After reading another thread I was wondering what magic resistance covers.
Definatly covered:
You
Your talisman
Up fer debate:
Your clothing
Items you may be wearing
Spells on you
I'll readily accept that if a spell is targeting you personally then any of the questionable items would be shielded from any side effects. ie: a pillum of fire wont burn your cloths off and not hurt you.
But what about targeting the item/spell directly? If i target your boots with the pillum of fire will they readily ignite since they aren't covered by parma/MR?
Talismans are an exception to the "very close" as by this:
Not much room for debate. Spells on the person are without doubt resisted, so are the clothing. As for things holding I would said that these are covered too, but within reason.
IMO, all armor is equal to clothing. For me pretty much anything the Magus is actually holding by himself is covered. Staff, cauldron, big fancy hat, kitten: covered. Litter, handcart, man, horse: not covered.
Yes there are grey areas, but this works for me. Does a Magus's MR cover a baby he's carrying? Yes. A teenager? No. Does his MR cover a big pack? Anything actually in it: Yes. Anything sticking out of it: No.
That's just my call on what "very close" means, your mileage may vary.
I agree that armor is protected as well as clothing.
I would however set the limt at other human beings, even an infant child is to be too big, not withstanding the epic sense of the magus having to lower his parma to wrap the child in its protection!
I wonder when we will be seeing the first cases of magi making talismans out of bags, trunks, chests or litters so as to be able to shield the contents with his parma....
Staff and cauldron wouldn't be covered in my opinion. Fancy hat is borderline. My limit would be that you need to be able craddle it in your arms without having bits sticking out.
Correct me if I am wrong, and another player swears up and down I am. Parma Magica means, in effect, Shield of Magic. Right?
So basically if I take something magical and on purpose, myself, stick it in my mouth, I have brought it willingly into my own parma, and by-passed it.. willngly, and get no defense?
Or say another Magi reaches out, and touches me. Then casts his spell. He has already breached my Parma by touchging me right? And can unleash whatever he wants as long as it comes out his hand on to me?
I tend to disagree personally with this players idea that Parma suffuses you throughout the body. It's not really a "Shield" then is it? And it kinda defies the constant statements about magic crossing your parma....
It is not a literal shield in that sense. You can willingly and on purpose bring things within your parma - but it is a intentional mental/mythic act requiring your concentrated effort and not a random physical one. You cannot by accident put something magical in your mouth - it would require you to purposefully not only do the physical act of it but also the mythic one of lowering you MR.
No - his touch does not reach through your parma. Unless you willingly lower your parma.
It does in the sense that the Parma actually "repels" active magic items, or simply hinders them in touching you.
Furion Transsanus's response is correct but I wanted to point out that this is the source of one of the great debates. People often argue one of two points concerning "The Magic Sheild".
Either A)The Parma itself is intutive/intelligent on some undefinable level and it only keeps out 'harmful' magic. This was stronger in older games where the Parma was less defined.
The varient is B)The Magus 'allows' magics to by pass the Parma as you suggested. This willful act need not be something a Magus is aware of, but because they did it, the magic 'gets through'.
These are not correct.
The Parma Magic isn't intelligent.
Side point: It does NOT dispell magic. It RESISTS Magic.
Because it is not intelligent it resists all magic that attempts to cross it's barrier of protection.
It is thick enough to cover ones body and clothing, but this 'thickness" does not cause things to become slippery/unholdable, it does not allow magi to skate across a magic floor, though it does allow magic attacks to 'slide' off the defender.
Again, because Parma Magic is not intelligent or intuitive it defends against ALL Magic. All magic that is resisted is something a Magus knows.
So in the case of a Magus eating a magic pill. If the pill failed to penetrate, they would know it is magical. They could if they want, eat the pill and pass the pill harmlessly.
The magus may want the effects of the magic pill and the only way to be affected (barring the pill pentrating Parma Magica) would be if the Magus WILLFULLY lowered his Parma.
This makes trick attacks on a Magus much more difficult. It also allows a Magus to defend himself in interesting ways.
Some don't like this version of Parma Magica and have changed it to accomodate the tastes of their troupe. Long before Ars 5 I was a proponent of Parma Magica 5.0, but in my troupe I am probably the only one that loves it that way. I'm happy to play with whatever non-canon version my troupes wants. However it is important that all players are on the same page concerning what the Parma can and can't do or misunderstandings and interpretations can ruin nights as gaming turns into discussions or arguements.
Find something that the troupe likes, and be consistent in it's use and all will hopefully be happy.
Thanks for that link, it actually enforces some of my beliefs about Parma, and of course puts at least one to rest.
Swallowing something magical in my opinion would be blocked altogether[minus the possibility of penetration]unless the Magi willingly lowered the MR to let it in, as he would become aware of it by it being stopped when he reached for it in the first place. [though I guess it would be "hiky" if the container were not magical, still the item would not get past his Parma when he went to imbibe it]
But the other part about a Magi without magic reaching in and touching, and then getting a no MR spell off would be more than acceptable.
"Magic resistance keeps magic away from the magus. It doesn't dispel magic. Page 85 says "[m]agic resistance keeps magic away from the maga, her clothing, and other items that are very close to her." It may help to think of Parma Magica, whose name is Latin for "magic shield," as a force field that surrounds the magus an inch or so outside his clothing. Magic can't get through that force field unless it penetrates the target's resistance"
If a Magi reaches in and grabs another Magi physically, then he has more than gotten past that 1 inch sheild with a body part, and quite frankly. I don;t care who you are, another Magi';s BODY is more than enough justification for "Arcane Connection", for me as a Gamemaster, I'd have to say even a handful of a Magi's clothes, the ones he's wearing at that "precise moment" even cout as an Arcane Connection for the casting magi's spell. Either way, he's blwon right through the defending Magi's Parma. Either by simply letting the offender get skin to skin contact, and thus effectively tunneling through the Parmna by both touch, and Arcanae connection, or by the fleetingly temporary Arcana connction of having the clothing of the Magi when he is actually wearing said clothing.
In the end it's no differnt than some fool Magi swining his talisman staff at another, and having the targeted magi grab the thing in mid-swing, and sending a shock down through it.
A talisman is protected by Parma, but you can also use it as an Arc Connection to the creating Magi as well. A bad something to let out of your grasp, or in the grasp of another in any case.
That mostly eliminates the need for dropping Parma when casting spells on yourself that have greater than Personal range. A person is not an arcane connectione to themselves, they are themselves. It is more thematically fitting to require them to, let's say, shed a drop of blood.
I strongly disagree. Just wearing some clothes doesn't make them an arcane connection to you. Now, if you get your hands on your victim's favourite hat...
Even then, I think that to benefit from arcane connection bonuses, you must unambiguous "control" it, not just touch it. Imagine, if you will, that you are integrating it into your casting gestures. It's a bit difficult to do if the clothes are still worn by your target.
Our SG rules that parma always effects everything which tries to effect you. If you want a magic to effect you, you have to lower your Parma first. If you try to drink a magical drink and don't lower parma, it will spill past your mouth.
If you are holding a magic item with no active effects, it is a normal item. Even if it is a magical ring etc. as long as it is inactive it will have no effect. When the effects happen, the magic effect must try to penetrate your Parma. But the ring does not slide your the finger.
If a ring has a constant effect in it that effects the ring only (makes it more resistant to damage etc) then it is not effected by your Parma.
If a ring has a constant effect on the wearer, you can put the ring on, then the effect will try to go through your Parma.
Magically created items will be resisted by parma.
Underfoot magically created items will act as normal, except that any magical effects which try to effect you will be resisted by your parma.
