Creating things with magic?

[citadel97501]

Hello all,

I was looking over Ars Magica, after looking over the Earth Channeling Crusader thread, and I was just wondering but would you need to spend powers for duration shift if using earth magic to create a wall, or something similar, or should many things done with that type of spell be permanent unless broken through?

Example:
-Creating a wall of stone or Foxhole by using earth magic, and taking cover behind/inside it?
-Would you need to spend power for long durations on a block, or would these just count as aspects?

[PirateJack]

Evocation spells only last as long as the duration you give them, so unless you spend some time to create a thaumaturgic block/manoeuvre your earthen wall is going to fall to bits once the energy keeping it upright runs out. Evocation is a quick way to do things that would otherwise take a long time to achieve, but they pay for it in not sticking around for very long.

[Taran]

I'd allow scene aspects to last the whole scene if they're sticky.

Using water magic to turn dusty ground into 'a muddy quagmire' isn't going to go away right away - even when the magic runs out.  Especially if an aspect like 'dusty ground' is already on the scene.  You're just using magic to change the aspect from one thing to another.

Just be careful because scene aspects are a double-edged sword.

Using force magic to break a water-main is going to create a permanent scene aspect as well 'fast moving water'.  In fact, I think they use that specific example in YS.

For Blocks:
I could see the use of maneuvers to do things like 'melted' or 'warped' door.  This would seal the only passage causing a border block.  Not because you did a block with magic but because you did a maneuver to close and lock the door.  The same kind of maneuver you might do with a mundane skill.

[Sanctaphrax]

The book isn't totally consistent about this. The rules say you need to pay 1 shift/exchange, but the example spells just spend 1 shift to make the effect sticky. And logically, it doesn't always make much sense for Aspects to disappear when the duration runs out.

A compromise solution might be that the Aspect can last indefinitely but the tag expires immediately unless you spend shifts on extra duration. An Aspect without a tag is equally available to everyone, after all.

[potestas]

Hello all,

I was looking over Ars Magica, after looking over the Earth Channeling Crusader thread, and I was just wondering but would you need to spend powers for duration shift if using earth magic to create a wall, or something similar, or should many things done with that type of spell be permanent unless broken through?

Example:
-Creating a wall of stone or Foxhole by using earth magic, and taking cover behind/inside it?
-Would you need to spend power for long durations on a block, or would these just count as aspects?

some form of evothauarm (sp) would get around the limitations of evocation