Mentem

Mentem is a Form, one of the fifteen Hermetic Arts that underlie Hermetic Magic. It governs the mind, including immaterial spirits that are nothing but mind. Mentem also affects the Characteristics of Intelligence, Perception, Presence, and Communication. Animal minds (i.e. those creatures with Cuning instead of Intelligence) are not affected by Mentem, instead being susceptible to Animal.

The Art is explained in ArM5 79 and 148. Further discussions and rules are provided in HoHS 66-70-70. The topics include creating emotions, lists of mental capacities, of emotions, and mental states, and affecting memory.

Three aspects are especially noteworthy in the HoHS expansion on the Art. First, the creation of emotions is explicitly tied to Personality Traits and natural resistance. Second, the creation of detailed memories requires Finesse (contradicting the core Memory of the Distant Dream spell). Finally, the section explicitly deals with the subject of "procedural" and "inscribed" memories, noting that while Hermetic magic should be able to create Abilities, in practice it cannot.

Legacy Page

The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:mentem