I'm looking at the low-base Rego Mentem spell guidelines and a few regular spells and its hurting my head.
From mixing the ReAn and ReMe effects listed in the core rulebook, I get:
2: Plant a suggestion in the mind of the target (taken from ReAn)
3: Make a minor adjustment to the target's mental state.
4: Control the target's mental state
5: Control a naturally occuring emotion, incline a particular response.
Now, aside from the first one being a great source of argument over whether it is CrMe or ReMe...
What the heck does the 3rd one actually mean? By the rules stated in HoH:S regarding mental states, the 'minimum' finessing you can really do here is change the target's mental state from one thing to another. Call to Slumber does exactly that, and sits at base 4.
Then we have spells like 'Aura of Inconsequence' (HoH:TL, guernicus chapter) - which is a base-3 effect that makes the target have difficulty paying any attention to the caster. This isn't messing with mental states, this is planting a suggestion....?
So given all this, what level is the following spell:
Creating the Unwitting Band (base ???, +1 eye, +3 moon)
The target of the spell is inclined to wear green when choosing their clothes, if such a thing is something they might usually do. By casting this spell on a number of different people the caster can 'create' a group target - or create some amusing social situations.
Or this spell:
Encouraging the Corrupt Guard (base ???, +1 eye)
The target of the spell is inclined to accept a bribe if it is something he might usually do anyway. Has no effect on a target who would not accept a bribe. Mechanically: if the guard has a loyalty score of +1 or higher, the spell simply fails.
If it is base 5, that sounds a bit like ReMe is the sledgehammer of the mentem set. It makes a mockery of the statement in the spell description 'sense of the conflicting motive' because it means ReMe is -always- the same or higher base for emotional or mental manipulation than CrMe. It also means that encouraging a guard to accept a bribe is the same base as making him think you're his boss (aura of rightful authority), or planting the suggestion 'wear green' is the same base as a spell that plants the inclination that everything is terrifying and can potentially kill (visions of infernal terrors).
If it is base 2, what is base 3?
If it is base 3, what is base 2? edit: and more importantly, doesn't that then make the statement 'See ReAn for more guidelines' false?
Any light shed on this would be very welcome.