Magi spend long seasons manually copying or writing books. You'd
think they'll use magic to do so instantly. Unfortunately, it is
surprisingly difficult to create books by magic. A magus has to cast
several spells, replicating the work of several craftsmen. It is simply more efficient to do things in the mundane manner.
Copying Books
Assuming an ample supply of ink, parchment, and wooden bindings
are available the magus would proceed first to replicate the main work,
scribing the book. This requires affecting a stack of parchment sheets
(Rego Animal), with an Aquam requisite to affect the inks. Following
the guidelines laid down in Covenants (p. 49) and Societas (p. 60),
this requires the spell
This spell instantly scribes a copy of a book the caster is
holding. Materials (parchment and ink) must be in voice range. The
caster must succeed at an Intelligence + Finesse roll of 15 to
successfully copy the book; otherwise, the piece is in gibberish. A
roll of 21+ will allow a +1 to craftsmanship due to superior scribing.
For purposes of copying, the spell is the equivalent of a
semi-professional scribe - copying up to 8 levels of summa (or one
tractatus) per casting.
(Base 1 [Covenants p. 50], +2 Voice,
+2 Group, +1 requisite; Base ease factor is 9 [“daily work of
semi-skilled artists”, Societas p. 61] to 15 (Hard), +6 for a season’s
work.)
An identical but separate spell (The Prolific Illuminator)
must then be cast to reproduce the work of an illuminator. [The RAW doesn't address the matter of two crafts being involved; I conservatively decide two spells are required.]
Once written, the book needs to be bound (Binding the Mundane Codex,
ReAn 5, Covenants p. 97 – probably using an Herbam casting requisite),
requiring an Intelligence + Finesse roll of 12+. The use of resonant
materials (relatively common for Hermetic books) is far more difficult
(ReAn 20, see Covenants p. 97), requiring an Intelligence +
Finesse roll of 15+ (or higher).
Lack of processed raw materials can be overcome by magic too. Hide to Parchment (ReAn
10, Covenants p. 96) can prepare parchment from animal hides, with a
successful Perception + Finesse roll. Inks are typically made from
Herbam, although Animal components are common and some (especially the
high-quality) inks contain Terram components as well. It is usually
fairly easy and fast to prepare such inks from local materials, or
purchase them on the market, so magic isn’t used. If the magus is in a
hurry, however, he may desire to avail himself of the following spell:
This spell brews ink from raw materials. Usually metal and glass
tools are used in conjunction with this spell, allowing the magus to
brew any type of ink he is familiar with. If these aren’t available,
casting requisites (He and/or An) are likely necessary. To succeed in
brewing the ink, the caster needs to make an Intelligence + Finesse
roll of 9+.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Group. Ease factor 9 [semi-skilled artisans].)
Preparing binding magically is also possible.
A Spell for Binding Boards, R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind; ReHe 10
The caster touches a piece of wood (unprepared timber), which is
magically processed and transformed into proper binding boards for a
book. This requires an Intelligence + Finesse roll of 9+. (Base 5, +1 Touch)
If the caster lacks any raw materials, raw vis might serve as a
substitute for the truly desperate. The Apple That Etches (CrHe 20
Ritual, Covenants p. 96) can provide raw materials for black ink, for
example; similar spells can create ink of other colors, or raw
materials for other needs. It is generally better to create natural raw
materials and then process them through magical or mundane means rather
than to create the desired inks, parchment, or bindings directly. For
the truly desperate, here are a few relevant spells.
This spell creates a large stack of parchment, enough for several
books [technically, up to the mass of en elephant…]. The quality of the
parchment is determined by an Intelligence + Finesse roll (9+ is workable, 12+
required for high-quality).
(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Group)
This spell creates a large stack of hide, enough for several books
[technically, up the mass of an elephant…]. The hide is usually of
calves, providing excellent source material for vellum (the finest
quality parchment).
(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Group)
This spell creates two matching boards to be used to bind a book.
[It can be used to create many more boards, in principle; up to a large pile of binding boards.]
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Group, +1 treated. Finesse check not required by fiat, due to simplicity.)
This spell creates a large amount of timber. The caster may choose
to create planks of wood or logs. The pile created is about 20 paces in
each dimension.
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Group, +3 size. Finesse assumed to not be required.)
The caster touches a container, which is filled with ink of the
caster’s choosing. The spell can fill a container up to 20 paces across and 12
paces deep (approximately 5000 cubic meters, 135000 cubic feet).
(Base 2, +1 touch, +1 slightly unnatural, +4 size. Finesse roll skipped as it’s very easy, ands inks are nearly natural.)
Creation of the Alexandria’s Golden Treasures, R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind; CrAn(Im) 20 Ritual
This spell simply duplicates the book the caster is touching. Ink
isn’t copied directly – instead, color is infused into the parchment,
mimicking the effects of iron-gall and similar inks. The produced
colors may appear slightly unnatural, and the creation would be subtly touched by the caster's sigil. A faithful reconstruction requires
a Perception + Finesse roll of 15+ (a roll of 21+ is required to
replicate the fine details of superior scribing and illumination); a
roll of 14 or less results in gibberish.
If the book has wooden bindings or incorporates other materials, casting requisites might be necessary.
A version with Target: Group (level 30) is also available,
allowing the duplication of multiple books at once (up to about 40 or
so – but they need to be arranged in a single pile).
If
used to copy a Fine book (of +3 craftmanship), a Finesse roll of 15 will
suffice to create a copy of adequate quality (+0 craftmanship). A roll
of 18+ will provide a +1 craftmanship bonus, and a 21+ will increase
the bonus to +2. If casting requisites are used for the binding (typically
Herbam), another +1 to craftmanship can be obtained for good binding.
More exotic requisites (such as Vim) may enable the addition of resonant materials and yet another +1 bonus. At any rate the copy can
only match, never surpass, the original's quality. (Base 5, +1 Touch, +1 treated, +1 requisite)
As can be seen, the magical copying of books is hardly efficient.
Even under the best conditions, the magus needs to cast two (ReAn(Aq) 10) spells, making two EF 15 Finesse checks. (Binding can be
accomplished later, through mundane means.) The high Finesse
requirements alone would deter most magi. More and more magic can be used
in less optimal conditions or to accelerate the process, culminating in
casting a Ritual spell to duplicate entire books – at great costs. Instead
of wasting effort and raw materials on magically copying books, magi
are far more likely to copy works themselves or through mundane scribes.
Writing Books
Most
magi don't really write their books manually, instead dictating them to
a skilled notary. You can easily replace the notary with a Rego Aquam
effect, or a Rego Terram or Animal effect controlling a stylus. Finesse isn't a
consideration if the notes are then delivered to a competent scribe, as
is done by the mundane notary. If writing directly to the book,
however, a Perception + Finesse of 9+ is needed to make a readable
work, 12+ to replicate high-quality scribemansip (+1 bonus).