5 p.140: CrIg lvl 2 "Heat an object to be warm to the touch". Since the cloak itself would get warm, this is verrry easy to enchant: base 2 magnitudes, D: Sun +2 magnitudes, 2x/day +1 level => Total 5 levels.

There are other enchanted cloaks around in the books, however, that might deserve a look, too. Like MoH p.24 "The Traveller's Comfort", MoH p.32 "Traveler's Cloak" and MoH p. 142 "Cloak of Wilderness Refuge". Yes, there appears to be quite an industry churning out Mercere cloaks. :slight_smile: Your competitive stage-mom might even wish some of these effects combined into her son's cloak, to make sure she isn't upstaged at the ceremony by Mercere mom next door.

Cheers

I like One Shot's suggestion on the use of the CrIg2 guideline. I would do something similar with Cloak of the Duck's Feathers, though perhaps making it constant. This way the magic affects the cloak, not the person. Having to affect the person is problematic both in terms of warping and in terms of penetrating his Parma Magica since he'll be a Gifted Mercere.

Chris

And don't forget Foul Weather's Bane from Magi of Hermes. It enchants a constant Cloak of the Duck's Feathers to keep the wearer dry (this is important) and adds Comfort of the Weary Traveler to keep the wearer warm, as well. Magi of Hermes is an awesome book for just seeing what Magi do to make their lives more comfortable, and how they use their magic to enhance their everyday lives and accomplish their long term goals. It's probably the #1 book (after the main rule book) that should be bought and shared with players.

Coat of Prometheus from Magi of Hermes p110 is a spell that does exactly this (well, it heats the person not the cloak). It is worthwhile to look at this spell and compare it to the cloak in the Marius chapter: "Foul Weather's Bane" on p 76 which also does exactly this. Note that the two spells, that use the same guideline to do the same thing are noticeably different, I love that, magic should reflect its creator.

Dang. I really do seem to need MoH, as it was suggested in another thread as well. Local shop has a copy, which I pawed through yesterday before reading these responses. Guess I'll have to move it higher up on my buy list. It wasn't tops, not because it doesn't look great, but because other things seemed more immediately useful/relevant. I've got a Pralixian Ex Misc and a Gifted Mercere. IIRC, there is only one ex misc and no Mercere.

Until I can work this one into my budget*, I am not asking anyone to reprint content for my benifit, but would someone be willing to draft up and post something along the lines of one of these "keep you warm / dry" cloaks?

*(I've bought 20+ books, half locally and hlf via internet retailers, over 6 months, on a minimum wage income. Doing my best to support the line!)

Edit: I don't really need to pay bills or eat this week. I'll pick up a copy tomorrow. Gaming is my sustenance. :wink:

Yep, I too got MoH not long ago. I was tired of only hearing about smart spells from it, and simply flipping at random in co-players' copies during game sessions. Interesting things, although I really wish there were more of a spread of magi - a bit too many Jerbiton and Merinita after my taste. But good stuff none the less, I guess eventually more and more of them will be relevant.

Here is what I would do. For Warping and Penetration reasons, I would have the cloak affect itself. This makes it a significantly more useful gift. I would consider putting these powers into it, some of which could be added by the former apprentice later:

Make the cloak warm up to 24/7, but not constant in case it's already warm out.
CrIg2 "Heat an object to be warm to the touch."
Base 2, +2 Sun; +1 frequency => CrIg5.

Make the cloak cool up to 24/7, but not constant in case it's already cool out.
PeIg3 The PeIg4 guideline is way too strong since it causes a loss of Fatigue and can reduce bonfires to torch fires.
Base 3, +2 Sun; +1 frequency => PeIg6.

Make the cloak constantly shed water as long as it's not too much water, as with total immersion.
ReAq1 "Control a liquid in an extremely gentle way."
Base 1, +2 Sun, +1 slightly unnatural control; +1 frequency, +3 environmental trigger => ReAq8

Make the cloak constantly extra sturdy and more protective.
MuAn4 "Change something made of animal products in a minor unnatural way."
Base 4, +2 Sun; +1 frequency, +3 environmental trigger => MuAn14

