Just Another Face in the Crowd
or, I'll Be There - NOT!
Spheres used: Corr ***, Entropy ****, Mind ***, Prime **
(Prime ***, Time **** if cast on removable object)
General description:
Finding a needle in a haystack can be an iffy proposition. What better way to hide a needle than to place it in one of several haystacks, each containing countless needles that resemble the desired needle closely enough to convince the searcher that the intended person or object has been located? After all, not many people continue searching for something or someone after they believe they've found what they're looking for....
Sphere justification:
Correspondence simultaneously makes the location of the cloaked object harder to see by 1 and lowers the difficulty of viewing the wrong person to 5, pulling the attention of the remote viewer towards someplace the intended person isn't. Entropy and mind magick draw out existing similarities to convince the viewer that they've found their intended target. Prime fuels the effect, lasting anywhere from a day to months.
In its alternate form, this effect can be cast on an object (ring or necklace) to make the target harder to find as long as the object is worn. In this form, the higher Prime requirement channels quintessence for the effect through the object. Time and Entropy "hang" the effect until the ring or necklace is first put on, for as long as the ring or necklace is worn (or until the effect runs out).
Effect and system:
Mage makes an Arete roll for effect at time of casting to determine overall success and duration. Successes in excess of 2 are noted for later use, as they can be added to the voyeaur's apparent successes to misdirect.
Minimum success (2) increases the target's actual difficulty to be found via remote viewing or similar effect by 1 and lowers the difficulty to see all other locations to a 5. The would-be voyeaur rolls against the original target difficulty, with results of 9 or higher (actual successes) compared to results of 5-8 (apparent successes). If apparent successes outnumber actual successes, the voyeaur finds what he or she presumes to be the correct target, although the target found is nowhere near the actual target.
An example:
The All-Seeing Eye (A-S-E) normally scries with a difficulty of 8 using 10 dice. The onmiscient one wishes to check up on Slippery Jim, who's successfully cast Not-Me with 3 successes. A-S-E rolls 10 dice against a percieved diff of 8, getting 3-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. ASE has 2 actual successes, modified by 4 apparent successes. A-S-E intently watches Miss Ing Person, believing for a whole week (if observation is maintained, non-stop, for a whole week) that the person under observation is Slippery Jim in drag.
Duration: 2, day; 3, week; 4, month; 5, 6 months; 6, year; 7+, ST option
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