Using Craft abilities with finesse

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Hi all,
Anything worth doing with magic generally has a ridiculously high finesse factor - especially if you are duplicating mundane work with magic. I have proposed to my SG that if I am using magic to do something, I can use an applicable craft score to help with the ease factor.

The premise for this is that I could do it with my own hands, therefore I have a better understanding of how it all should work together. This should be especially true for the rego craft spells in covenants.

I have also discussed an offshoot of this with him, using craft scores when creating spells. If I have Craft Blacksmith (swords) 4, and I design a CrTe spell to create a sword, my craft ability could be written into the spell so that anyone casting my version of the spell would gain a +4 bonus to creating a better type of sword.

This sort of working encourages magi to gain practical skills, and allows for more themed spells. It helps to differentiate between lab-texts for the same spell written by different people. I think it helps to create stories by people searching for mythical spells with a +8 bonus for creating XXXXXX. It could also encourage other magi to take in Forge Companions instead of just verditius (adding their (craft score / 5) rounded up).

Does anyone else agree, or do they see it as diminishing finesse, or as misunderstanding what finesse is all about?

2

I could certainly see it as a mastery ability, or a minor "potent magic"-alike virtue. Ever considered starting your own cult of volund? :slight_smile:

3

I'm not a fan of Potent Magic as far as the incorporating foci goes simply because Hermetics can already do it for items and Spontaneous magic via ceremonial casting, so not being able to do it formulaics seems ... clunky. That said, I don't know if I'd allow incorporating skills in to a spell directly. Possibly add twice the skill added to the spell level for the purposes of inventing it?

As an aside, there needs to be room in Research rules for trivial breakthroughs - things which aren't quite nonStandard (like using knowledge of swordmaking in swordmaking spells) but aren't normal either.

4

One of the ideas we discussed was that that like Potent magic you need a virtue/mystery to create the spell, but not to cast it.