I mean, on the flip side, most wizards aren't nearly as killy in melee combat as Mathilde, which is a kinder way of saying that they're vulnerable to assholes jumping in their shit. Bodyguard Knights suddenly appearing when they get in a fight is a great way for them to not die.
Congrats! All the best to you and yours!
Possibly, you'd have to try it to find out if it was possible.
...Alright. In that case, I can support Trio if we take instinctive or bodyguard since that would allow us to cast outside of combat with whatever safety precautions we can gin up (we could do that, right?) and have it be "active" going into the fight ready to go.
I know I voted for that, lol. If we take a One option, we might even have the action economy to circle around to it before elfcation! Maybe.
Due to it being cast ahead of time and left dormant within Mathilde, Bodyguard means it suddenly becomes a fantastic anti-melee and anti-ambush spell for grey wizards in general, and a fantastic melee spell for us because it takes our already killy Mathilde and adds backup dancers of Fuck You.
Seems I was right in assuming the staff doesn't apply. That kills Band, and probably Lance, but I still would really like the latter. It would be easier to cast than Band, and won't need to consume as much Winds, while still being sizeable enough to be a large threat, which is important. The action cost is likely to be difficult though, on top of the Battle Magic thing, so I suppose Trio is the more likely to win size when it comes to groups.
...Supposing we took One and it was still battlemagic, would we be able to follow-up with another attempt to make it sub-battle magic or add more riders to it, @Boney ? Wondering what the fallback options are there.
Ah yes, hit them when they're not looking. The Morkish corruption option.
Yeah, I am just going full thematic here but I feel like Bodyguard is the closest available option to the legend I want to invoke: A protector and servant. Not quite controlled (The classic Cat-Thilde as much as the competent and loyal servant)
...Or this, yes. Specifically being a bane of necromancers and those who would defile the dead would also work with the theme.
Beyond wizards, Here's a fun thought: Would the spell be able to be bound in Mathilde's Mystical Matrix?
Yeah, I think I'm getting why the golds kept theirs as hounds.
Yes, if it's not battlemagic. Because it will be cast when you are being mobbed/losing (by the nature of a bodyguard spell), and the less ways to screw it up the better.
A demigryph mount is needed to get best results for this, so we should look for something a horse mount is better for. IIRC, a horse mount is good for charging groups.
Bodyguard isn't cast in combat while being mobbed or losing, it is cast ahead of time while safe, and then stored dormant but ready in the caster's soul until they're attacked at which point their bodyguards trigger, so no that entire argument is bullshit.
This feels fairly useless to us. The whole advantage of this is action economy in battle where every second counts. If this was the only spell we knew I could see it, but that is unlikely to be the case of any wizard able to catch a few red ri
Unfortunately we are a wizard and lots of our friends are wizards. This doesn't work unless we can somehow work in an automatic friend foe recognition.
Both very useful behaviors that we are likely to call on and don't require our concentration. Not sure what the difference really is can we not have it charge at a group of 1?
This is really great if it's able to eat incoming destructive magic. @Boney How long would we be able to keep it in this mode?
I don't see a single advantage of this mode over charge or duel.