A lot of these are low enough in level that they could be done alongside other items. For example, let's say all the lab total of the master around 40. If the master is doing a CrIg15 enchantment, the master could also do the first spell on this list during the same season. The same could probably be done with a PeIg15 item and a ReAq10 item. Or, since these are such low levels, perhaps the apprentice actually made most of the item during seasons when the master was reading. By the time the apprentice gets to Magic Theory 3 and a point or two in several Arts, the first two are already single-season tasks and the second one could be with a touch more training. Only the last one is likely to require many seasons for the apprentice. This cloak would probably be opened with 2x4=8 pawns of vis, which is even possible for the apprentice with a Magic Theory of 4 or a Magic Theory of 3 with an appropriate specialty. Even all those enchantments still leave 3 pawns with of space available for later enchantments. Another way to do this would be to have a standardized Redcap cloak, with Harco holding translated lab texts for each part. They could have apprentices open the cloaks for enchantment. (I could see Harco deciding that every Gifted Mercere apprentice must be trained sufficiently to open such a cloak and must open five such cloaks as part of passing his gauntlet.) Then in one season a magus (40ish lab total from above) might enchant 5-8 cloaks with any of the first three enchantments. Even the last one could probably be done at a rate of at least 3/season. I wouldn't take much effort to keep every Redcap equipped with one of these.

Chris

Agreed. I really only steal spells from 2-3 magi in there.
I so hope they'd do a whole series (or atleast a MoH2).

From the Scions of Nathas game. Might be helpful. Usual disclaimer, non-standard setting, blah blah.

Elven Ranger Cloak
These woollen cloaks are made in large numbers from widely available lab texts in Linisfarn. Created for the rangers to aid them in their fight against the Orks, they are reasonably common in the western edge of the empire and are easy enough to create that many elves are capable of making them. There are a whole bunch of different varieties of this cloak but the most common is shown. The cloak was opened with 4 pawns of vis. Two of its powers do need to penetrate but have no penetration score, requiring that the wearer drops their magic resistance for a moment.
From the Trees to the Trees
MuIm18
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
This effect is subtle but powerful, when triggered, typically by wrapping the cloak around oneself and pulling the hood up, the cloak (and the wearer) adopts the colouring and generally patterns of the scenery they are surrounded by. This isn’t perfect camouflage but it is a great help and adapts to any terrain. It grants +5 on any rolls to remain unobserved.
(Base 1, +1 touch, +1 conc, +5 Item maintains conc, +10 for unlimited uses)
Cloak of the Ducks Feather
ReAq8
R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind
This effect is a useful one that simple augments a cloaks natural use, that of keeping its wearer dry and warm. This effect is continuously active and simple makes the cloak impervious to water. Any water runs off entirely keeping the wearer nice and dry.
(Base 1, +2 sun, +1 for slightly unnatural command, +1 levels for 2 uses a day, +3 levels for linked trigger – Sunset/rise)
Fear not the Frost of First Light
CrIg10
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
This effect is a handy one for someone who is going to be out in the wilderness a lot, especially during winter. It can, three times a day warm the wearer of the cloak, keeping him snug and toasty even in a freezing blizzard.
(Base 1, +1 touch, +1 conc, +5 Item maintains conc, +2 levels for 3 uses a day)

Nice cloaks. Somewhat expensive (a year to make each one of them), but really useful none the less. I suppose that lab texts for those will be extremely appreciated to churn them by the dozen. IMS we have had similar small items that together combine several of those, but not in the same item.

Cheers,
Xavi

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. Interesting how both of you got to essentially the same formula for a "keeps you dry" effect. Probably the first time I have ever seen two writers agree exactly on the math. :wink:

I think I'm going to combine these ideas for my saga. There won't exactly be a standard "Mercere cloak" as one writer suggested, as I don't want to force every redcap in my saga to spend magic item levels on one. But it will be a very common gauntlet gift. The most common and simple would include one or more of the 4 effects listed by the first writer: warming, cooling, keeping dry, and/or staying in good shape and protecting the wearer.

But, as I said in my OP, I'm giving some good gifts to reward my players for a job well done, and I want more of a "story effect" then a numerical advantage. The latter cloak, stripped of its "Elven cloak" flavor, retains the "keep water off," does the "keeps you warm" thing but in a more flavorful way, and adds a less common, more powerful "hide" ability. The +5 seems reasonable, not disruptive.

I think stage-mom will be gifting him this cloak. She has been holding back for two years since his gauntlet; he made a move that undermined her at his first covenant meeting since his gauntlet, and she's been giving him guilt trips and cold shoulders ever since. (Oh, to have close family ties that include your own parens.)

Just now though, he has returned from Ireland with a nasty cold induced by the cold, wet humor unbalance resulting from too much time wandering in a foggy forest. That has melted the ice and she finally gives him this belated gift.