(Spell, MuIm) That was lefthanded!

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

That was lefthanded! MuIm 5
R:Voice D:Sun T:Individual

The target of this spell gets "mirrored", so when he's waving his right hand, it apears to be the right hand. When he's looking left, he seems to turn his head to the right.

This will distract opponents a lot in melee: All the attacks that seem to come from the left do actually hit from the right and vice-versa. :open_mouth:
The target gets an attack bonus of X. The attack-bonus gets reduced by Y each round to a minimum of Z. (0pponents will notice whats wrong in time and adjust their tactics.)

If you can see the reflection of your target in a mirror, this will add +3 to your casting roll for obvious reasons... :wink:

Base 1, Voice +2, Sun+2,

The same effect developped further:

Swordsmans madness MuIm(Re) 15
R:Voice D:Sun T:Individual
Base 1, Voice +2, Sun+2, effect feels more difficult +1, Requisite adds to effect +1

as "That was lefthanded! MuIm 5", but the spell switches randomly on an off, so an opponent cannot adapt his fighting style. Target gets an attack-bonus of X.

:bulb: This one is a good base for a pair of magic items

Well, i need a couple of suggestions for X,Y and Z.

:question: Did i properly adjust levels ?

:question: I wonder if opponents should be treated as defenseless in the first round?
:question: Could the spell be used to better effect if the target dressed in a very symetrical style, using two weapons (so the switching in Swordmans Madness goes unnoticed)?

While the spell isnt as effective as complete invisibility, i think it has a couple of advantages:

:arrow_right: A magus can still see his grogs without additional Intellego-magic. This makes targeting spells somewhat easier.

:arrow_right: Plus, he can see in what shape they are.

:arrow_right: Given the nature of the spell "that was lefthanded", it could seemingly be cancelled by casting it twice --though swordsmans madness couldn't.

On the other hand: being mirrored surly isnt fun in social situations: the target always looks the wrong direction, shaking hands is troublesome at best.

2

Hmm I dont know, this effect sounds like a Mentem guideline, not a Imaginem: you dont alter the species of something, you just change the way a person sees them.

3

While I think that's one way to do it, changing the target's appearance should be a viable alternative. I would think it's Rego and not Muto though, since you're changing the image's state or whatever. Surf's parma and all, I don't have the books here to make a better case for it.

4

I would see this as a Rego Imaginem (you're not changing what the image is, just where it appears) cast upon the swordsman or a Rego Mentem, cast upon the intended victim.

I'd be wary about how much of a bonus to attack you give, because it's such a low level spell. Also, I'd be inclined to require an Imaginem variant to require Concentration to maintain, because of the constantly changing images that the illusion is representing. The Mentem variant could more easily be a one-shot, as you're just changing the persons perceptions to a single target (something that arguably could be accomplished by modern hypnotism).

5

:exclamation: Right, it should be Rego.
So, comparing to Wizards Sidestep and Confusion Of The Insame Vibrations...

That was lefthanded V1.1 ReIm 20
R:Voice D:Sun T:Individual
Base 2, Voice +2, Sun+2, changing image +1, moved image matches changes +1

Description as in former posting+...
Target gets +2 bonus to attack and defense in melee (opponents are distracted) as well as -3 to all social interaction (target looks into wrong directions, handshaking...).

This has gotten more difficult, but on the other hand, there's no more need for requisites.
I prefer the Imaginem-variant, as you do not need to overcome magical defenses.

Using the effect in a magic device, i'd use a concentration duration, and let the device keep up concentration -to get rid of the trouble the effect could cause whenever you actually want to talk to someone.

:question: Still, i wonder if this spell can cancel itself if it is cast twice?

6

This seems a great spell to me! With the bonus at +2, I might make a note in the spell that a target of an attack that is sucesfully hit can reduce the bonus to +1 by making an Int + Weapon Skill of 9+ to realise something isn't right (that is to say, is left).

I would keep the bonus small because the area the spell effects is quite small.

7

It looks very good indeed. Since the images are opposite it wouldn't exactly dispel the spell if cast twice, it would just apply twice and therefor cancel al benefits and (the opposite of benefits, can't think of the word...)
I would allow use of it during my games!

8

Looking at it's relative power, and other ReIm spells, I think you might've over-cooked it with both "changing image +1" and "moved image matches changes +1". I'd be inclined to let this go at 15th level.

Otherwise, all looks good!

9

Hi Fury,

I wondered whether your spell wouldn't benfit from streamlining the bonus from having a mirror as being Potent magic?

I like and appreciate the idea of the mirror, but as no mechanism otherwise grants those kinds of bonusses I think it would be better to make it a potent spell.

10

Excellent idea.

11

Eh, not so much, no.

There are two ways of creating an illusion- creating a false image (or, here, altering one into something false), or creating the belief of that image, in one's mind. The first actually affects the senses, the other is pure personal (or group, etc) hallucination.

The way the above spell's written, it's the image of the subject that is the target of the spell, not the opponent or the opponent's way of perception. If you wanted to change the opponent's "mental state", then yes- but that'd be a diff spell.*

There usually is more than one way to achieve an effect- this is an example of that.

[i](* I'm reminded of a particularly grisly RL experiment done with chickens. You surgically loosen the eyes from the sockets without breaking the nerves, and replace them upside down. When given grain, the chicken pecks at the kernel, then at first pecks futher and further away. But over time they correct, and soon are eating at 100%. Return the eyes to "normal", and the same thing (with the same time period!) occurs again.

A similar experiment was tried on chimpanzees, only using a mirrored goggle instead of surgery to invert the view to "upside down". However, the chimps, being smarter (and more agile) than chickens, simply bent over and put their heads upside down between their legs, and walked backwards!) [/i] :laughing:

As far as Rego vs Muto...

I'd have to completely disagree, and side with RARodger, and stick emphatically to Muto. It indeed "alters the image" (p 145), pretty clearly. To think of it as "making things appear somewhere other than where they actually are" (ReIm, p 147) is more of a modern digital/video image paradigm, that you take the far left digital "column" of pixels in an image and switch it with the far right, then take the next two and switch those left/right, etc - in effect, changing the overall image, but not actually "moving" what you saw in the first place.

A left-handed image is different from a right-handed image, you are indeed changing it, into it's visual mirror, and that's Muto - it's not the same image "moved somewhere else", which is how Rego works.

(However, if you, as a StoryGuide or Troupe strongly disagree in turn, well, cool! Just be consistant! And, as always, have fun!) :wink:

12

I guess im still stuck in 4th ed :confused:
sigh some more reading to do...
And I obviously was to fast, putting the spell into the grimoire thread.

:question: BTW: what about crossposting spells to the net grimoire ? Didn't find anything appropriate in the FAQ. The spells would be a little more organized there I guess?

cu soon ^h^h^h^h next week, fury