Mindreading through an enchanted object?

[Becq]

I would think that if it's a summoned being doing it then you wouldn't have any issues at all. Then again I guess if a being you summoned kills you still get the lawbreaker for it. Or do you? I don't actually remember but that sounds right.

I don't know if there's a ruling on this, but I would tend to rule that if you are magically compelling a summoned creature to kill, then the magic is directly responsible for the killing (double points if you compel a mortal to kill another mortal, thus breaking the First and Fourth Laws with a single spell).  If you summoned a creature then failed to control it and deaths resulted, the situation might not be the same.

Of course, others likely have differing views.

[Masurao]

If you summon a creature, bind it to a hat and use it to sort out people in to certain factions, there would be little trouble. If that same hat/creature was putting subtle compelling magic on every it wore, you'd be in trouble. You summoned it, bound it and told everyone "It's perfectly safe!" (while thinking 'Mostly...') That means its your responsibility.

It might not get you the same cumulative tempation as doing it yourself, even if you purposely made the hat to create Manchurian canditates,

(click to show/hide)

à la Peabody

. But if you done it with one item, why not with others? Why not make good on those hidden commands you have implanted? In practice it would be different, but I'd say the same mechanics apply.

Now if you could somehow enchant an item to perfom something like the Sight/Soulgaze on people, you could glean some information. But, as with using it yourself, you'd have to interpret the images yourself. Someone seems angry, okay, but why? Towards whom is it a murderous hate directed? Is that a shadow of a man looming over her? Is it an abusive father or a dark spirit?

[Michael Sandy]

As Masurao refers to, we know that magic items CAN be used to affect the mind.  And the creator of those items got away with it for a while.

So, can magic items be created that can affect the mind?  Check
Would they be legal according to the Wardens?  Probably not.
Would the creation and/or use of them force the Lawbreaker stunt on the character?  That is a GM + Player decision.
Can the items be used to safely read the minds of beings that would be otherwise unsafe to read?  Possibly it would act as a fuse, preventing really intense emotions like hunger, rage and lust from overwhelming the caster, but truly alien minds the device would probably not function on.  Worst case scenario, your mind reading magic item is corrupted and taken over by the alien mind it is used to read.

But the guiding principle has got to be what it in the text.  The players can use mindreading magic, but then the game becomes about the consequences of using such magic instead of being about the solving the mystery.  The campaign then revolves around whether the players hide what they have done, or defend what they have done, both with respect to each other and with respect to the White Council.