When Opening The Gift to the Hermetic Arts, magi have the opportunity to impart a Virtue to a discipulus, and possibly to preserve or convert non-Hermetic Virtues. When doing so, it is useful to have some idea of what one is dealing with, and that raises questions, such as "how much can magi determine about the Gift of someone" and "how do magi determine details about someone's Gift?"

Unfortunately, those questions are not really addressed in ArM5, either in the Core Rules or in the Apprentices supplement. This Saga Rule will address these issues, providing definite answers to those questions.

First, some points should be made regarding what things are, and aren't, associated with a character's Gift, and to what extent. Only Talents associated with the Magic Realm may be associated with a character's Gift. So, for example, a character with Sense Holiness & Unholiness may have a supernatural Talent, and that Talent will provide some hindrance to Opening the Gift, but that Talent is in no way associated with The Gift, and cannot be discerned through the processes described in this Saga Rule. Talents deriving from the Divine, Faerie or Infernal Realms are thus relatively inscrutable to Hermetic processes.

Similarly, when one is considering whether to preserve or convert a Supernatural Talent when Opening The Gift, one must also consider the Realm to which the Talent is associated. Typically, only Talents associated with the Magic Realm may be converted to Hermetic Virtues: if a Talent is not associated with the Magic Realm, it must be preserved or discarded, unless the magus also possesses some special association with the relevant Realm (such as Faerie Magic, Holy Magic, or certain Infernal Virtues).

Talents deriving from the Magic Realm are typically associated with a character's Gift, if that Character possesses The Gift. Such Talents may be discarded, preserved, or converted to Hermetic Virtues, per the Core Rules (p.106-107). However, there are different ways in which a Magical Talent may be associated with The Gift. The two broad categories are: Talents which derive from a Virtue other than the Gift, and Talents which the character possesses only because of The Gift.

For example, a character with Magic Sensitivity may have that Ability because they have the Magic Sensitivity Virtue, or they may have been able to learn Magic Sensitivity from someone because they have The Gift (ArM5, p.166). In the first case, the Talent is said to be associated with The Gift. In the second case, the Talent is said to be dependent on The Gift. If a character's Gift ever is lost or suppressed, Talents that depend on The Gift are also lost or suppressed. Although not stated explicitly in the rules, dependent Talents must be Magical in nature; one cannot teach a Faerie or Infernal version of a Talent to a Gifted person (barring certain unusual manifestations of The Gift that derive from one of those Realms).

Because of the extreme difficulty of teaching a Talent after The Gift is Opened, such dependent Talents are normally learned before The Gift is Opened, and thus will need to be considered as part of the process of Opening The Gift.

A sub-category of associated Talents involves latent Talents. The Virtue Latent Magical Ability represents this sort of Talent. Because the Talent represented by this Virtue is latent, it is not considered while Opening the Gift, and may not be detected by the Hermetic processes described in this Saga Rule.

Fixed Talents are a second sub-category of associated Talents, such as Strong Faerie Blood, Magical Blood, etc. These "Talents" are fixed, and may not be discarded or converted, but must be preserved. If the lab total is not high enough to preserve this sort of Talent, then the Gift may not be Opened. Mythic Blood is also such a Talent, but as it is "Hermetic" it poses no obstacle to Opening the Gift.

Finally, some Talents are considered "Hermetic" and some "non-Hermetic." This distinction largely depends on whether the Talent is a hindrance when Opening The Gift to the Hermetic Arts. Talents that are "Hermetic," such as Inventive Genius or Subtle Magic, do not present any hindrance under normal circumstances. Conversely, "non-Hermetic" Talents such as Magic Sensitivity or Entrancement do hinder Opening The Gift to Hermetic magic.

It is possible for Hermetic Talents to be either associated or dependent. For example the Hermetic Arts are dependent Talents, because if the character's Gift is ever lost or suppressed, those Talents are also lost or suppressed: one cannot use the Hermetic Arts without The Gift. However, a "Hermetic" Talent such as Inoffensive to Animals would not normally be dependent on The Gift.

