[MoH] Catching the Eye

Ave Sodales,

The spell "Catching the Eye" in the Magi of Hermes book seems to be designed in order to allow a Maga with Entrancement to use that ability during a fight, aka "how to break the game in two steps".

It is a CrMe15 spell (Base 4, +3Sight) : "catch enough of a character's attention to force her making eye contact with you".

Here are my questions :
-Why Range Sight for that spell ? As long as Entrancement need eye contact, it seems odd to use the spell against distant characters. How can you make eye contact with somebody at, lets say, 300 meters ? Wouldn't R:Voice be sufficient ?
-I have the feeling there are ways to get same magic effect with a ReCo10 spell, would you agree ? Would "both eyes" of a character be eligible for the ReCo base 2 effect : "control of a target's body part" ?

Why would entrancement break the game in a fight? compared to say 'Call to slumber' on sight?

I think it is more designed for R: Eye spells. Why sight? Perhaps so it can be used silently?

I think it’s fair to say that R:Eye is less effective at long distance, however the R:Sight would allow the spell to force a target to look at you across a noisy room or when the caster does not wish to draw attention to themselves by making a noise. A momentary glance isn’t easy to spot.
And yep, makes sense that a ReCo spell could also force the target to make eye contact - although no idea if your suggested baseline is right.

Yes! But much less subtle.
It's not just for Entrancement, but also (as already mentioned) for R: Eye spells. I remember using it extensively with a Mentem magus who also had Deft Menten, and who could get quite a lot of magic done, without anybody noticing!

Seems doable. There's also an Imaginem spell with (more or less) this effect.

But how long will that forced eye contact last? Long enough for another R:Eye spell? Somehow I doubt that, unless the duration is Diameter...

Enough for fast-casting magic I guess ?
I assume it is enough to try an Entrancement roll, though it is not well-stated.

Momentary can go a round. That's time for you to follow it with a regular spell.

Besides CrMe, ReMe (base 5) should also work, right? G
The guideline "Incline a person to a particular sort of response." seems to be fitting.

For ReMe the base 5 for incline somebody to a desired response isn’t controlling them with any certainty. And seems more for emotional responses. Base 15 looks like it’s needed to force the action from the target.
Seems a little steep but that’s the way I read the guidelines

Well, CrMe (base 4) is Put a thought or emotion into another’s mind... Using that guideline for Catching the Eye does sound no less stretched than Incline a person to a particular sort of response. imho.

Yes I agree! Was just saying that the ReMe guidelines seem a lot more conservative.

Interesting too that Catching the Eye (CrMe15, from MoH p92), and Look At Me (CrMe15, from A&A p32) use the same base, however Look at Me includes a Stam + conc vs 6 to resist the spell if the target is already concentrating on something else. Between those two CrMe spells there is a significant difference in the way they are used in play.

Why even learn LaM when CtE has no check and they are the same arts and level?

Look at me doesn't force eyecontact. The target may look at your fancy pointy hat instead.

CtE seems greater anyway.

And a ReCo (with base 2) could have D:Diameter for the same level and would be the greatest.

Because you're more skilled with some arts than others?
Because you have deficiencies that get in the way?

It seems to me that the ReCo solution would start at base 2, +2 voice, Ind, Mom, so only level 4
This makes it accessible for spontaneous casting for a lot of mages :mrgreen:

[strike]Needs to be Target: Part too doesn't it? Still very easy to spont[/strike]
edit - scratch that - other ReCo spells don't need to in cannon, so its fine using T: Incd. Sorry.

Yes, because there is a ReCo 2 effect "control a target body's part" :wink:

Isn't it "Level 2: Make a target lose control of a body part."? A target losing control of a body part does not mean the caster gains control of said body part.

I've seen people make this statement before, and quite reasonably. It could make sense both ways. So I went around checking spells. There are some canon spells that use the guideline specifically as uncontrolled motion (Befuddles Speaker, Curse of the Unruly Tongue, Spasms of the Uncontrolled Hand). But the question isn't if that level guideline applies to causing lack of control, but whether it can be used to take limited control. There are multiple spells that do that, too:

This one is pretty explicit about manipulating bits of the body for a specific effect.

While the stitching is cosmetic, the lips are sealed instead of just uncontrolled.