what would be the effect going backwards if we make the -3 to finesse thresholds an effect of an aurum prerequisite that only applies to flying objects? Would everything that has been done still work?
Oliverius would need 2 sesons to enchant the effect instead of 1.
INT 5 + MT 11 + AURA 3 + REGO 24 + AU 5 + LAB 0 + S&M 6 + CRAFT 5 + PHIL. 5 + TALISMAN 5 = 69 VS ReCo(Au) 45 (+5 for Re Elder Rune) > 2 seasons
Same for Arduino, he couldn't enchant the flying shield as a lesser item.
INT 5 + MT 13 + AURA 7 + REGO 14 + AU 0 + LAB 8 + I.G. 3 + S&M 3 + CRAFT 6 + FORGE COMPANION 1 = 64 VS ReTe(Au) 42 > 2 seasons
Okay, lets retcon it as follows: the additional levels allow for improved maneuverability at high speed, which would by its nature not apply to craft magic or other situations where a finesse drop would be problematic (remote fighting with a finessed flying sword, for example)
Ok, thanks.
A lesser enchanted item by Aurthor for review.
TEACHING MIRROR
CrIm 19
Pen +0, Unlimited uses
R: Per, D: Conc, T: Ind
A large mirror that when activated display an image determined by the user that can be cancelled and changed with concentration. The image can be used to aid a teacher illustrating particularly difficult concepts giving +1 to the Teaching speciality of a laboratory.
(Base 1, +1 Conc, +2 Complexity; +5 maintain concentration, +10 unlimited uses)
Although Oliverius is still building up his Arts to get to a better level, this is the next project he'll be working on, because I'm crazy. He wants to start experimenting to see what the effects of this obscure concept are; what a sword made of the mind can actually do, the effects of having your anger forged into a blade. There are deeper concerns, like what happens if the blade is sharpened or tempered, or even broken, but that is for the future. He wants to explore these possibilities. Oliverius isn't sharing the full plans with his covenant yet, of course, Verditius are secretive.
He would also like to see if the Redcaps could get him a lab text for Inmost Companion.
silveroak, is this a project that may be well-pursued by the game, or is it a bit too weird for your plans?
not to weird, but you will need to specify a personality trait to make manifest instead of simply designating "the strongest"- this would be like a spell that strengthened the weakest physical characteristic- you have to have a separate spell for each characteristic, similarly each emotion is a separate spell.
That idea with mutoing thoughts into objects and destroying them gives me ideas. Could you do that with other abstract concepts? Could you Muto something like weight into an object? Or injuries? Hmm...
You could target fat with part, but not physical properties. Injuries are a manifestation of destruction and cannot be targeted- in theory you might be able to muto a damaged limb into an object and repair that or something... but then again it might turn out badly instead...
Alright, updating the original idea as this:
Would you allow magnitudes of complexity to allow it to manifest a variable trait? Also, would a group-target allow multiple different manifestations (hate and honor and curiosity, etc).
There is (if I rememeber my reading) a strong implication that an inanimate object's solidity and weight are goverened by the Terram, however trying to target the abstract is going to be difficult; Maybe with a LOT of experimental research and breakthroughs...However, thoughts, emotions and personality traits aren't abstract concepts according to hermetic theory; they're solidly part of Mentem, correct?
Hi leo! Here I go again, sorry! 
How does the item work? Doesn't it need to be able to read the user's mind to change images and thus a trigger as well (an InMe(Im) effect to accurately depict what is in Aurthor's mind)? As written, it could hold I'd imagine a pre-set number of images, and maybe have some sort of button to switch between them, but wouldn't be flexible. Range would be Touch, I think, as the Target is the image created; but of course mirrors hold images, so I might be incorrect. Also, if a Magus used it, he would need to lower his MR to 0 each time he wanted to change images; this would also preclude a being with Might from using it to teach (Ibis, for example), but maybe that's not important.
There is an example in the Covenants book about a magic stove that prepares things based on how well they're described... so I could definitely see a mirror that acts as a blackboard describing what's spoken to it. Probably need to be touching it or pressing the edges in a particular fashion for the concentration, though you could have it trigger on specific phases spoken.
"Mirror, red parabola of the suns path across the sky...."
And Mercurio would definitely like to borrow it to have the mirror draw nake- um, nevermind. Mercurio won't borrow it.
Just looked at it, but its effect sounds like a Faerie item, or a stove that's become a sentient Magic Being. Doesn't seem to be Hermetic at all. It does not even include Mentem, to create or at least mimic a human mind in some way... and it uses Com, what! Or IntellegoIm, to at least be able to hear the instructions...
I don't see the need for a Mentem requesite, the item does not have to read the mind of the user, simply the user activates the effect (by touching the frame with his index finger for example) and uses it to create the image just as he does when he casts a spell. Maybe a finesse roll should be required for particular complex images? A Mentem requisite is needed when the effect creates something that resemble a limited independent intellect, as for example in "The shadow of human life" spell, and this is not the case.
Also, why do you think this effect could create only a limited number of images? The phantasm animal spell in AM5 book can create any animal up to size +1 (not a particular kind only, but all types of animals) and the mirror's effect is more complex (+2 magnitude) then that.
Regarding the range I was indecise myself between personal and touch, I resolved for the former because the image is created within the mirror but I'm not totally sure about that.
I would allow a group of related traits to be targeted for increased complexity of one (for example, any form of hostility as opposed to just anger).
A group part target? no...
You are correct that thoughts, emotions, and personality traits aren't abstract but concrete parts of mentem. That being said transforming a thought into something would cause that thing to vanish when the thought was gone... emotions or personality traits would be far more useful.
regarding the mirror- it will create the image that the person directs it to as an instructional aid- finesse rolls might be required for artwork or faithfully reproducing a scene, but this should not affect its utility as a teaching device.
Thanks!
So I'm working on a parens for my apprentice, a Bonisagus interested in An, Co, and He.
I'm looking for an effect for her talisman. She wants an effect that will turn the targets clothes into iron, and make them rigid, so the target is immobile. A ReCo may be simpler, but will this work?
This would be Re(Mu)An(He)(Te), so that it changes both clothes made from both plants and animals, A level of 5 is enough to control movement of plants and animals, a level of 5 is enough to change either plants or animals in "a major unnatural manner" We add a magitude for the Muto portion, and we'd like this to work at Voice. Lastly, a Te Requisite for the Iron so I have:
A Prison of Clothes:
Re(Mu)An(He)(Te) 25
(Base 10, +2 voice +1 Mu requisite)
Yo don't really need the Re component unless you want to control the clothes as well as transform them. Changing them to metal or stone will suffice to hold most people immobile. According to the guidelines this would be a base 4 spell rather than base 10 according to MuHe guidelines, I do see +1 magnitude for the An requisite, and the Te is obvious but should not result in an increase in difficulty. I also note that the spell as currently written does not have a target or duration...
So we have MuAn(He)(Te) 25
(Base 4, +1 He Req, Voice +2 , +1 Diam) Target is Individual
That would actually be 20, not 25