Object Illusions

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

I'm playing around with a maga who has a Minor Magical Focus of "Manipulating the Species of Objects." So Perdo and Muto Imaginem effects on objects, not living things. Most of the published Imaginem spells deal with people, so this seemed like an interesting way to go. Some examples:

Aura of Ennobled Script
Muto Imaginem 10
R: Touch, D: Moon, T: Ind
A target piece of parchment, papyrus, wax tablet, or anything else that holds writing appears more elegant and refined. Numerous subtle changes to the script and medium bring about this change, including the graceful curve of the letters and the pleasant scent of the page. This must be cast once for each page of the correspondence. If passing into an alien Aegis the effect must be powerful enough to penetrate the Aegis. Instructions should be given to the Redcap handling this letter not to get delayed on the road. Grants +2 on rolls related to the persuasive quality of the letter.
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +3 Moon)

A Meal for Happy Grogs
Muto Imaginem 15
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Room
All the food in a room becomes pleasant to eat, both fresh and well spiced. If cast regullarly this will increase the morale of the grogs while lowering the cost of their upkeep, but feeding grogs rotten food will give them a negative living condition modifier. This effect is best instilled in an item so the magae don't have to cast it regularly.
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 Room)

Strike of the Invisible Viper
Perdo Imaginem 15
R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Ind
A target weapon becomes invisible to normal sight. A opponent will find the weapon hard to block, since they can't see it coming, but scan still judge the position of the hands and stance of the wielder. Using such a weapon grants +3 to Attack rolls, but is subject to Magic Resistance. This spell allows trained groups to coordinate with each other, while still getting some benefit from invisibility.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Diam, +1 changing image)

Spears of the Fallen Diadochi
Perdo Imaginem 30
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Group
A set of spears, wooden stakes, caltrops, or other obstacles are rendered invisible. The spell effects up to 100 such objects. If they are moved, either to set them up or by someone running into them, the spell is broken. Combatants who do not know that the battlefield is trapped roll Perception + Awareness vs. an Ease Factor ranging from 12 (on a sunny day) to 21 (on a moonless night) to avoid the spears if they get within a pace of them. Combatants actively searching for traps get +6 on the roll, but that uses their action.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 Group, +1 increased group size)

Easing Socrates Passage
Perdo Imaginem 4
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Hides the taste of any sustance, such as a posion. Someone who consumes it benefits from magic resistance while the spell is active, but the caster may drop concentration after their target has eaten the poison, after saying something suitably arch, of course.
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)

Any other additions that others can think of along these lines?

2 Likes
2

Oooh! This is an excuse for a "Someone Spell Check me on this thing I've been rattling around."

Good Fences
Muto Imaginem 35*
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Structure
The touched structure is made to seem quite different, though it retains roughly the same shape. In this case, an old, ruined redoubt that has been thoroughly restored and expanded by the Covenant is made to look like it has had only minor repairs to one of the roofs, befitting a much less extensive habitation. Anyone within the structure is wrapped up into the illusion (so, no one sees people walking around on nothing, where in reality they are walking on the new boardwalks and wooden outer structures).
(Base 5, +1 Touch,+2 Sun,+3 Structure)

*What I want of it is that it delays the modification of the species until they leave, say, Voice range, so that everyone actually in the immediate surroundings is unaffected. I'm not sure if that's a +1 for complexity, or if it needs a +1 Rego Requisite/ +1 Vim Requisite (a la Suppression of the Wizard's Handiwork) or some combination thereof.

3

If you can cast Wall of Thorns, a version of Veil of Invisibility with enough Size modifier to make it invisible could be a lot of fun on the battlefield.

3 Likes
4

No, I don't think a spell effect on an object needs to penetrate an Aegis just to continue to function.

5

The Aegis is clear about this question: It dispels any effect crossing its boundary. "The Aegis is also able to block foreign ... spells that were cast before they
entered the Aegis, such as an invisibility spell cast on a magus outside the Aegis." (p. 161.)
So the effect should be able to Penetrate the Aegis at least (and even if it can I am not sure it is not dispelled).

2 Likes
6

As a SG I would agree this spell with the following change:

  • use Creo req. to make the target closer to perfection for the +2-3 bonus.
  • OR get only +1 as a bonus.

This also needs a Cr req. for the spell to be able to make taste and smell of any food closer to perfection. Without this the caster can manipulate only spiciness, saltiness, bitterness etc of any and all the food getting into the target room.

Seems to be good for me.

You don't need +1 Size modifier. Base Individual for Imaginem is a roughly human-shape sized "object". Basic Group means that the spell can affect as many target as the volume of 10 adult humans. Which can be like 10 000 caltrops. :slight_smile:
"A base Individual for Imaginem is the equivalent of an adult human being; whether a visual image of about that size,..." (p. 143.)

This seems also to be good for me.

7

So, I looked it up for ArM5D:

"Any foreign supernatural effect that originates from outside the Aegis and would affect anything inside the Aegis must Penetrate a Magic Resistance equal to the level of the Aegis of the Hearth to take effect. If it fails to Penetrate, the effect fails completely and harmlessly. This applies to all effects, including Intellego effects that would not normally be blocked by Magic Resistance, and effects that would move something across the boundary of the Aegis.

