Powers as spells; Bless Plant

[Refplace]

Ok how about these two spells to cover the effects from the Plant college.

Bless Plants
This spell which is cast on an area will increase the plants resistance to disease and reduce their nutritional needs so that they can thrive even in poor soil and with limited water. It lasts for one growing season.
Affliction: Reduced Consumption 2, Resistant to Disease +8 (90%); Permanent +150%; Area Effect 128y, 350%; Costs 10 FP, -50%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50%; Inanimate plants only -30% [56]

Fast Crop
This spell which is cast on an area causes the crops to grow extremely fast, such that an entire season is completed in about a month.
Doesn't Eat or Drink, Unaging +20% (280%); Permanent +150%; Area Effect 128y, 350%; Costs 10 FP, -50%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50%; Inanimate plants only -30%; magic -10% (640%)

[munin]

Originally Posted by Refplace

... Area Effect 128y, 350%; Costs 10 FP, -50%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50% ...

Obviously this might be a setting decision, but for the same cost you could get Area Effect, 32 yards, +250% and get the same job done with a refreshing 5-minute walk.

Also, maybe something to zap the bugs and animals that would eat your plants? Toxic Attack 1 point (Accessibility, Animals, -25%; Aura, +80%; Blood Agent, Reversed, -40%; Melee Attack, C, -30%) [1]? or Burning Attack (same build, but barely [2]) for an electrical zap?

Originally Posted by Refplace

...Doesn't Eat or Drink, Unaging +20% (280%)...

It might be cheaper to afflict the plants with the Early Maturation feature (p. BIO212). This is a racial feature, so you'd have to afflict it using Altered Form, I think, but that would still be a little cheaper.

[Gef]

Farm life is already busy, bumper crops'll make it more so...on the other hand, you're blessing builds specifically reduces need for sustenance, so that may reduce the workload. I'd love to hear from a person with farming experience. -GEF

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by munin

Obviously this might be a setting decision, but for the same cost you could get Area Effect, 32 yards, +250% and get the same job done with a refreshing 5-minute walk.

I thought about building it with Emanation and walking through the fields but depending on the crop it might be messy. Also if your casting off a group ER you can have more mana for a bigger ceremony and thats more like the default system.

Originally Posted by munin

Also, maybe something to zap the bugs and animals that would eat your plants? Toxic Attack 1 point (Accessibility, Animals, -25%; Aura, +80%; Blood Agent, Reversed, -40%; Melee Attack, C, -30%) [1]? or Burning Attack (same build, but barely [2]) for an electrical zap?

Yeah I thought about adding that in here but decided it should be a separate spell. Especially in case someone has limited magery.
Even using the Powers system I still have some with a limited form for just one college. So its another setting thing.

Originally Posted by munin

It might be cheaper to afflict the plants with the Early Maturation feature (p. BIO212). This is a racial feature, so you'd have to afflict it using Altered Form, I think, but that would still be a little cheaper.

That is an interesting idea. Would take about 4 levels of Shortened Lifespan to get the same effect. But then what happens when the spell wears off or is countered? They pop back to the old species with the change or at original rate? Its about the same point cost for Unaging with the enhancement and Alternate Form, plus the GM has to ok the race build so I think i will stick with this but keep that idea in mind for other things.

Originally Posted by Gef

Farm life is already busy, bumper crops'll make it more so...on the other hand, you're blessing builds specifically reduces need for sustenance, so that may reduce the workload. I'd love to hear from a person with farming experience. -GEF

Yeah I wanted to avoid hurting the soil too fast mostly with those advantages but it should reduce some of the farmers costs for water and fertilizer but the price of the mage probably makes up for that.
I envision this as a setting issue that Fast Crop will be rarely used becasue the druids and nature guys may get cranky and also it will drain the soil faster. Also even though your getting more food quicker you still have to sell it or consume it to make it worthwhile. Where that spell really is handy is in area where you have a really short growing season becasue of a long winter.
Bless Plants is more about making them healthier so I will say the druids actually like that spell.

Thank you for the feedback so far! :)
I wish I could think of a better way to refresh the soil then to use create earth though. I dont think Healing or regeneration on soil make much sense.

[Refplace]

OK preliminary stab at Create Essential Earth.

Transform Earth to Essential Earth
Snatcher 80 Standard -20%; Permanent +300%; Only Essential Earth -30%; Large +50%; More weight 1 ton +80%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50%; Costs 10 FP -50% (270%) [296]
Create Essential Earth
Create Essential Earth base 10, Level 14 (just shy of 1 ton) ; Cosmic (Essential) +50%; Transmute only -50%; Standard -20%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50%; (-70%) [42]

As you can see Snatcher is pretty darn expensive and the extra weight is not really the big part of the cost.
Create power is affordable but you have to worry about spending points to make it permanent. Only really works if the GM waives that or comes up with a suitable tradeoff. Time for points or money for points. The latter might work, if you have enough wealth that the value is trivial then maybe.

But I am looking for a better build.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Refplace

OK preliminary stab at Create Essential Earth.

Transform Earth to Essential Earth
Snatcher 80 Standard -20%; Permanent +300%; Only Essential Earth -30%; Large +50%; More weight 1 ton +80%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50%; Costs 10 FP -50% (270%) [296]
Create Essential Earth
Create Essential Earth base 10, Level 14 (just shy of 1 ton) ; Cosmic (Essential) +50%; Transmute only -50%; Standard -20%; Preparation Required 1 hour. -50%; (-70%) [42]

As you can see Snatcher is pretty darn expensive and the extra weight is not really the big part of the cost.
Create power is affordable but you have to worry about spending points to make it permanent. Only really works if the GM waives that or comes up with a suitable tradeoff. Time for points or money for points. The latter might work, if you have enough wealth that the value is trivial then maybe.

But I am looking for a better build.

I'd go with that second build, and have no problem with requiring an investment of points or large amounts of time to make it permanent. In fact, this neatly sidesteps the problems raised by probably the most hotly contested "world breaking" spell, Create Metal. If each use is either temporary or requires some of the casters own "essence", you're never gonna have to worry about mage-powered steel foundries pumping out the equivalent of all of Europe's yearly production in one week.

[munin]

Originally Posted by Refplace

... you have to worry about spending points to make it permanent. Only really works if the GM waives that or comes up with a suitable tradeoff. ...

I allow a substitution of one month equivalent per character point. One month of labor/prayer/meditation, one month's income in sacrifices/ritual materials, or 25 energy from meditative magic (only, not regular FP/energy).

[Bruno]

I'd also accept a point of vis/purified magic/the stuff of magic/whatever per CP, and in my Greek-ish game appropriate sacrifices to an appropriate god would work too (for Essential Earth - Demeter or Persephone are good candidates, Ares would be a ridiculously bad one).

[munin]

Originally Posted by munin

... It might be cheaper to afflict the plants with the Early Maturation feature (p. BIO212)...

Now that I think about it, crops probably already have Short Lifespan 5+ -- they mature and die a lot faster than humans.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by munin

Now that I think about it, crops probably already have Short Lifespan 5+ -- they mature and die a lot faster than humans.

Good point.
I like that no one objected or apparently thought the Unaging mechanic was too weird for that build.

As for the ways around spending your own points for the Create Essential Earth spell they are all good. However it means it is very unlikely for someone to want to use that spell so it doesn't work well for improving agriculture.
So I am either handwaiving it and calling it a special effect for your regular income or still stuck having to find another way to build it.