same magic, different source, different application, all at once?

From: bethexton_at_...
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 17:48:24 -0000

The rules are moderately clear that you can only be augmented once by specific magical ability. I take this to mean that if you have two magical abilities with the same name only the greater applies.

Now, for theists and venerators this is not generally a problem. If you have two affinities of the same name they become one, and feats of the same name are almost sure to belong in affinities of the same name *. Orderlies can only have one talisman per spell, and in general grimoires will seldom have spells of the exact same name, so wizards and sorcerers are mostly safe **.

However, when it comes to animists, it is not quite the same. I'll use Folorene as an example, as he has only two practice spirits. Bandroste Far-Talker is a practioner of Folorene, and being the odd creature that he is, he has three fetishes with the practice spirit of Contrary. Each has a different mix of the several available abilities, but all three have "Squirm from Grip," at say 15, 20, and 5W.

The fetishes act like charms, so these augments are always on, granting +2, +2, and +3. But you can only be augmented once by a given ability, no matter the source, so only the highest, the +3, counts.

But of course, practice spirits can do more than this. He has just been cornered by a walktapus, and REALLY does not want to be held by one of those tentacles. There are four things he can do: augment, realease a spirit for extra AP, release a spirit to directly add to an ability, or release a spirit to use its ability directly. These are all slightly different applications, and with multiple spirits the ability is coming from a different source.

Case A: he has a wrestling ability at 19, which seems fair to add "Squirm from Grip" onto. So he releases his 5W spirit, and adds 19 + 5W = 4W2 when trying to escape from the tentacles. Now, can he also:

1-	release the 20 spirit to add 20 AP, 
2-	gain the auto-augment to his wrestling with the last of them 
for an extra +2?

Case B: he has no relevant ability. He uses "Squirm from grip 5W" from the appropriate spirit. He cannot release another spirit to add to the first spirits score, as they can only add to his scores, not to each others (they are bound to him, not to each other). However, can he:

1-	release the 20 spirit to add 20 AP, 
2-	gain the auto-augment to his wrestling with the last of them 
for an extra +2?

Vaguely related, in the common magic area this could happen. For example, you could have a "Talk to ancestor" feat and a "Talk to ancestor" spell. These are clearly different magics, from different sources, but the same name. Could you augment with both? Or use one as an active ability and augment with the other?

Thoughts?

--Bryan

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