I have a magi who wants to be able to suck people into a book, there to dwell in a two dimensional prison on a page. This seems a pretty cool effect and this is how i figured it would work. The item it will be enchanted into is a large book carried around by one of the magi, On the particular page that is turned to to use this effect there are two pages, one with a large and sinister eye and the other blank but for a nicely illuminated border. Comments, as always are highly welcome.
The Illuminators Dungeon
MuCo(He)60
This effect teleports a person from where they stand onto a page of the magic book, turning them into a woodcut style drawing in the process. Its range is limited to sight and the book must be pointed at them so that they can be seen by the eye on the adjacent page. Once sucked into the book they can see anything visible to the page they are on and can hear normal around the book but only as long as it is open.
(Base 25, +3 sight, +3 moon, +1 complexity)
I figured the complexity would be needed as the base level only says turn someone into a plant, not a picture made of vegetable dyes, which is effectively what we are doing here. Its very high level, but that seems appropriate for capturing people for a month in a magic book.
Do you really need sight range? Eye range would be enough in most cases if you go for the "look into this... ZAPP!" kind of effect, don't you think? You can drop a pair of magnitudes doing that. And the spell will not be a ritual anymore either (level 50).
Also, is this a (ritual) spell or a magic item? Some differences there....
The concept is cool. That is for sure! Loads of story potential there.
Very cool spell concept and one very reminiscent of the paint magic from the Novel The Golden Key (highly recommended for SG reading, especially in saga's containing Jerbitons).
I would alter it slightly if a true prison effect is what you seek...
I agree that complexity would be needed since CrHe guidelines themselves require +2 Mags for creating finished plant products. Ink of this period was, however, not only derived from plants but also animals and minerals so unless you want a monochrome image you would need at least one other if not both additional reqs, but I would say they do not add mags themselves since they are necessary for the intended effect. It is also arguable that the actual transference aspect of the effect is more a matter of Rego, so perhaps a Rego req is necessary as well.
I would also make this a Ring Duration spell so that it would remain constant and only permit escape should the prison page(s) be torn or otherwise damaged. In this way it would be the border illumination itself which was enchanted with the prison effect. I would also, personally, place an eye at each corner of the prison page's border illumination rather than one big on the facing page. Simply turning to the page itself would be the simple trigger.
Thus the spell, as I would create it would be:
The Illuminators Dungeon
Mu(Re)Co(An,He,Te) 50
This effect teleports a person from where they stand onto a page of the magic book, turning them into a woodcut style drawing in the process. Its range is limited to sight and the book must be pointed at them so that they can be seen by the eye on the adjacent page. Once sucked into the book they can see anything visible to the page they are on and can hear normal around the book but only as long as it is open.
(Base 25, +1 Eye, +2 Ring, +2 complexity)
I would also say that this would make a particularly nasty cursed enchantment for those Verditii of the tradition of Himinis The Mad.
BellaDonna: Yeah, i thought of that too, i can imagine the conversation with the shield grog
"Alright Ulfric, i want you to stare into the eye on this page and you'll be sucked into the book and transformed into a picture. Then i'll close the book, it'll go a bit dark and quiet then, and i'll make my way to the rendezvous, then i let you out. Ulfric......come back Ulfric!"
Boxer: good catch on the +2 for finished products. My idea for the picture was to turn the prisoner into a woodcut style picture. Appropriate for the era and only monochrome so i can avoid using animal and terram as well.
Rego req of course is necessary if i'm gonna suck the guy into the book from across the room.
You've got me thinking now over the duration. I intended moon as simply a long period of time, but now that i think of it, thats a pretty specific release date and i'll need another effect to free him if i want to do it before then. Ring would work for indefinite periods but would require that i include another effect to break th ring, and then another to reform it ready for the next guest. However, these shouldn't be high level effects so thats not much of a problem.
As for the item as cursed, i intend it for the talisman of one of my criamon. He carries around a book (about 1' 6" byt 1' and 3" deep) chained to his waist with a number of groovy effects (some of which i've posted to this forum before). This is as close to an attack effect as he is going to get (being a non-combatant and all).
Xavi, Eye effect would be cool and now that you mention it, rather obvious given that i mentioned a huge eye. I'd lose a little utility to zap people looking the other way but then i suppose i couyld always shout "Oi! look at this!" that usually works.
As for it being a ritual. If it was a spell sure. But given that the only thing making it a ritual is the high level, i can stick it in an item fine.
No need to make the book magical at all. Just draw a ring in the page and you have the effect ready. You can trace a smallish ring on the page and suck the observer right into the book. To break it and release the dude, just erase the ring from the vellum. No need for a second spell there.
You can increase the range to voice, if you want by droping the complexity to monochrome images once again:
Base 25, +0 individual, +2 Voice, +2 Ring, +1 complexity.
