Locking an Effect
Locking An Effect:
When a Mage wants to create an effect that travels along with an object or person or other pattern, and the spell isn't from that pattern's sphere, a conjunctional sphere is needed.
For a full description of what this is, see p. 511 of M20, p. 31 of How Do You DO That, and p. 95 of How Do You DO That.
However, HDYDT is inconsistent on which spheres are needed to lock onto which things, particular in the section about Chi martial arts. This is what we will use on Modern Nights.
| Yourself | Life 3 |
| Another Person or other complex creature | Life 4 |
| A Vampire | Matter 2 AND Life 4 |
| A plant or other simple life form | Life 2 |
| . | . |
| A simple nonliving object | Matter 2 |
| A complex nonliving object | Matter 3 |
| . | . |
| Minor sources of energy, roomscale light and shadow | Forces 3 |
| More powerful/complex/larger forces | Forces 4-5 |
| . | . |
| Ephemera | Spirit 2 |
| Actual Spirits | Spirit 4 |
Example:
Bob wants to create a traveling ward on himself that makes it more difficult for spirits to affect him with their powers. He is creating a Minor Traveling Ward effect. He will need Prime 2, Correspondence 2, and Spirit 2 for the ward itself. However, because he is locking it onto himself, he will need Life 3. Because Correspondence requires that your sphere level is equal to or greater than the highest other conjunctional sphere, he will also need Correspondence 3.
Sarah wants to be invisible and creep around. She will need Forces 2 and Life 3. (Note: The book says Forces 2, Life 2. This is because it is inconsistent.) Without Life 3, she can make herself invisible as long as she's standing in the same spot.
Oliver wants to cast a tracking spell on a vampire. He would normally need Correspondence 2 to get the direction and distance to something. But because that something is moving, he locks it onto his vampire target with Matter 2 and Life 4. This means he actually needs Correspondence 4 to track a vampire because again Correspondence must be at least equal to the highest other sphere.
Maya wants to bless herself with good luck for the next six months. She will need Entropy 3 and Life 3 to lock the effect so it travels with her. With entropy 3 alone, she could bless everything in a small area for that time.
