Using magic to hide from magic

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

I was working on an effect for the counter spell thread, when I realised that this might need a thread all of its own, so that I don't hijack that one.

I am thinking of something a little like "Image from the Wizard Torn", but without the actual connection to the original person.
I am thinking of a spell which will destroy someone's species but create some identical ones, as well as a shell of magic (using the creo vim guidelines)

So that most spells targetted at the person will hit this and fizzle. e.g. most Corpus or Mentem spells will not find a valid target.

Things like CrIg will still work, because while they are making the flames on the "fake shell", this is still close enough to hurt someone.
Using Rego magic to throw something at them will work.

2

If I understand well, you are trying to make a Lure for spells that do not required aiming (Finesse roll) ?
That sounds like an interesting concept, but it raise a few questions in itself:
When somebody cast a Mentem spell, the target is the mind of the target, not the target physical body itself. So basically, it is targetting something that is invisible - which kind of contradict the rule that you either need to see the target or have an Arcane connection to affect it.
Since the mage is casting a spell targetting something that he cannot see, but "kind of know" where it is, it seems that a shell over the target would not be enough to prevent the spell to take effect because of the relatively "fuzzy" nature of the target.
However, a simple ReIm spell displacing the apparent target should suffice: the magic is targeted at an empty space, thus find no valid target. It raises another question: assuming that you need to be fairly accurate when you are casting a spell on a target, what is the tolerance regarding the inaccuracy of the perceived target ? One pace ? More ? Less ?

I like the concept of a magical lure for spell, I am still unsure how to handle it.
A Rego Vim should be able to redirect a spell (I would make it Form specific because you are controlling the spell after it is casted), but considering the Momentary duration of a lot of spell, I am not sure it can be casted quickly enough
A Muto Vim changes the target of spell (no need to be form specific since you are altering the casting itself) but the mage needs to cooperate or you have to Penetrate.
Could a Creo Vim create a good target ?
I would get inspiration from Voodoo magic: it is possible to create an Arcane connection to affect a target you do not see. Using similar principles, with a minor breakthrough, a mage could design a puppet, with an Arcane connection in it and any spell that is cast at the target, not requiring a Finesse roll, is redirect to the puppet.
The downside of that is that the mage cannot receiving healing spells or other beneficial spell neither.

I would consider that as a lab activity similar to researching a longevity potion, generating a labtot base on CrVi (to create a magical lure).

CrVi Gen The Sacrifical Twin, Self, Mom.
Create a Lure that redirect spells targeting the mage to itself. The Sacrifical Twin must be within range of the spell that is targetting the mage to take effect. It is not a spell (like Longevity ritual is not a spell).
The maximum level effect that can be redirected to the Twin is (Level of the Sacrifical Twin - 10)/2.
Exemple: A level 50 Sacrifical Twin can redirect up to level 20 spells on itself.
Limits:

  • it affects all spells, beneficial or harmful - it cannot differentiate one from the other
  • only the spell cast by the target can bypass the Sacrifical Twin effect
  • if the Sacrifical Twin is out of range of the spell, it cannot redirect it. For example, the Sacrificial Twin is kept in a lab when the mage is travelling and targeted by a Voice range spell, the Sacrifical Twin does not affect the spell
  • only one Sacrificial Twin can exist. As soon as a second one is created the first one becomes inert and the arcane connection is severed
  • the Sacrifical Twin is a permanent Arcane connection to the mage, casting a spell on the Sacrifical Twin can affect the mage if it penetrates.

I am unsure about the level of the effect, if it is too high or too low. I am also wondering if it is not overpowered: it can easily block low level spell with high Penetration and high level spell with low Penetration should be block by the mage Parma. So it is kind of annoying.
So I am thinking: the mage select the material and size of its Sacrifical Twin. The Sacrificial Twin can absorb a total of spell magnitude equal to its enchanting value. Each spell absorbed that way consume a little bit of the item until only ashes remains. A precious stone could be used to make a Sacrificial Twin and once 15 magnitudes of spells have been absorbed, nothing is left of the stone.

3

Note that the targeting rules were clarified fairly early on to be "target must be in location you are casting in, and if they aren't then the spell fails", rather than "must know where target is." It's in the Flambeau section (I believe) of HoH, in the "how to target an invisible person" section. By implication, the targeting rules are an artifact of the abstract nature of the combat system, rather than a metaphysical truth of Hermetic magic.