One can represent these various distinctions diagramatically as follows:

Detecting The Gift

Detecting The Gift is possible using Hermetic spells designed for that purpose. Some non-Hermetic Talents, such as Magic Sensitivity, may also be able to detect The Gift. However, such methods, whether Hermetic spell or non-Hermetic Talent, are imperfect, and sometimes miss or result in false results. One common error is equating a Major Talent with The Gift, but even a Minor Talent may at times be mistaken for The Gift, or vice-versa, especially where the Gentle Gift is concerned. In most cases, the Blatant Gift is clearly detectable, but the Gentle Gift may be difficult to detect.

One potential reason for a spell or talent to fail to detect The Gift would be that at the time the spell or talent was used, The Gift had not yet manifested in the target person. The Gift often manifests in childhood, but sometimes manifestation may be delayed into adolescence or even adulthood.

Magi would like to be able to discern more with Hermetic spells, and at least one Bonisagi is researching ways of detecting more detail about someone's Gift using spells, but so far no Breakthroughs have resulted, and magi remain unable to do more than (possibly) detect the presence of The Gift.

Intellego Vim Guidelines

Investigating The Gift

A magus can investigate someone's Gift, in a similar fashion to the way a magus can investigate an enchantment. The processes are different, as The Gift is not an enchantment, but the game mechanics are conceptually similar, in that investigation is a seasonal lab activity, and a higher Intellego Vim lab total will usually yield more information.

However, there are also significant differences. When investigating The Gift, the most significant aspects of the Gift are usually discovered first, and the least significant are discovered last, if at all. Note that investigating The Gift is a separate activity from Opening The Gift, and requires a separate season of lab activity. As noted above, only Magical Talents are discernable through this process.

Three general degrees of information may be gained through this process:

Note the Intellego Vim lab total of the investigating magus. This will determine what Talents, if any, may be discovered through investigation. Next, order the Talents of the character being investigated, listing The Gift first (including variations such as Gentle Gift or Blatant Gift), followed by Major Talents, followed by Minor Talents, followed by relevant Flaws. If a Talent is "fixed" it should be listed before other Talents of the same degree i.e. Major or Minor. Latent Talents should be ignored, as noted above. After Talents, Flaws may be discerned as well, if desired and if sufficient lab total remains. Hermetic Flaws are easier to discern than non-Hermetic Flaws, and non-Magical Flaws are not discernible through this process.

Thus a character with the Gentle Gift, Strong Faerie Blood, and Animal Ken would list those Talents in that order; starting with the Gentle Gift (because it is a variation of The Gift), followed by Major Virtues (Strong Faerie Blood), followed by Minor Virtues (Animal Ken). If the character had also been taught Wilderness Sense by somone, that would be listed after Animal Ken, as it would be a dependent Talent.

Assign point values to each Talent listed as follows:

*Assign Supernatural Abilities, whether associated or dependent, a minimum point value of 10 or 30, depending on whether that Ability normally derives from a Minor or Major Virtue.

Continuing the example above, the values assigned would be 30, 30, 10, 10 (assuming minimum Ability Scores).

Now compare the investigator's Intellego Vim lab total to the first point value. If the lab total is greater than the first value, and if that Talent is Magical, the investigator may roll to discern something about that Talent. Note if the investigation is "successful" for that Talent.

Next, subtract the first point value from the lab total, and compare the remainder to the second value listed; if the remaining lab total is greater than the point value, that is also successful, note that Talent accordingly. Proceed to subtract the next point value from the remaining lab total, compare, and so on. As soon as the remaining lab total is less than the next point value, stop.

For each comparison that was "successful" - that is, where the remaining lab total was greater than the point value, the Talent (or Flaw) is said to be discovered. Note that, in the example used, although Strong Fairie Blood should be listed, and its point value subtracted before investigation proceeds to lesser Talents, it cannot itself be discerned through this process. Non-Magical Talents may in this way obscure other, Magical Talents, if they are stronger (or if they are "fixed"). The investigating magus will likely realize that something is hindering investigation, but will not know with certainty what is doing so.

