Talisman
A talisman is a special enchanted item that a magus attunes to his individual magical Gift. Talismans can become very powerful items, and some magi invest many seasons into developing and improving their talismans over the years.
Benefits of a Talisman
A talisman is like an invested device. Indeed it is possible to turn an invested device into a talisman, as long as the magus personally created the device and all the effects invested in it. It carries the following additional benefits:
- A talisman is part of the caster as long as the caster touches it. Therefore if a talisman has a Personal range effect, that effect can benefit the magus as well as the item itself. Note that this allows the magus to circumvent Magic Resistance, making talismans effective for effects that affect the magus. Similarly, if a magus casts a Personal range spell on himself while touching his talisman, the spell affects the talisman as well as the caster.
- The talisman and its creator are each an arcane connection to the other. This makes it possible, for example, to conjure one's talisman from a distance if necessary.
- A talisman can be an aid to spell casting. If the magus spends a season in the laboratory to attune his talisman, he can apply one of the talisman's shape and material bonuses to his casting total whenever he casts a spell that matches that bonus.
- In ArM5, a talisman is easy to enchant and can have more magical powers than an ordinary invested item. The material and size of the Talisman don't determine how many enchanted effects the talisman can hold.
- A talisman benefits from the creator's Magic Resistance as explained on p. 98 of ArM5.
- A talisman allows the magus to enjoy the benefits of an Enriched Thing of Virtue (RoPM p. 125).
Creating a Talisman
A magus can only make a talisman from an item that no one else has enchanted. A magus can have only one talisman at a time.
To create a talisman in Fifth Edition, a magus must first open the item for enchantment, exactly as for an invested device. Alternately, he may start with an item that is already opened. Then the magus spends a season attuning the item as his talisman. Rules for this are explained on page 98 of ArM5.
List of individual talismen
- Fireheart, Flameau the Founder's talisman is currently lost to his house and the Order.
Earlier Editions
In Fourth Edition, talismans work a little differently. They cannot hold more magical effects than an ordinary invested device, though the magus does get a small bonus to his Lab Total when investing effects into his talisman. This creates an incentive for magi to make their talismans out of items and materials that can hold a lot of vis.
References
Earlier Edition References
- Talismans, ArM4 p. 85
Legacy Page
The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:talisman