A Conversation Caught in Time
Khadija of Tremere was a Gently Gifted maga, and rather delighted in the machinations of intrigue and social manipulation. Unfortunately, her overconfidence and pride mixed with noble preferences, Maga Khadija often ruined conversations with dirty peasants. Whether impatience, rudeness, or otherwise, she often had to employ magic to fix conversational mistakes with the farmers and tradesmen of lower class. Her ability to cast spells subtly made it easy for her to use her manipulations whenever needed.
(Design note: One of my players cast Perdo Mentem spontaneously to restart conversations. This version of the spell draws inspiration from the movie Memento.)
A Conversation Caught in Time (Perdo Mentem 25)
R: Eye, D: Concentration, T: Individual
Casting this spell upon an unfortunate soul allow the caster to destroy the target's ability to turn a short-term memory into a long-term memory. Khadija used this spell to re-play introductions and greetings, demands and bartering, redoing the same conversation repeatedly until she got the desired result. She could re-start the conversation with a sudden distraction, such as a shout, or clap or other unexpected gesture. While the spell is in effect, Khadija's casting sigil subconsciously makes the target stand straight and rigid.
While conversation is often difficult while concentrating on spells, as this spell was designed for conversational use, it only requires a roll of Stamina + Concentration with an ease factor of 9, whenever the caster tries to distract the target. Outside distractions have no reduction in difficulty.
(Base 10, +1 Eye, +1 Concentration, +1 intricacy of conversation)
Side Effects table (1d10)
1 Exaggerated Sigil: Not merely standing tall, the target stands stiff and rigid like a puppet during the spell.
2-3 Minor Flaw: Laces, ties and ribbons on the caster become undone over the course of the conversation(s).
4-5 Minor Side Effect: There is something in the caster's eyes that holds attention, a reflection... a strange hue.. something... strange?
6 Minor Benefit: For the duration of the spell, the caster gets a +3 to any concentration rolls required other than the ones for this spell.
7 Major Flaw: The spell actually requires more focus than a normal conversation, and this gives the caster a -3 on any social rolls they make due to the attention required on the magic.
8 Major Side Effect: Nearby solutions and mixtures slowly separate into their component parts, ruining any stews, sauces, and many drinks within conversational distance. Ewww.
9 Major Benefit: In addition to the reset of memory, the target seems to grow more used to the magus with every moment. Reduce the penalty of the Gift by 1 for every conversational reset during the spell. Once the spell is over, the target will be affected once again, and wonder at the odd familiarity.
10 Fatal Flaw: The concentration required by the spell is almost distracting. The caster must make a Stamina + Concentration roll vs 9 every round of conversation.