Spell Design: Stuff I am fiddling with.

Our muto maga is looking to expand into social intrigue as her husband has become a minor land holder. She threw some spell ideas at me, and I did my best to convert them into spells. I'd like folks to throw out their input.

Sidenote: I also note that a lot of the Intellego Mentem spells seem to be "the only tool you'll ever need" - like Posing the Silent Question, or Peering into the Mortal Mind.

In any case, here's what I'm working on. Thought and opinions on how to make them better match her aims, if possible.

(Also, seems like there was a spell somewhere that let you see a person's inner thoughts or state as images. That sound familiar to anyone?)

Anyhow, here is what she wrote, and my spell translations:

Enchantment of Revelations

Rego [Creo] Mentem 25
Range: Eye, Duration: Sun, Target: Ind

The target of the spell feels trust and confidance in the maga, and is thus compelled to speak freely in her presence and answer her questions as openly and honestly as possible. The Rego effect inspires the answer, while the Creo effect creates a feeling of ease and trust that allows the Rego effect to usually not be noted as unnatural. A target asked questions about a subject towards which they have a Loyalty or Fear towards may make a Int + Personality Trait stress roll versus the Maga's Presence + Charm; the Gift affects this roll as normal, with a -3 penalty unless the maga has the Gentle Gift. A botch by the spell's target reflects an utter disregard for revealing even secret information to the maga, while a botch on the maga's part may reflect the target revealing false information in an attempt to impress the maga, or at higher botch levels, noting the magical nature of their attitude towards the maga. Due to the Rego effect, this spell makes even people normally shy or reticient to speak willing to engage the maga in conversation.

Base 5 [Incline a person to a particular type of response], +1 Eye, +2 Sun
+1 for Creo requisite [Create an emotion in another's mind]

She also was interested in:

to me, this would both look like this:

Espie the Heart's...

InMe 20 (this gives you what the target would likely answer - or 30 if it was meant to reveal to you things the target was in denial over, or was otherwise not consciously aware of - this includes things potentially hidden by magic - known to the heart while the mind is suppressed, etc.)

Range: Eye, Duration: Momentary, Target: Individual

[Base 15 or 25, +1 Eye]

Abide by the Wise Counselor
ReMe 20

Range: Eye, Duration: Sun, Target: Individual

The caster's words are given gravity and enchanted import.

The target tends to accept the maga's advice regarding a specific action and will take the maga's opinion regarding a certain situation to heart. This lasts until the duration of the spell expires, at which point the target sees the advice more objectively. The spell cannot convince a subject to take an action that is outright against their nature or is outright against the target's knowledge, but rather, strongly incline or convince a person based on their own reason and information. Actions the target is ambivalent or uninformed about generally are accepted as good advice if the target is not ill-inclined towards the caster (this spell does not create any feeling of trust, loyalty, or sympathy).

Convincing a seasoned hunter that an obviously vulnerable campsite is the best place to sleep will require the maga to best the captain in a Intelligence + Leadership roll, with the Gift having an effect as normal. Similar attempts to convince a person to do something that their own knowledge believes is incorrect will prompt similar tests - the maga must then use spurious logic and argument to convince the spell's target. Attempts to "advise" someone to act against a person they are loyal to will require rolls modified by appropriate Personality Traits.

[Base 5, +1 Eye, +2 Sun]
[A level 25 version of this spell can likely cause a target to rationalize any strange advice given or otherwise fill in holes in logic if possible]

Scheme of the Wise Counselor

ReMe 25 (Moon Duration)

Range: Eye, Duration: Moon, Target: Individual

The target perceives the caster's words as sagacious and well-informed.

The target tends to accept a short-term goal advised by the maga. How the target acts to attain the goal is up to the target - the caster can only state an end result ("The castle needs fortification." but not "The castle needs an outer bailey and bars over the windows." "You should overthrow the Duke." but not "You must turn the Dukes vassals against the Duke.")

This lasts until the duration of the spell expires, at which point the target sees the advice more objectively and may note the supernatural nature of this urge if he makes a simple Intelligence roll of 9+. The spell cannot convince a subject to undertake a plan that is outright against their nature or is outright against the target's knowledge. Rather, the spell strongly inclines or convince a person based on their own reason and information ("You should overthrow the Duke" when the target is 100% confident in the Duke's good intentions toward him, or "The castle needs fortification" when the castle has just been refurbished by the finest siege engineers and architects in the land"). Goals the target is ambivalent or uninformed about generally are accepted as a worthy endeavor if the target is not ill-inclined towards the caster (this spell does not create any feeling of trust, loyalty, or sympathy).

[Base 5, +1 Eye, +2 Moon]

For the first one can't you just Rego their opinion of you? that would seem simpler and would have the desired affect.

P.S. mind boning mortals at close range is super OP from what i've seen of it.

I think the desired effect was to make the target feel as if this was a little more natural than direct Rego Mentem, thus the Creo to create an emotional response, however artificial, that served as a cover for the "chatty" aspect of the spell.

I may be off base in this, but it felt like Rego Mentem generally seems fairly obvious to a target.

Also: is there a rulebook or canonical answer to the question of what Rego or Muto Mentem can do to the response people have to the Gift? Can you transform the envy/dislike to love/favor with Muto?

It feels like you should not be able to, but I was hoping for some back up from the books.

Vrylakos

Agreed, and your spells seems good enough. I might want to raise their levels a bit, but they´re not TOO easy.

HoH:TL (Guernicas section) has a ReMe spell for counteracting the Gift's affects.

Chris

Ah, thanks Callen!

Vrylakos