Untitled - The Secrets of the Mind & Body Shaping

Potent Spell Example
A wand provides several bonuses
including +2 “repel things” and +4
“control things at a distance.” A Potent
version of Disguise of the Putrid Aroma
could use either bonus in its Potency.
Combining the wand bonus with a
Magnetite bonus (+3 Animal) would
allow a design with either Potency 5
(requires Magic Theory 5) or Potency
7 (requires Magic Theory 7). The
caster would have to hold a wand
and piece of magnetite (or a wand set
with magnetite), and would then add
the combined Potency to his Casting
Score.
Potency applies only to Formulaic
spells. Spontaneous Magic allows
Ceremonial Casting to produce similar
results, and enchanted devices use
Shape and Material bonuses during
enchantment.
Potent Magic
Potent Magic, a Hermetic Virtue
available in Major and Minor versions,
was described in The Mysteries Revised
Edition, but is reproduced here as it is
also used by some of the Mysteries in
this book.
The Potent Magic Virtue describes
how a maga’s magic is particularly attuned
to a narrow fi eld, much as in a Magical
Focus. The benefi ts of Potent Magic are
compatible with a Magical Focus; unlike
a Magical Focus, a magus may have more
than one area of Potent Magic, though
only one Potent Magic Virtue applies to
any single activity.
Potent Magic provides a maga with
a bonus in her fi eld of magic, and permits
her to devise Potent spells, which gain a
casting bonus from the sympathetic magic
in shapes and materials.
descriPtion
Houses of Hermes
Minor Potent Magic covers the same
narrow fi elds as a Minor Magical Focus,
and grants a +3 bonus to Lab Totals and
Casting Scores.
Major Potent Magic covers the same,
wider, fi elds as a Major Magical Focus,
and grants a +6 bonus to Lab Totals and
Casting Scores.
A maga with Potent Magic may also
invent new Potent spells (see below)
within the fi eld of her Potent Magic, and
may vary spells she knows. See Potent
Magic and Potent Spells, below.
Potent sPells
A Potent spell has a bonus known as
its Potency, which derives from combining
one or more Casting Items into the
design of the spell. Casting Items use the
factors given in the Shape and Material
Bonus table (see ArM5, page 110): each
Casting Item provides one bonus. (If
more than one bonus is possible, the spell
design states which one is used.)
Potency = Sum of bonus from each
Casting Item
Potency Bonus: Add Potency to
Casting Score
Potency is part of the spell design;
a Lab Text for a Potent spell includes the
specifi ed Casting Items and Potency score.
A magus teaching a Potent spell teaches the
formula he knows, including the Casting
Items and Potency score. The level of a
Potent spell, for the purposes of inventing
it as well as for casting, is unaltered by the
Potency score. However, a magus may not
invent a Potent spell with a Potency higher
than his Magic Theory score, even with
the aid of a Lab Text or teacher.
Any magus can learn a Potent spell
from a Lab Text or teacher, and apply
6
Potency to his Casting Score; the Potent
Magic Virtue is required to design a
Potent spell from scratch, but not to
reproduce one from a Lab Text.
To cast a Potent spell, the caster
must touch the specifi ed Casting Items.
The items need not be large: they may
be small and symbolic (for example, a
shield-shaped brooch is still symbolically
a shield). If the caster does not have the
Casting Items available, the spell cannot
be cast at all.
Potent Magic and Potent sPells
A magus with Potent Magic may create
new Potent spells or alter Potent spells
to vary the Casting Items.
When inventing a spell within the fi eld
of his Potent Magic (including from a Lab
Text), the magus simply chooses Casting
Items for the design, and then invents the
spell as normal. Each chosen Casting Item
(up to the limit of Magic Theory) adds a
single Shape or Material bonus to Potency.
(If more than one bonus might apply to
the spell, choose one and note it in the
design). The total Potency may not exceed
the magus’s Magic Theory.
A Lab Text written for this spell
includes the Casting Items and Potency,
and is usable by any other magus.
In addition, a magus who knows a
spell within the fi eld of his Potent Magic
may invent a variant spell with different
Casting Items (including a variant with no
Casting Items). If the only difference is a
change in Casting Items, he may invent
the variant in a single season.
designing covenant liBraries
When creating a covenant and
choosing Lab Texts for the library, add
Potency (if any) to spell level when counting
Build Points, and record the Casting
Items required.