Form of the (Temperament) Heartbeast really feels like it's an example that addresses so many of these issues:
You can see the "retain its effects" part to see that the Animal spell still influences the human that it's now on. Meanwhile, you can see that multiple of these MuAn spells conflict with each other, that such changes are mutually incompatible.
Things like this are why I suggested checking for compatibility. If there is compatibility, it seems to be that they both/all run. If something is getting overwritten, then that seems different and something will not be in effect somehow, but that's not an issue of the spell being an Animal or Corpus spell.
The spell I'll probably take will be the teleport, but while considering that teleport spell I thought other Bjornaer might use a leap style spell. The Lion also has a Jumping quality too, which makes that spell moot.
Updated stats, removed warrior virtue. Added lion stats and more story and background notes. Added his first spell in the post so it’s pretty final. I’m almost ready to call the character
I also Added a few minor virtues around rego and Muto but I’m struggling to define how best achieve the character’s goals, as they are very broad. I’m staring to think that Mentem might be better and perhaps a magical focus which helps to control or set motivations might be very handy.
What does this mean? You didn't multiply by 1,5 the xp you put in those Art/Ability?
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To the character of my saga that invented this one, I asked only a 3+ check. I think that it is supposed to represent the calculation of distance and position, and perhaps the effort harnessing the potential of the spell into a destination that needs not to be in the extreme range. That seems to be a lot easier with 5 paces than with 50 (the official spell at that distance is 6+) or 7 leagues (9+). But it is true that I would call for slightly higher difficulties (an environmental penalty of a sort) when you try to fast-cast it in the middle of a messy environment like a battlefield.
Thanks for the info on the Finesse difficulty - of course I like reducing the difficulty.
And yep, the no calc means that I have not adjusted the xp spent upward, so MT and the Art are slightly higher. It makes it easier for spending so in MetaCreator
Spell to create in the advancement period, seeking a formulaic spell to be cast as Samual shifts into his beast shape so his carried items are merged into one item like a leather band or some such.
I saw Falke’s talisman effect (GotF, p96) which is invested in her talisman, which only targets itself. Base 4, and +2 Sun, plus some mods for investing in an item.
Checks are:
R: Personal, can target his own self and possessions but not arms, packs, etc. Used with T: Individual here.
I chose the base as the highest base effect across Muto Animal, Herbam, and Terram so that additional requisites could be added without an argumentative base.
I’d like casting req flexibility. Assumed Muto Terram as a general spell enough.
added a mag to cover how the materials are worn in places. Assuming when the spell expires they will return to their starting place.
The magus will also use a ReVi spell to maintain it.
My intent is to also create a similar effect into a magical item (maybe talisman) later, but for now it’s desirable as a way to handle Bjornaer transformation of personal items.
Rereading Sensory Magic from HoH:MC and can’t see a clear ruling stating the initiated Bjornaer has to be in their Heartbeast form when casting - which was my first assumption.
Appears that they can cast sensory magic spells in any form, as long as the spell follows the rules (HoH: MC p27).
Is that right?
Hi, I just wanted to comment that perhaps you missed this.
In Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults (pp 23), there are rules to calculate the stats of your Heartbeast (any shapechanger's stats to be precise). Your human stats affect your Heartbeast, and so I would recommend having all physical attributes positive to get the maximum benefit from the change. When I first checked your attributes I thought that you had already done it, but it seems that you didn't read it and decide to change them after.
I think I’ve follower those rules correctly. For combination of stats, if both are negative use the lower, if both are positive use the higher, otherwise add them together.
This means that it the animal form will keep its higher scores as long as the human form has zero or higher. It also means that the human form gains no advantage from having small positive values which I mistakenly took in an earlier version of Samual’s stat block. In this case a 0 human score plus a possible wolf score result in the wolf score remaining unchanged.
Is that what you expected?
I think you're misunderstanding the HoH:MC rules your referencing. Look at the lion:
Per 0, Pre 0, Com 0, Str +6, Sta +3, Dex +2, Qik +1
So ...
Str 0 will give just as much benefit as Str +5. That means you get the maximum benefit from Str 0 because you can put the points elsewhere.
