A question has arisen regarding Imaginem versus the observer's Parma/Magic Resistance. It basically boils down to whether the species emitted are magical or not.
Granted, I don't really understand Species all that well. But the examples listed on p. 86 of the main rulebook seem to indicate that, for example, if a character casts a Muto Imaginem on herself, that the species her new image emit are unaffected by the observer's Parma and she is unable to discern whether the character's new look is illusory or not, regardless of whether the spell penetrates the observer's MR.
The opposing view is that a magical image emits magical species and thus is Resisted. (One of the examples cited for this is that Aura of Ennobled Presence has to penetrate for it to affect the observer, which I was unable to find a discussion of here.
Am I missing something in my limited understanding of how Species work, or are the species emitted by magical images in fact mundane?
Enobled Presence doesn't (or shouldn't) have to penetrate because it is emiting species which are not magical.
Aura of Rightful Authority does, because it is directly affecting the mind.
Yep. Species are "Mundane" - this is, IMO, a convienent ruling that would otherwise make magic significantly more complicated and annoying. For example, if species were magical, CrIg "create fire" effects would have to try to penetrate Magic Resistance in order to provide light for Magi to see by.
the species emitted from magically created (or altered) things are themselves not magical, and thus do not need to penetrate magic resistance.
Species that are themselves magically created are magical, and thus need to penetrate magic resistance.
Default illusions are not magically generated species, so they don't need to penetrate. Magically generated species allows you to do some really funky things with perception - like illusions that only one person can see - and the details of it are in HoH:Societies.