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Message no. 1
From: elventear@***********.net.pe (Pepe Barbe)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 10:39:44 -0500
Hi,

If a magician has fully identified the Astral Signature of another Awaked
Character, is there a way to search for the owner of the signature?

Other than go to a bar and show a picture and ask: "Have you seen this
astral signature before?" :)

Thank you,
Pepe
Message no. 2
From: jhogan@**********.nf.net (Jonathan Hogan)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 13:58:12 -0330
>
> Other than go to a bar and show a picture and ask: "Have you seen this
> astral signature before?" :)
>

*Chuckles* I don't even know if astral signatures are photogenic. :P

But yes there are different methods of tracking down astral signatures using
spells or spirits. It's like a dog sniffing out a trail, as long as the
signature isn't too old (or the runner hasn't blown up the city block,
hiding the signature under a TON of whitenoise) you can track the signature
left to where ever the person currently is located.

It's probably the biggest fear runners, especially magically aware ones,
have to face when taking on Corp jobs. Hit a Corp and have a corp endorsed
team of full magicians tracking your ass....scary prospect.

Check out Magic in the Shadows in the area of pages 35-40, deals with the
more effective ritual sorcery/ritual tracking for detecting people with FAR
greater results. :)
Message no. 3
From: maxnoel_fr@*****.fr (Max Noel)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 18:37:03 +0100
At 10:39 03/03/2003 -0500, Pepe Barbe wrote:

>Hi,
>
>If a magician has fully identified the Astral Signature of another Awaked
>Character, is there a way to search for the owner of the signature?
>
>Other than go to a bar and show a picture and ask: "Have you seen this
>astral signature before?" :)
>
>Thank you,
>Pepe

Magic is not my strong point, but I seem to recall that you can
have a watcher do this. They're even very good at this...

--
Wild_Cat
(are there milk bottles in the astral plane?)


maxnoel_fr@*****.fr -- ICQ #85274019
GCC0.2 y83.fr G99 SCP/F:Eh[SR] B+ f=(++) RR(RM) RM+ RR++ L-(=) M--- w=
s+(-):-(+) GM+:=(+):-:PF h+ p=>+ LA=(-) mf- w=>+ C+(++) CG= OG+ F+ c! K
"Look at you hacker... A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and
sweating as you run through my corridors... How can you challenge a
perfect, immortal machine?"

___________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @*****.fr gratuite et en français !
Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com
Message no. 4
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 19:14:29 +0100
According to Pepe Barbe, on Monday 03 March 2003 16:39 the word on the
street was...

> If a magician has fully identified the Astral Signature of another
> Awaked Character, is there a way to search for the owner of the
> signature?

Using a watcher is the way that comes to my mind. Just conjure one and tell
it to track down the person who's astral signature you've got in mind.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Monster zonder waarde
-> Probably NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 5
From: wildside2060@*****.ca (Wildside)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 16:47:59 -0500 (EST)
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> If a magician has fully identified the Astral Signature of another
> Awaked Character, is there a way to search for the owner of the
> signature?

>Using a watcher is the way that comes to my mind. Just conjure one and tell
>it to track down the person who's astral signature you've got in mind.

The rules for using a watcher to do astral tracking are on page 101 of "Magic in the
Shadows"
Would anyone who is a GM, a magic using player, or just interested in the topic, please
read this section and let me know what you think of these rules?
The folks I game with and I have had some extensive discussion of this method of astral
tracking vs ritual sorcery. Their point of view (I think it is their point of view!) is
that this should not be allowed in the game at all as it makes ritual sorcery much less
important (a view I do not share since ritual sorcery can go so much more than merely
search for someone), while I like this watcher search rule.
Please have a look and let me know what you think.
Wildside



---------------------------------
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Message no. 6
From: maxnoel_fr@*****.fr (Max Noel)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 22:59:52 +0100
At 16:47 03/03/2003 -0500, Wildside wrote:

>The folks I game with and I have had some extensive discussion of this
>method of astral tracking vs ritual sorcery. Their point of view (I think
>it is their point of view!) is that this should not be allowed in the game
>at all as it makes ritual sorcery much less important (a view I do not
>share since ritual sorcery can go so much more than merely search for
>someone), while I like this watcher search rule.

Ritual tracking is far more powerful than watcher tracking. Once
you've tracked your target you can go on to ritually cast any spell on him
or the area he's in. Detection spells to see and hear (and sometimes even
more) what he's doing, who he's talking to, etc. And if you've had enough
of him, go for the oldschool-style ritual powerball... But don't forget to
drop the detection spells first, unless you like SAN checks... ;)

--
Wild_Cat
(well, the good news is... he's not going to need an expensive coffin...)


maxnoel_fr@*****.fr -- ICQ #85274019
GCC0.2 y83.fr G99 SCP/F:Eh[SR] B+ f=(++) RR(RM) RM+ RR++ L-(=) M--- w=
s+(-):-(+) GM+:=(+):-:PF h+ p=>+ LA=(-) mf- w=>+ C+(++) CG= OG+ F+ c! K
"Look at you hacker... A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and
sweating as you run through my corridors... How can you challenge a
perfect, immortal machine?"