For each "successful" discovery, the extent of the discovery is determined by a stress die roll:

Per + Magic Lore + Vim Form bonus + stress die
vs
Ease Factor

Compare the result to the chart above. An investigator whose lab total is sufficient to discover something about the Talent will always receive at least a "Minimal" result. If the result of the die roll matches or exceeds the Ease Factor listed, the investigator will discern more information, appropriate to the best degree of information attained.

Confidence Points may be spent on such rolls, as although investigation is a seasonal activity, the various die rolls to discern aspects of The Gift are not full-season activities, but distinct actions within the season. As stress die rolls, botches may occur, which typically mis-identify Talents.

For example, if the investigator's die result is 11 for a minor Talent, then the investigator will receive "Vague" information about that Talent. If the Talent were major, then a result of '11' would result in "Clear" information about the Talent.

Major Virtues, even if Hermetic, must be discerned before any Minor Virtue is discerned. This can mean that lesser Talents may remain undetected if the investigator's lab total is "used up" discerning greater Talents.

Astute readers will note that this process implies that the Gentle Gift will tend to obscure other Talents, even Hermetic ones. That is correct; this Saga Rule assumes that the Gentle Gift is difficult to identify, and Talents associated with it are also more difficult to detect & discern through investigation.

A magus may repeat investigation of a particular person, and may ignore previously "discovered" Talents when doing so. However, non-Magical Talents will continue to obscure investigation, as they are not "discovered" through this process*, even if their presence is implied through the hindrance they inflict.

If a magus wishes to take a "second look" at a previously discovered Talent, he may do so, by allocating half the normal point cost (rounding up) from his lab total. This may be done in the same season, if sufficient lab total remains, or in a subsequent season of investigation.

*Unless the investigator has some relevant Virtue such as Faerie Magic, etc. as noted above.

Opening The Gift

A magus who is Opening The Gift of someone to the Hermetic Arts may also be able to determine something about the Talents associated with that person's Gift, but doing so is harder, and the degree of information obtained is usually less, as the focus of the activity is Opening The Gift, rather than investigation.

Use the same process as for investigating The Gift, above, but double point values assigned to Talents:

*Assign Supernatural Abilities, whether associated or dependent, a minimum point value of 20 or 60, depending on whether that Ability normally derives from a Minor or Major Virtue.

If a Talent has been previously discovered through investigation, the point value assigned to that Talent may be halved; this does not reduce any associated penalty for Opening the Gift, but might allow the magus Opening the Gift to discover more about the discipulus than he might otherwise have learned.

As when investigating, roll for each "successful" Talent, but use the table below to determine Ease Factors:

Per + Magic Lore + Vim Form bonus + stress die
vs
Ease Factor

Confidence Points may be spent on such rolls, as although Opening The Gift is a seasonal activity, the various die rolls to discern aspects of The Gift are not full-season activities, but distinct actions within the season. As stress die rolls, botches may occur, which typically mis-identify Talents.

If the magus does not roll high enough, or does not have a high enough lab total to detect the presence of a given Talent, then the magus will remain ignorant of the presence of the Talent, and if the attempt to Open The Gift fails, the magus may not know why.

Because non-Magical Talents are not discernable through Investigation, above, they may not be "discovered" until someone attempts to Open The Gift and notices the hindrance. If a magus has a particularly high Intellego Vim lab total, that magus may not even notice a Minor non-Magical Talent, unless he is specifically looking for it. Such Minor Talents are assumed to be preserved in such cases. If the lab total is insufficient to preserve the Talent, it must be discarded, unless it is fixed, in which case the attempt to Open The Gift fails. Likewise, if the lab total is insufficient even to discard the Talent, the attempt fails. The magus may have no idea why the attempt has failed. In some cases, The Gift may be lost in a failed attempt; such decisions are best left up to the Troupe and/or Storyguide.