Yet more Spell Questions from a Novice

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

I feel like I need to apologize for asking questions about so many of the spells in the core book, but I feel like I need to understand them in order to be able to fairly adjudicate the design of new spells (and arbitrate the effects of the existing ones). Anyway, hopefully the forum community will continue to bare with me :wink:.

PeHe25 Great Rot (page 138)
This spell is listed as duration: momentary, but the spell description says it takes a minute for the target to rot away. Similar PeHe spells with time elapses for destruction exist, and yet no modification to the magnitude or level seems to be made for this disadvantage. For instance I can't fast cast the PeHe 5 Curse of the Rotted Wood to destroy the shaft of an axe being swung at me because it will take 2 rounds for the shaft to really fall apart (much more than the fraction of an initiative quantum implied by a fast cast interrupt).

ReHe25 The Treacherous Spear (pg 139)
States that the weapon will attack the wielder with his own attack and defense totals? Where does this logic come from? It seems like a significant added effect.

If one made an enchanted arrow with a CrIg burst fire effect, would you need an InCo trigger effect, or is the "physical state" of being stuck in someone significantly major enough to act as a trigger?

CrIg15 Blade of Virulent Heat (page 140)
if this spell were modified to parallel Heat of the Searing Forge, with a base effect of 5 (White Hot), would it not cause the blade so heated to inflict about +10 damage and avoid MR, while being 5 levels lower? Although some folks might point out that it would probably ruin the tempering on the blade, or make render it difficult for anyone to hold (because of the radiating heat) perhaps requiring a Part target to make only the blade hot. For that matter, Blade of the Virulent Flame does not include Target: Part or a Rego requirement to protect the wielder from the flames. I doubt this effect of the spell was designed to fall under "unnatural shape" since the spell double weapon damage or +5 damage, whichever is greater (i.e. a damage effect of more then +5).

CrIg 25 Coat of Flame
Why does this spell require both the Rego requisite and unusual shape? couldn't it get the same effect by just dousing the target in flame for the duration? Only with a higher damage adjustment? It seems like limiting the flame to the coat is cosmetic?

PeVi General Wind of Mundane Silence
lists a target of Room, but in the spell description talks repeatedly about "an area" and things near "the area" of the Wind, etc. implying the spell can be cast in any general area roughly the size of a room, but a Room target specifically states it requires the boundaries of an actual Room? Is this another heritage spell?

ReVi Opening the Intangible Tunnel
Not the only Vim spell that doesn't quite add up, but I'll use it as my question source. OtIT states that it opens a conduit to cast spells on a target, a general level base effect allowing spells of level +5 to be cast through. The spell description, however, states that any spell of equal or lower level can be cast through the conduit, which doesn't add up. (e.g. Level 40 conduit = L15 base effect +4 Arc, +1 Conc, which implies only spells of level 20 or less could be cast through the conduit). With the spell as written, could you cast a Room targeted spell (you have a mystic contact to the target individual at range touch, not to the room he's in?). If one wanted to create a conduit that another mage could cast through, would this add an additional Muto requirement, or be simply impossible? If one made a version of this spell with a target of Group, could one target a spell through an Arcane connection to one member of a band of outlaws (for instance) and hit all the outlaws (or 10 of them anyway), or would it require arcane connections to everyone in the target group (and therein allow you to open one conduit on a disparate and non-collocated group of people?). If you made a Fae Magic version of this spell with Range Road, assuming the target was on the path in question, would he then be able to cast spells of Conduit level +10 (since Road is +2 and Arc is +4?) What about with target Bloodline (same issues as for Group?)

2

I can't answer all your questions.....

Some spells are designed with colour. The rot taking longer is the colour. I seem to think some spells being designed as slightly underpowered provide an extra XP point (this could be a house rule though). But it could also represent a spell which was experemented with and the time is a side effect.

The requisite is to stop it burning the wearer as personal spells bypass parma.

[quote="Shin"]
PeVi General Wind of Mundane Silence
lists a target of Room, but in the spell description talks repeatedly about "an area" and things near "the area" of the Wind, etc. implying the spell can be cast in any general area roughly the size of a room, but a Room target specifically states it requires the boundaries of an actual Room? Is this another heritage spell?

Interesting point. I would argue that outside a room, the spell would not work. A group varient may be more appropriate.

A

3

it is indeed another legacy spell. And it does indeed only (by RAW) work in a room - or possibly some other well-defined, like a small depression, no larger than 400 sq.ft.

4

Magic heat would be stopped by PM.

5

All depend on the spell : if you heat with a momentary ignem the spell (which was is point I believe), your sword will naturally be hot.

It's finally not different from putting your sword in the fire and attacking with it. You are just accelerating the "sword in fire" process.

Hence the higher base , higher danger for the blade (it will probable break easier) and lesser damage.

6

There are no stupid questions (but those are the easiest to answer...) :smiling_imp:

Many spells are, indeed, "legacies" from earlier editions when the guidelines were far, far looser, less unified and overall less coherent. You'll run into a lot of them, spells that are colorful and classic and traditional (in AM, anyway), and so aren't radically re-defined, yet don't actually, technically fit the new rules

Whispers Through The Black Gate is one such - there's no reason the voice should be heard - it's not a Rego forcing a sound, but an Intellego spell to gain knowledge - but the description says that the voice is heard by all. Meh.

You can do one (or more) of several things...

  1. Ignore it.
  2. Fix each in turn to match the Guidelines.
  3. Explain to your Players that "magic is weird", and then ignore it.
  4. A little of 2 and 3 combined

I usually choose #3 unless it's really problematic. And nothing says that the spell a PC or an NPC knows is the same as the "classic" version - new spells are personally invented all the time, so the variations can be infinite.

7

For those "legacy" spell, the best is to say that they were experimentated.
Since experimentation may create spells which don't match the guidelines (because of side effects, modified effects or so forth), and a labtext contains the "experiment spell", it may be for that reason.

For that reason also, nothing prevent a player to invent a "normal" InCo(Me) spell which interrogate directly the body without the fancy effects, or to use a InCo (locate someone) without a map.