___________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @*****.fr gratuite et en français !
Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com
Message no. 7
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 11:19:34 +0100
According to Wildside, on Monday 03 March 2003 22:47 the word on the street
was...

> The rules for using a watcher to do astral tracking are on page 101 of
> "Magic in the Shadows" Would anyone who is a GM, a magic using player,
> or just interested in the topic, please read this section and let me
> know what you think of these rules?

I think they're okay. They work, but they're not so powerful that players
can rely on them every time they need to find someone. Ritual sorcery has
different requirements than using a watcher, and the watcher is often the
easier option, but is also less reliable; in the end, I think it balances
out.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Monster zonder waarde
-> Probably NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 8
From: aestus_preliator@*****.com (Michael Johnson)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 05:37:34 -0800 (PST)
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Wildside <wildside2060@*****.ca> wrote:
The rules for using a watcher to do astral tracking are on page 101 of "Magic in the
Shadows"

Would anyone who is a GM, a magic using player, or just interested in the topic, please
read this section and let me know what you think of these rules?
The folks I game with and I have had some extensive discussion of this method of astral
tracking vs ritual sorcery. Their point of view (I think it is their point of view!) is
that this should not be allowed in the game at all as it makes ritual sorcery much less
important (a view I do not share since ritual sorcery can go so much more than merely
search for someone), while I like this watcher search rule.

The problem that I see with having a spirit do your searching for you is that once the
spirit reports that it has found the signature in question, it will either give you
directions it thinks you will understand (which to us may be gibberish) or you will have
to let the spirit lead you, which would be time-consuming. So ritual sorcery has its
advantages over this as it doesn't take as long, but astral tracking is less draining on
your resources.
Aestus Preliator



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Message no. 9
From: me@******.net (Hexren)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 16:53:33 +0100
I do not have the V 3 Magic in the Shadows handy right now but I would
see searching by spirit and Ritual Sorcery as 2 completly different
things.
Reason:

Ritual Sorcery takes something with a connection to the target and
follows that connection from there on. If the Sorcerer wishes he cann
then cast a spell on the target.

Searching by spirit means that you tell the spirit "Hey find somebody
who looks like that <insert astral signature here>" the spirit then goes
from left to right trough the area you told him to search in. If he
finds something he can lead you to the subject in question with astral
speed (which is pretty qucik as we remember)

------------------------------------------------------------------
Or overly simpliefied:
Ritual sorcery is more like following a track. Spirit searching more
like a drug hound at the airport going through the passengers lugage.

everything said here is ofcourse IMHO, and based on the V2 "Awakenings"



Greetz
Hexren

www.hexren.net/bush.html (it is German but funny)
Message no. 10
From: jhogan@**********.nf.net (Jonathan Hogan)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 14:56:19 -0330
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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The problem that I see with having a spirit do your searching for you is that once the
spirit reports that it has found the signature in question, it will either give you
directions it thinks you will understand (which to us may be gibberish) or you will have
to let the spirit lead you, which would be time-consuming. So ritual sorcery has its
advantages over this as it doesn't take as long, but astral tracking is less draining on
your resources.


*


Never mind the fact a watcher spirit will expire if the target is out of range, ritual
tracking/sorcery can span the globe. So if you're looking for someone that skipped town
rituals are the ONLY way to go.
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Message no. 11
From: aestus_preliator@*****.com (Michael Johnson)
Subject: Astral Investigations
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 15:21:47 -0800 (PST)
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Wildside <wildside2060@*****.ca> wrote:
> If a magician has fully identified the Astral Signature of another
> Awaked Character, is there a way to search for the owner of the
> signature?

>Using a watcher is the way that comes to my mind. Just conjure one and >tell it to
track down the person who's astral signature you've got in mind.

The rules for using a watcher to do astral tracking are on page 101 of "Magic in the
Shadows"
The folks I game with and I have had some extensive discussion of this method of astral
tracking vs ritual sorcery. Their point of view (I think it is their point of view!) is
that this should not be allowed in the game at all as it makes ritual sorcery much less
important (a view I do not share since ritual sorcery can go so much more than merely
search for someone), while I like this watcher search rule.
Please have a look and let me know what you think.

IMHO, I think that the watcher spirit rule give mages a new option, both with advantages
and disadvantages. Like Jonathan Hogan mentioned in a previous message, Ritual sorcery can
be used to find people all over the world. Also, magic can be cast at them (fireballs
coming out of nowhere would send quite the message!). This is an extremely powerful form
of magic, and to say that watchers doing astral tracking for you rivals a ritual is
ludicrous. Watchers can merely find people and act as messengers, and only over a period
of hours (weeks if ritual conjuration is used).
Aestus Preliator aestus_preliator@*****.com



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Further Reading

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