Also, it's understood that you can use the outside of something in order to target the inside of it - that's how you can target someone fully covered in armor with a Corpus spell, or do a surgery spell (ReCo) on a tumor that's inside someone's body....or touch the outside of a Room to target everything inside it, I suppose...

4

So, a false "shell" over your mundane body won't work, it does need to be a version of IftWT, but with the CrVim so that it misreports to intellego spells.

So, mixing the IftWT and "Shell of False Determination" p157 will move your image, and if someone uses intellego magic, unless they beat the spell level, it will respond as if it were you. Something like "Eyes of the Bat" will still catch you out.

Or, we can use the "Opaque Mystery" and they can think that their spell was blocked by Parma....

The Sacrifical Twin
Re(Cr)Im(Vi) 45
R:Personal, D:Sun, T:Individual
Your image appears to be up to 5 paces away from you. When it is struck, it will reform at a random place near you. The image is impervious to investigation spells up to lvl 20.
Base 15, +2 Sun, +1 Changing Image, +1 Moved Image Changes, +2 Requisites

This is a little high, I think it will be best to do it as 2 spells, cast the first spell on yourself, then cast the second on it.

So, here is the basic imaginem spell (which in most cases is good enough on its own)

The Sacrifical Twin
ReIm 15
R:Personal, D:Sun, T:Individual
Your image appears to be up to 5 paces away from you. When it is struck, it will reform at a random place near you.
Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 Changing Image, +1 Moved Image Changes

If we make a general opaque spell....

Shell of Opaque Mysteries
CrVi General
R:Voice, D:Sun, T:Individual
The target of this spell becomes impervious to intellego magic less than spell lvl -15.
Base , +2 Sun, +2 Voice

We can make a specific one based on our magus' art scores...

Shell of Opaque Mysteries
CrVi 45
R:Voice, D:Sun, T:Individual
The target of this spell becomes impervious to intellego magic less than lvl 30.
Base 20, +2 Sun, +2 Voice

5

But the idea of a Lure is still good. I wonder if we could make one for Arcane/Sympathetic Connections....

Someone sends a long-distance spell at you and it diverts to hit your decoy.

So, a little woolly thinking - probably full of holes, but I that's OK for now.

If something is an Arcane Connection to you, it is either linked to your body or your magic.
Your body, by its very nature, is imperfect. If you use yourself as a template, can you summon a more "Perfect" you from the realm of forms? This is basically a dead body that is a more "magically perfect" version of you. Wouldn't any AC link to this instead of you?

I Aten't Dead
CrCo 40
Requisites: Intellego, Vim
R:Touch, D:Sun, T:Individual
Creates a magical copy of the touched human, this copy will become the target of any Arcane Connections pointing to the original human. Intellego requisite is needed to make a perfect copy, vim requisite to make it slightly magical. Two magnitudes for complexity because the corpse needs to be perfect.
Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 Requisite, +2 Complexity

I can actually see this being made a momentary ritual, and then needing to cast spells on the created corpse to stop it decaying.

An AC based on your magic is a little harder, any ideas?

6

There was something akin to this as part of the Mysteries of Astrology in the 4th edition version of The Mysteries. Basically, you could mess up astrological correspondences so that whoever attempted to target you through an Arcane Connection would target someone else (the example given, if I recall, was a faithful grog named Sextus i.e. "the sixth" in Latin, who gets incinerated by an hostile Arcane Connection Ignem spell, so the magus has to go through the entire procedure again to set up as a decoy a grog named Septimus, "the seventh").
However, it's not been ported to ArM5.

On the other hand, one could use Intangible Tunnels and the like to send around a "copy" of himself, operating magic through it at a distance while staying safely in his tower. Anyone who did not know the "copy" was not the original would try to get ACs to the "copy", and so would target the "copy", not the original magus!

7

That same book had something called a Plangunculus which worked similarly and doesn't look too hard to port to AM5, perhaps as an ancient mystery or a new breakthrough.

8

Could you use a Rego Vim "conduit" somehow to take spells heading toward you and continue them along to elsewhere? I haven't thought through this carefully, so I really don't know if it would work? Muto Vim can truly redirect spells, but the conditionals along with not sticking them in an item would seem to be problematic. But maybe a Mu(Re)Vi spell would work, redirecting incoming magic down a "conduit"?