The first question which comes to mind is what actually has Intellectus?
From the novels, certain ancient genus loci might develop a limited Intellectus confined to knowledge and awareness within the confines of their location. Otherwise certain powerful entities, specifically some at the top of the scale of the supernatural heavyweights (archangels, Mother Summer & Mother Winter...) have it.
The reason I bring that up, is that seems to suggest that Intellectus is really more a plot level device, as opposed to a supernatural power. I certainly wouldn't let a player develop or have Intellectus, though I might allow them to bind themselves to an entity which has a limited form of it.
Cold Days spoiler below:
As we've seen from the novels, the entity Demonreach is actually a sentient or semi-sentient spell construct built into the Wards which guard the supernatural prison beneath the island at the southern end of Lake Michigan.
One of the things which should be appearing in the upcoming Paranet Papers are rules for creating golems or constructs like the Wardhounds. Based off the hints I've gotten so far, I'm working on adapting them to allow for the creation of a "Jarvis"-like programmed intelligence which could be built into a Ward.
-Cheers
Harry has intellectus, so obviously it's a PC-appropriate ability.
Especially since it's really not that powerful when it's that limited. I'd much rather have Evocation than complete knowledge of Demonreach's geography.
It's a start.
I'm not sure I'd want to link to knowledge skills like that, though. And I think it might deserve a little more oomph.
I'll post my take later today or tomorrow.
Actually Harry doesn't have Intellectus
Another Cold Days spoiler
Towards the later part of Cold Ways, after the Winter and Summer Ladies have triggered some of the defenses on Demonreach, Harry is outside a large circle (the one that disintegrates anything not 'part' of the island when it passes through) with the Summer and Winter Ladies supported by the coterie of companions projecting energy at the entity Demonreach within the circle, Harry has no connection to Demonreach and can't sense what's going on on the island like he normally can. Also if one re-reads the early part of the book, where Harry goes back to the island to get a sense of what Molly meant about Demonreach about to go Boom and he brings Bob with him, the entity had to 'dumb down' what Demonreach was to Bob so that Bob could sort of understand, and then be able to try and explain what everything was to Harry in a way Harry could understand. With the explanation Morgan gave in Turn Coat, Intellectus essentially pure knowledge about NN topic if/when that topic is considered. IIRC the example from the novel was an entity with Intellectus being presented with a calculus or maybe an algrebra problem. The entity would consider the problem and know the answer without knowing or needing to know the steps required to compute the answer. If Harry was the one that actually had the Intellectus, as soon as he considered what the Circles, Wards and everything was, he would know what they were, he also wouldn't have been able to be cut off from the knowledge by being on the outside of a Circle that the Demonreach entity was inside.
Lastly, when Harry casts the sanctum invocation in Turn Coat and asks Morgan questions about some of the after effects since he's know getting all sorts of useful (albeit minor) information about the island and Morgan first mentions the possibility of Intellectus, Morgan makes a comment to the effect that the genus loci must be absolutely ancient to have developed Intellectus. Again implying that it isn't Harry that has it, but the entity itself.
-Cheers
I'm going to type out the whole thing. I'm not incredibly sure about the legality of this, so if this could get me hauled off i'd appreciate a heads-up.
From Turn Coat (it's sort of spoilery)
“Intellectus,” I said. “Um. It’s a mode of existence for a very few rare and powerful supernatural beings—angels have it. I’m willing to bet old Mother Winter and Mother Summer have it. For beings with intellectus, all reality exists in one piece, one place, one moment, and they can look at the whole thing. They don’t seek or acquire knowledge. They justknow things. They see the entire picture.”
“I’m not sure I get that,” Molly said.
Morgan spoke. “A being with intellectus does not understand, for example, how to derive a complex calculus equation—because it doesn’t need the process. If you showed him a problem and an equation, he would simply understand it and skip straight to the answer without need to think through the logical stages of solving the problem.”
“It’s omniscient?” Molly asked, her eyes wide. Morgan shook his head. “Not the same thing. The being with intellectus has to be focused on something via consideration in order to know it, whereas an omniscient being knows all things at all times.”
Actual unlimited intellectus is something a player really shouldn't have. The power we're working on is for limited intellectus- Harry's, for example, does not extend past Demonreach. The character that I intend to use this on has intellectus regarding biology and anatomy. The limitation of it is that you need to ask the right questions to get good answers- sort of like the GIGO principle.