I have several questions about where the numbers come from in the effect shaping variant of Path/Book magic. Some of these questions came up in the
Bought Thaumatology but not Magic thread, but I didn't want to take over that thread with a list of questions.
1. On Thaumatology 127, it says, "Each Path or Book has a number of rituals, each of which produces a specific effect. In an Effect Shaping system, these are Hard techniques (see p. B230) that default to the appropriate Path or Book at a penalty between 0 and -8, as specified in the ritual’s description." If I am creating new rituals, how can I determine what the appropriate penalty should be?
2. Also on Thaumatology 127, it describes the time required for a ritual: "How long a ritual takes to work depends on the magic involved. In the Effect Shaping system, each ritual has a standard, listed time (treat this as a rough estimate; rituals aren’t entirely predictable). This is typically between 10 minutes and an hour, with the ritual either succeeding or failing at the end of that time." Again, if I am creating a ritual from scratch, what information is available to guide the GM in determining the appropriate time length?