Still level 50 overall. And it still works well with the "Oi! look here into your book (booming voice) OF DOOM!!" kind of escenification Then the enemy character says something like "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" and he gets sucked into the book by a spectacular whirlpool of magic. The book then closes and rattles dramatically for the enjoyment of all
Otherwise, I would make it a charged item, with a number of pages, each with the ability to hold 1 person. No need to have vis invested in it (even if some pages with waiting spells that trigger the Dungeon effect might be a good idea, for those pesky book robbers). I would also put some MASSIVE penetration potential into the formula to put mages in a tight spot as well.
It only affects the math calculating the spell level.
The rule doesn't state any distance. You can cast eye range even if there is a 50 meter distance between the magus and the target person.
That's all up you, of course. Insofar as I would consider those casting requisites one should be free to consider them essential or not depending on the stylistic intentions of the enchanter. Each according to his his needs, as it were.
I think there is no getting away from this req, indeed. Particularly where teleportation is a facet of the effect.
Of course, I suggested Duration:Ring with the view that this would be a perpetual prison and not merely a temporary holding device. As for the suggestion concerning classification of such an effect as a "curse", I merely sought to expand the idea to other possible saga and character applications.
One possible solution I might suggest would be to make the entrapment trigger upon light hitting the full page (rather than merely turning to it). This would suggest itself that the page had been fully exposed, either purposely or unwittingly. This would require an Ignem req, but since you wish to drop Animal and Terram reqs, it shouldn't pose too great a burden.
By this token you could also invest the page with the inverse of the entrapment spell -MuHe(Co,Ig) - (using again an Ignem trigger set to activate if the page was exposed to darkness (an unlit room or moonless night). Something akin to:
Liberation of the Limner's Charge
MuHe(Co, Ig) 15
R:Per D:Spec T:Ind
This unbinding effect is designed simply to break the effects of The Illuminator's Dungeon enchantment and release, one at a time, those so imprisoned upon the page. The effect is momentary, however the user must concentrate upon the particular image he/she wishes to release thus mandating an additional mag.
(base 4, +1 Concentration, +2 Complexity)
Now, if you wanted to release any and all images at once then you would need a Target:Group of course, upping the level of the release effect to 25.
Since the essential nature of those held upon the page is in fact human (in this case), I should think there would be no breaking of the limit of essential nature such that anyone could pose a valid argument against the permanent restoration of the person held on the page, even though Muto effects are technically ruled to be temporary.
This is off the cuff, mind you, so I don't doubt that one of our other fine contributors may suggest another method for achieving what you desire.
Fair enough, my suggestion was merely for the benefit of those who might enjoy other possible saga or character applications.
This does bring to mind as well, the artifact detailed in Clive Barker's Weaveworld. An enchanted loom that weave's an entire society into an elaborate tapestry would be another, albeit complicated and magically expensive, undertaking.
While I'm musing, the thought has also struck me that this book idea could be used for those running the infamous Diedne storylines. One reason the Diedne founders might never have been found is that they colluded with powerful Merinita to have themselves hidden away in a grand tome, locked away either in Crintera or some other hidden location (Arcadia itself?), with a legacy of guardians protecting it until the time for release was ripe.
As opposed to ring how about constant? Constant in the text is set off with environmental triggers and no other triggers. However I could imagine a device that has the environmental triggers for constant effect and a set of normal triggers to turn on and off.
I'd perhaps stat it out as concentration, +5 levels item maintains concentration, +5 levels concentration does not lapse at sunset or sunrise.
This last bit; +5 levels concentration does not lapse at sunset or sunrise, goes beyond the rules as written but I personally find it conceptually more harmonious with the rest of the system than the ring duration.
That is equally as viable and I am surprised I didnt think of it, given that my Verdi prefers the "item maintains concentration" route for most of his designs.
That said, I do not think Duration:Ring is inconsistent with the rest of the system as you suggest Erik. It just means that either the enchanted border illumination would need to be damaged in some way or else perhaps utilise your idea of maintaining concentration with an environmental trigger.
Since the RAW does not preclude additional triggers, my old SG and I settled on an idea that each additional trigger worked into any effect would add an additional 3 levels.
What I am thinking now, though, is that the whole exercise would be workable according to RAW with just a +1 Concentration Duration and +1 Item maintains concentration. In maintaining concentration, the effect needs no additional trigger to shut it off, only the Concentration of the wielder to change it's operation (as per the example given under the Effect Modifications, Concentration section wherein it says:
So the modified format would be:
The Illuminator's Dungeon
Mu(Re)Co(He) Lvl 54
This effect teleports a person from where they stand onto a page of the magic book, turning them into a woodcut style drawing in the process. Its range is limited to sight and the book must be pointed at them so that they can be seen by the eye on the adjacent page. Once sucked into the book they can see anything visible to the page they are on and can hear normal around the book but only as long as it is open.
Hmm. What if you want to store several grog recruits in the book, collected at different times? Concentration would seem to imply only one activation at a time, wouldn't it?
Loads of story potential there.
Then the enemy character says something like "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" and he gets sucked into the book by a spectacular whirlpool of magic. The book then closes and rattles dramatically for the enjoyment of all 
