It can take up to a hour.to cast, uncommon componets and last 8 hours and cover an hundred square feet. It gives off an alarm. Can someone work out points.

Answering myself for further thoughts. Adding another component could be used to boost spell results. DM would have to make sure that components were kept track of and the amount of the components used could also affect the spell power.

(01-21-2017 04:26 PM)DanMJ Wrote:  It can take up to a hour.to cast, uncommon componets and last 8 hours and cover an hundred square feet. It gives off an alarm. Can someone work out points.

There are two different ways to do this, one I call an Alert spell and the other I call an Alarm spell. The difference is the caster needs to be in the area for an Alert spell, but the Alarm spell can be used to guard something (i.e., door, object) remotely.

First, the Alert spell, which can be used instead of setting up guards while resting.
Basic cost to cast an Information spell is 3se (spiritual energy). The type of information you are getting is a simple impression (1se), for a total of 4se. You want the largest area of effect possible, so 1'/level radius at 9se and the duration is going be instant, so there is no cost for that. The total is now 13se. The caster has to actually be within the area of effect for it to work, so we will use Touch as the range for 1se and we will take a 4rd casting time for -4se, for a total of 10se.

The basics are done, but this is a useless spell. It would go off instantly when cast and then it is done. To make it triggered, it has to attached to a ward (pg. 61 in the core book). There are a few unclear points about wards in the book. First, there is a typo. It says the shelf-life of a rune or ward is 1rd/level of the spell being inscribed, but it should be one hour per level of the spell being inscribed. So, an Alert spell with 20 levels would last for 20 hours, or almost a day, rather than 20 rounds. This section also neglects to mention the time to cast a rune or ward. I personally have used a guideline of one minute of preparation for every level of the spell. In this case, making a ward for a level 20 Alert spell would take 20 minutes. Everything else works as the book describes.

The cost of warding an area with this spell is 10se, so now the total cost is 20se. This is the type of spell you may need when your energy is already low, so it's time to bring the cost down. First, a long verbal component is -3se and a complex physical component is -3se, bringing the cost down to 14se. To bring it lower still, we are going to use more than one material component. Unlike verbal and physical components, it is possible for a spell to use more than one material component, within reason. In this case, the spell requires a jade disc (uncommon) to be written on with mercury (rare). That's -2se and -4se, so the total is now 8se for the completed spell.

The Alarm spell is done exactly the same, except the range. Instead of Touch (1se), we'll make the range 1 mile/level at a cost of 12se. This brings the cost from 8se for an Alert spell to 19se for an Alarm spell. The difference is that if you have 20 levels in an Alarm spell, you can cast it on a door or object and receive an alert if the door is disturbed even if you are 20 miles away.

Feel free to comment, correct and criticize. I'd like to see other ways people come up with to do this type of spell.