Starting an engine? Is there a suitable spell

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Not seeing one. Seems pretty basic, though:

Start Engine/TL (H) (Regular)
College: Technology

Description: Starts a mechanical device that has a connected and charged/fueled power supply without engaging the physical starter mechanism, which need not be present at all.

Cost: 1
Time: 2 seconds
Prerequisites: Seek Machine OR Ignite Fire

Item: Staff, wand, jewelry, or key. Cost to create: 100

That seems simple enough to be a no prereq IQ/A spell like in The Least of Spells.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

That seems simple enough to be a no prereq IQ/A spell like in The Least of Spells.

Perhaps just like Remote Start/TL, on p. 16 of that supplement . . .

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Perhaps just like Remote Start/TL, on p. 16 of that supplement . . .

Which requires the "ignition key" or its equivalent to be present and in place, so the spell under discussion here should be at least somewhat more difficult.

[Anders]

If it allows you to 'hotwire' the car then that should probably be a Hard spell.

[benz72]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

It's a Regular spell, so the cost is multiplied by SM+1 for SM > 0.

A normal car is SM 2 or 3, so it'd cost 3 or 4 energy to start one with this spell.

The engine of a SM 2 or 3 car is, itself still SM-1 or so.

The emergency diesel generator engine in a hospital might be SM 3.

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by Anders

If it allows you to 'hotwire' the car then that should probably be a Hard spell.

Perhaps base the cost of the spell on the starter mechanism's SM. A battery or crank is usually quite small, but the starter cart for some planes is rather large.
As I'm envisioning it, you still need the key; it's not a security bypass, but a "Oh Cr**, we're out of starter cartridges/someone lost the crank/the strafing run blew up the starter cart/etc.
That's not to say that there couldn't be a hotwire spell.

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by benz72

The engine of a SM 2 or 3 car is, itself still SM-1 or so.

The emergency diesel generator engine in a hospital might be SM 3.

There have been cases where the small motor that spine the generator up to speed was electrically powered and they didn't think to have a small gas generator on hand to get it running. During testing it worked fine because it was plugged in.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by benz72

The engine of a SM 2 or 3 car is, itself still SM-1 or so.

Starting a modern car (2015ish and later) requires starting more than just the engine, there are a lot of systems (besides a radio/stereo/gps) running that aren't started by the engine. While they're started by the same user action (turning the key), they're linked to different systems and several can be required for proper operation of the car.

Without having expert knowledge I'd also expect a large commercial plane as well as a post-WW2 fighter to need more than just the engines themselves started.

But if you're starting a pre-2010 car or a propeller plane you will almost certainly get away with starting just the engine.