Rotes & Procedures

Generally, an illusion appears either to the target only (as with a mental illusion), or else to the people who could normally expected to perceive it (as with the “physical” illusion). Being made by human mages, they’re almost always tailored to conform to human sensory perceptions. As a result, non-human characters, or mages using Rank 1 perception Effects, who witness an illusion usually peg that illusion for what it is. Sure, it might look real to you, but Fido here can see right through it!

The Storyteller may decide to offer a Perception + Alertness or Perception + Awareness roll to characters who witness an illusion; then again, she might not offer it unless the players ask for such a roll. (See “I Disbelieve in the Illusion!” below.) It’s the Storyteller’s option to conceal the nature of an illusion from her players – that usually is the purpose of an illusion, after all! If she’s feeling generous, she could drop hints about the illusion (“The texture of the wood seems really odd…”) and then let the players draw their own conclusions.

Technological recording and analysis devices are rarely fooled by illusions unless those illusions have been specifically crafted to deceive the technology. The image or sound might register, but it won’t read as “real” unless it’s incredibly simply and fleeting – the sound of a shout, for example, or a shadow moving across a wall. To truly fool a

video camera with a more complex illusion, the mage would have to specifically whip up that illusion to suit the video recording technology involved – a Forces 3/ Prime 2 Effect at the very least, with a successful roll involving several dots in the appropriate Technology Skill. For more details about fooling technology, see Computer Systems in The Book of