Sta 0 will give just as much benefit as Sta +3. That means, unless you're putting Virtues to get Sta > +3, you get the maximum benefit from Sta 0 because you can put points elsewhere.
Dex 0 will give just as much benefit as Dex +2. So you have to go right to Dex +3 to get any benefit over Dex 0.
Qik 0 will give you just as much benefit as Qik +1. So you have to go right to Qik +2 to get any benefit over Qik 0.
Now, you only get 7 points, and negatives anywhere will hurt your Heartbeast form. So if you put Dex +3, you're nearly out of points. Therefore Dex 0 is better. With Qik you only waste the first point, so that can still leave you points.
Thus you get maximum benefit by making all physical Characteristics 0, not positive, or perhaps making only Qik positive. Some of the greatest benefit options are these:
Int +1, Per +1, Pre +1, Com +1, Str 0, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik +2
Int +2, Per +1, Pre +1, Com +1, Str 0, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik 0 (with 1 point dumped into any on physical Characteristic)
Int +2, Per +2, Pre +1, Com 0, Str 0, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik 0 (or switch around around those two +2s, the +1, and the 0 between the mental Characteristics in any other combination)
As you can see, the design isn't so far from the third option. Only that +1 could be moved from Sta to either Per or Pre to get more benefit for the Heartbeast. Meanwhile, Int +2 and Sta +1 are generally useful for a human magus, and the character has Good Teacher, so Com +2 is a good choice, too.
Whoops. Sorry. I have read it again. I don't know why but I had in my mind that if you had any 0, you had to halve the other score. That is not what it says. I don't know why I thought that.
Anyway, I also noticed that you didn't translate Samual virtues and flaws to the animal form. You should keep the gift, gentle gift, subtle magic, compassionate and so on. You also keep your non-general abilities (Lores, Arcane Abilities...).
My solution is to make a single list of Abilities. When it varies between forms, I record which form. So I end up with things like:
Brawl - Human
Brawl - Wolf
Language: Latin
Magic Theory
Stealth - Human
Stealth - Wolf
This way I don't have to go to multiple spots every time I put some experience into an Ability. It doesn't necessarily work so well when you use lots of forms. But when you have two forms you're using a lot, it can save some effort.
Virtues, yes, you'll want to record those with each form.
Part of the Sensory Magic initiation process (HoH:MC, p.27-28) is the creation of a magical device in the shape of the Bjornaer's Heartbeast which is imbued with five senses.
This task is totally undefined and very open to interpretation.
I’ve written up a long blog post about a few methods but thought I’d ask here too - the transformed Idol method works on paper and allows the Bjornaer to get on with their life.
Method One - A Transformed Idol A smoothly shaped statuette of an owl, made from dried clay inset with specks of powdered electrum (+4 Muto Terram) and silver (+1 Terram). When activated the statuette transforms into a living owl; which allows the enchanted device to "see, hear, taste, touch, and smell" as a normal avian. This method could be achieved in 1x season as a lesser enchanted device, and cost only 1x pawn of vis.
Variations - using this method there are some variations which might be worth considering as the lab text to craft the "animal" can be reused.
Change the enchanted material to a type of stone (+1 mag) or a metal (+2 mags).
Extend the active time from Diameter to Sun (+1 Mag), and add +1 level for two uses a day, and +3 for an environmental trigger. This +9 total boost allows the idol to always be active, only pausing at dusk and dawn.
Remember that transforming into large animals will need additional power due to the beast's size, up to size +3 (+1 mag).
It might also be desirable to have a tiny idol become a beast, perhaps requiring extra power (either free or needing a +1 mag at the story-guides discretion) to transform from a small stone to an animal. As an example:
As a follow up - what is a “reasonable sacrifice” to form part of this Mystery Cult initiation?
A season of work and a pawn of vis feels light, but all the other solutions I worked out were going to take 1.5-2 years or more, and a lot of vis which seems huge
Edit-going for a season to be initiated into Sensiry Magic.
Heads up - I’ve changed Samual’s Heartbeast from a lion to a wolf as I’ve just found Lexora of House Bjornaer in Through the Aegis (p45), and many of the Sensory Magic style effects I was planning to write are already there. Bit of a blow. I found the write up due to looking for examples of sensory magic to make sure I didn’t cover old ground.