What magically provided services should logically exist?

We have the redcap network. That had me thinking what other services might be provided to the order by enterprising magi; and if there is a business niche to be filled, what is the price. There's so many threads about Verditus crafting artifacts for magi, I'm looking at other services.

My basic premise on price is a mage can extract vis from a magic aura. 3 vis would be the minimum we'd expect a mage to do. I appreciate an optimised older mage in that area could get to 9. Anything taking a season, 5 - 6 vis would be a decent price and the best in the field 10+.

The builder -
A rego specialist who has spells for quarrying, log making, a 7 league stride wagon and buildings spells. This magi could build houses for coven folk, create a stone church, tavern, wizards sanctums, proper fortifications, etc.

Price: This could be done in days. 3 vis for a decent job. If we have a guru with huge finesse and decent crafting such that there are carvings in the stonework, beautifully carved chairs and oak tables, carpets, etc it could go to 10 vis+

The teacher -
There are some skills you want to be taught and only magi can teach you. Good luck improving your level 1 parma with experience before a spell takes you out.
An older magi with a high teaching score could give 25+ XP in a season for parma, penetration, finesse, and some niche teachers could teach second sights, etc.

Price - it's going to be a season, so I'd say 5 vis for an adequate teacher such as 15 source, and an extra vis for each +3. so a 30+ XP teacher would be 10 vis.

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Healing is another obvious one. (and longevity rituals but that topic has been debated endlessly before so I will not include it further here).

Another one I like to imagine is put enchantments into items. I see this as being most relevant for getting items that make travel easier, i.e. items that teleport and items that transform the user into a bird capable of long range flight. This is particularly relevant for magi that arent specialized in Muto or Rego.

Any spell that conjures useful materials out of thin air e.g. gold, gemstones.

Spells that alter the terrain in useful ways. This includes the obvious - moving large amounts of dirt, but also the creation of orchards and other fruit plantations, woodland, creation of water features etc.

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In some PnP and LARP rounds I played there was a sponsoring group for hermes portals. In the Larp rounds we played different tribunals meetings, and all the vis penalties to be payed was going in a "Portal creation fund". Nice politics there to decide who get the next portals ...

I once created a magi NPC that I named a "Sanctum opener", offering the service of cleaning a sanctum of all the weird and potentially dangerous things recently deceased and disappeared magi may leave behind. He will do it for a price, and a share of the loot of course.

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The builder in my sagas is a Guernicus Terram specialist named Citadellius. His talisman is a shovel and he can’t cast magic if his feet aren’t touching the ground. He travels the Order building new covenants for young magi or expanding old ones. Also knows Aegis and has various common casting tablets for sale.

The sanctum breaker in my sagas is a Tytallus named Sebastian from the Greater Alps. Collection of enchanted items and spells aimed at detecting and circumventing wards and traps. Hired by magi to investigate sanctums of missing magi and get the books out.

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Longevity ritual specialists are well established in canon.

A mining mage might make a mint, consulting and contracting for covenants.

A mage might generate a ball of gold, divide it, and sell it to young or materially poor covenants, a pound for a pawn. A certain amount of financial advice comes with the trade.

Magically born shipping is also established, both by ship and by land.

IOS, Redcaps will escort/guide other magi along their usual routes, and for an additional honorarium will guide to other locations. Quaesitores may get a free ride when in service. This is not really magical, although the Redcaps generally use magic devices in the other mage's favor.

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Now I got this image of monster safaris, the Magical Mystical Tour, meet the Wise Owl of the Forest, see the dragon in its natural habitat.

And breeders and traders of potential familiars and other magical pets and whatnot are probably common. I introduced one at an Hermetic fair IOS.

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Healing and stat boosting ritual could be an established service as well.

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and statboosting for familiars!

I imagine that boosting a familiars intelligence is popular, seeing as many familiars will be starting out with -3 int, and any magus wanting the familiar to help in the lab will want to improve that at least up to +0.

In fact I think many magi will want their familiar to have a higher intelligence than -3 as it makes for much more stimulating company.

One service might be someone who provides arcane connections.

  • The leap of Homecoming is a wonderful travel spell… if you have an arcane connection to where you’re going.
  • For the less scrupulous, perhaps you can buy an arcane connection to a pestering noble, or one that connects to your Hermetic rival.

In our campaigns, it's a normal service of the redcap to deliver an arcane connection next to a covenant they visit if someone wants to leap there for a discussion.

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Another I thought of was Sanctum protections. Who wants to develop ones own wards which won't be as good as the specialist anyway?

Problem is, the sanctum protector magi would need to go in to another magi sanctum to put up the wards. A way around this problem. Have a quaesitor write up a contract basically saying usual order protections apply to the professional when in the sanctum. Problem solved.

The Quaesitor involvement would be a cost, however, could that cost be defrayed? Could the Sanctum protector magi have contracts pre-signed by a quaesitor. The magi buying the service, and the sanctum protect magi sign the contract, problem solved cheaper.

Would what equates close to Quaesitor indulgences be acceptable?

With Steve Irwin as the red cap, "Crikey Sheilla! I'm gonna prod that dragon with mah Boot! Look how aggravated he is!"

But more seriously, acting as a (lending) library. Paired up with with a few vis poor covenants in Rome or the Rhine who have large historic libraries, they can either sell copies of lab texts, or summae and tractatii on the hermetic arts, or just rent them out. The first option would be particularly appealing to mages with apprentices, who might get a significant part of their vis-income by extracting the surplus value of the labour of their apprentices.

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Quick way around this: Remove the sanctum marker while the wards and traps are being place. put them back afterward.

One my current character is working on: Make talismans for non-Verditius magi, that is the physical talisman rather than opening it. I'll be managing this because through Rego craft magic and experimental philosophy I'll be able to make very good quality items with better-than-usual Shape & Material bonuses.

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I think this is a place where verditius magi in particular could have a huge market for their services. Though I am unsure if they would consider it beneath them or not.

A standard Verditius? Not at all. They're pretty much useless here.

One more example of an exotic service I used in my latest campaign : a covenant offering to keep persons of interest safe and unharmed for undetermined and possibly long periods of time, without asking too many questions. The guest may have some ideas about escaping at first, but after a good night sleep in the covenant special tower, all thoughts of leaving the place seems to be forgotten...

In general, a magus who knows useful high level rituals and has the spell mastered may offer their services. Or again, similar to real life, you know that so&so is an Herbam specalist, so your covenant contacts this person to see if they can cast such&such spell.

Recall that while paying vis is a distinct possibility, the story opportunity generated by this is not to be underestimated. Archmage so-&-so doesn't need vis, she needs TWO potential apprentices. Or something like that.

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I don't think it has been mentioned previously but a middling magus might hire a specialist to invent a spell to spec and share it with them in some manner, teaching, lab text. This would be facilitated by a House Rule where magi can take notes in their shorthand if they help in the lab and/or that those taking lab notes can write them as plainly as possible.