"This also applies to an existing foreign supernatural effect that tries to cross the boundary. If the effect cannot Penetrate the Aegis, it is dispelled. However, if the spell is cast on someone with Magic Resistance, for example an invisibility spell on a magus, then the Aegis must Penetrate the magus's Magic Resistance in order to dispel the effect. This includes such effects as the Parma Magica, Hermetic Longevity Rituals, Familiar Bonds, and Talisman Bonds. However, the last three of these are automatically sustained by the underlying magic, and so immediately come back into effect once the magus has entered the Aegis."

It seems odd to me, but it seems that dispelling is more overwhelming than I thought.

Edit: I had the idea the spell was suppressed, not dispelled.

8

That seems a bit mean to me. It would imply almost any MuIm spell would need a Creo requisite (if it made the species better) or a Perdo requisite (if it made it worse).

More common would be a Finesse roll for how good the results were.

2 Likes
9

This spell is very close to Aura of Ennobled Presence, which does not have a Creo req, affects 3 senses, and grants +3. I would probably buy the argument that a letter can't get more than +1 just for looking pretty, there is a lot more going on when you are interacting with a person. But I don't see that there should be any need for Creo.

This is also very close to a canon spell, Taste of the Spices and Herbs, which has no Creo req. I do agree with the broad argument, a MuIm spell shouldn't be able to make something that's clearly not food be perfectly palatable. Though I'd argue that has more to do with the spell being unable to conceal pain from trying to chew a bit of bone or something like that. I think a useful clarification on the spell would be that it needs to be cast on edible food.

Thanks for the feedback!

1 Like
10

Forgot to mention, this is a very useful answer for me. I had it in my head that a Group was defined as 10 or fewer Individuals. Looking at Targets and Size on ARM113 that's not the case. Particularly small Individuals can sum together to create a standard sized Group with many Individuals. Thanks!

11

The canon spell you are referring to has a different effect: it has Individual target, therefore the caster could change the taste and smell of that particular meal to any unnatural (for that meal) taste and smell. So your stew can taste as cake.

Muto does unnatural changes. Creo does "closer to perfection" effects.

Your particular spell has Target: Room - which means , based on container rules, it can affect any meal brought to that room during the spells duration. The Duration is Sun, therefore the grogs can bring a wide spectrum of meals into that room.
You want the effect to make the taste of different meals better (clearly the field of Creo), instead of all the different meals tasting like chocolate ice cream (Muto), right?

Spells (Formulaics) are semi-intelligent effects: a (non-creo) spell is not able to know which meal is a stew, which is a cake, therefor cannot change one in one way and other in other way.
Creo can cut the problem: it can make anything better. The stew will be a tasty one, and the cake will be a perfect one. But even Creo 'didnt know' which is which - it just changes think to be more perfect based on the Realm of Forms.

12

You can certainly have a Creo spell to make a stew better at being a stew. But its requisites would be He and maybe An, not Im.

A smell species isn't better or worse because of how much people like it, it's doing a job either way. Although there is no guideline for it, I can see an argument that CrIm could make smells and tastes stronger, for better or worse.

13

That would in fact be far more consistent with the Aegis being a Rego spell.

1 Like
14

Wielding a weapon you can't see yourself - particularly one with a long reach - seems the perfect case for extra botch dice!

2 Likes
15

In principle, yes.
However, with illusions that appears not to be the case - see e.g. Aura of Ennobled Presence.

2 Likes
16

The Proper Attire
Muto Imaginem 20
R:Touch, D:Sun, T:Group
Changes the look, sound, and feel of whatever is worn / carried by a group of people and/or animals. A dozen grogs armed and armoured to their teeth could appear dressed in penitent sackcloth; a maga dressed in penitent sackcloth could appear dressed in silk, jewels, and cloth-of-gold, while at the same time not feeling the itchiness of the sackcloth herself.
Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 Group

2 Likes
17

The refered spell doesn't make a person into a more perfect example - it changes his/her "authority aura".
Therefore A, changes the person in a specific - not overall more perfect - way, and B, can change the person into an unnaturaly charismatic authority figure ( unnatural compared to his/her own Essential Nature).

Based on my understanding this is the rule of thumb for difference between Creo and Muto.

18

Well, by the same argument, you can definitely make a stew appear unnaturally good-tasting with Muto Imaginem!

3 Likes
19

Sorry, but this is an old and very flawed argument!

If you have ever tried to use a great staff, a sword or actually any weapon you are familiar with, you know that manouvering and reacting with the weapon is not about how well you can use your eye to see/perceive the weapon.
It is about awareness of the wider sourrundings and your training level with that particular weapon.

You use your proprioception - inner ability to sense where are your arms and legs compared to other bodyparts.

Even when you block/parry you do not use your sight-based perception of your weapon. You use your training/experience to execute certain movement algorythms you drilled for hundred times.
It doesn't matter at all if you hold the weapon or not - you are able to perfectly execute the movement.
And if your "combat awareness" is unhindered, you dont need to see your own weapon. But of course you need to A, be aware/sense of the weapon; B, know what kind of weapon do you have in the arms.

20

Yes, as long as it doesn't taste like "mundane" stew anymore. :slight_smile:
To be super-consistent: you need a Finesse roll to have exceptionally well flavoured "special stew".
(But that is maybe to much game mechanics for having a super-fine stew, which is obviously not a game breaker in most of the games :smiley: )

1 Like