Do Target: Vision Spells need to Penetrate to work on targets with Magic Resistance?

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Perhaps the corebook is perfectly clear, but I am confused at the moment on this. Say one creates a InCo 35 spell "Eyes of the Physician" Base 10: Target: Vision, Duration: Concentration. This spell lets them look at people and instantly know all useful information about their health.

The core book, pg 114, states:

  • Magical senses must penetrate the Magic Resistance of creatures sensed, as well as the Magic Resistance (if any) of the person granted the sense. Thus, the Penetration of a magical sense should be recorded for future reference. The mundane sense through which the magical sense grants information does not need to penetrate Magic Resistance.

Does this mean that the spell must penetrate MR, for example, in order to see a Magus's current health information?

Or, because they are not trying to detect a sensed creature, that it automatically works and bypasses MR?

{The wording on the core could really use some work, at least for me.}

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Sense spells vary on if they need to penetrate MR or not. The easiest way to tell is does the spell work by naturally occurring species (a natural sense) or magical ones (a magical sense). This is because if it can work on the naturally occurring species that things are releasing then the species are outside of the MR, but if it must create magical species they have to interact with the subject and thus its MR.

I broke it down in this thread, so it would be helpful if you read it and then ask any further questions you have to avoid duplication.

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Yep, that thread tries to sum up the issue. But it does not show, that

See this in the thread.

There are ways to integrate non-Hermetic magical senses to create a Breakthrough in your saga for Hermetic Magical Senses that allows some to ignore MR, though.

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