We live in an age saturated with illusions. From special effects to holographic projectors, sensory quirks and intentional deceptions, illusions are part of our daily lives. And so, in many cases, the act of casting an illusion is generally coincidental, so long as the focus suits the locally established sense of reality.

What does that mean, exactly? It means that if people are expecting someone to conjure something that will fool them, and if that person possesses the necessarily skills and/ or technology to fool them, then they’ll expect to be fooled and accept that illusion as “normal”… and thus, as coincidental magick. An FX expert who waves around his holographic projector while someone shouts “ACTION!” can get away with some pretty impressive illusions. (If the “illusion” starts eating people, though, then all bets and coincidences are off! See Illusions and Paradox, below.)

On a related note, an illusion that looks like something people could accept as real, and that doesn’t come from someone chanting “Ooga-booga, I cast an illusion!” is probably coincidental. The sound of sudden footsteps and an ominous shadow on the wall won’t look like an obvious act of magick, and so it would remain coincidental; the sudden inexplicable appearance of a phantasmal angel, on the other hand, won’t look like part of conventional reality (no, not even in a church), and so it might be a vulgar Effect even though it’s an illusion.

Mental illusions are coincidental by default, with one exception: If some weirdo looks you in the eye and you suddenly start seeing things, then said weirdo has committed a vulgar act of magick. Any mage with a glimmer of intelligence, then, casts her mental illusions by dosing her target with drugs, hypnotizing him, or giving him some other reason to doubt his sanity and perceptions. A mage who’s blatant enough to show off her mental powers deserves her inevitable doom.