Hi ALl,
I'm wondering about how some aspects of device enchantment work. If I wanted, say, a cloak with Ward against Heat and Flames, is "personal," targeting sufficient, on the theory that a person will usually be wearing the item in question? I would assume that "touch," is less ideal because of the need to get through magic resistance. Is the "self," referred to in the Shape and Material Bonuses section the finished item, or the wearer of the item?
Thanks for any clarification 
Self is the item only, not a wearer. If you’re wearing a cloak with Ward Against Heat and Flames (Target Self), your cloak is immune to flames but you are not. In some cases, like getting hit with a small but intense ball of fire, you might be able to get the cloak in the way and you would not be hurt, but something which hits you but misses the cloak, or which simply lights you on fire, will burn you.
Such a cloak would need to penetrate your Parma if it had Target Touch, which is why so many Magi build these effects into their talismans (where the item and the self are one) or familiar bonds (which do not need to penetrate). Armor can be usefully enchanted with Target Self, on the premise that armor which is invulnerable is about as good as being invulnerable yourself. One way to solve the Parma problem is to enchant the item with Duration Sun and then just use it on yourself when your Parma goes down at dawn or dusk, before you recast your Parma anyway. But you have to plan ahead this way, since you don’t want to have the effect working on you for half the year, lest you accumulate warping.
For effects with duration sun, typical use is for a magus or maga who wants to use the item to suppress their parma for a turn (p81, first column), use the device, and then stop suppressing their parma.
Parma will not dispel an ongoing effect. Having the characters drop their defenses for a moment to use an item has on more than one occasion lead to some tense roleplaying moments in my games.
Ward Against Heat and Flames might not be the best choice of an example spell, as it "Keeps heat and fire at bay, unable to approach within 1 pace of the target."