| From: | GRANITE <granite@**.NET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | FAB questions answered [LONG] |
| Date: | Wed, 17 Dec 1997 01:43:47 -0700 |
in full..I include a message that the DLoH sent out that was -very-
incorrect..I send it all out so none may say I am altering it to show
my own perceptions...
--------------------------------------
Robert Blackberg III wrote:
>
> Could one of you kind souls forward FASA Mike's answer to the FAB
> question (with his follow-up correction) to me. I was a fool, and
> deleted the mail before printing out the response. Thanx in
> advance.
>
> Robert
The following is what you asked for and more..I have included the
original incorrect reply as well as some further finetuning I
discussed with FASAMike...
THE ORIGINAL REPLY
Thomas, Granite and David -
I answered a set of questions which I beleive we're sent on to Thomas
regarding FAB. I think they should answer many of your questions
(although nearly everything is open to interpretation). I've included
the answers here again and feel free to post them in the mailing list.
Here goes...(oh yeah and my head still hurts.....)
Thomas -
You have actively hurt my head...
>What happens when a motionless astral being standing on the Earth has
>a non-magical living physical object (with an aura) placed on top of
>him?
First off, What exactly do you mean by "aura" - like a plant or a
magical ashtray. Secondly, the stronger astral enetity will push the
weaker out of the way. An astral mage, can move "living plants" out of
the way. Much like the physical world no two items can share the same
place so in the astral the larger, bigger, or more powerful will
displace a smaller one.
>Would the object's physical component be affected by gravity and pass
>through the astral being?
For lack of any better image...bounce off would be more appropriate.
>Would the aura of the astral being interact with the aura of the
>object and the object appear to float in the physical plane?
Not unless the being in the astral plane wanted it to. Normally it
would just bounce off, if it could.
>Would the object's aura push the astral being out of the way?
No actually it's probably more the other way. It's not like
postive/negitive charged items. The bigger will move the smaller.
>Would swinging a club filled with FAB do any damage to a purely
>astral being?
Possibly...There are no rules for damage from one astral entity pushed
into another. Normally FAB is not dense enough to do damage. It's
point is to slow an entitly down force them to deal with something in
the astral space, that prohibits their abbility to manuever. What the
club filled with FAB would do is constantly push the entity in astral.
Since all that is reallin coming at him or her is a club shapped
groupin a FAB. To be honest I wouldn't think it's as effective as
other FAB uses.
>Could an astral being, covered by a FAB-Net, attempt to untangle the
>net?
Yes
>Is FAB astrally active?
Yes
>Is FAB dual-natured?
Yes
>Is FAB mundane?
No
>And can we get an answer on Dybbuk's question in CorpSec (p 40): "If
>somebody astral can't move or pass through something with physical
>mass, how can an astral being travel through air filled with any
>bacteria?"
It's a size factor...think of it as swimming. If FAB is pumped into a
room. What it does is slow a character down to the point where they
can be trapped. Think of it as a murky samp for an astral being.
Boy I hope all these help...even more, I hope they make sense.
Mike Mulvihill
Shadowrun Line Developer
FASA
See our web page at www.fasa.com
THE CORRECTED REPLY
Gentelmen - I screwed up royally....
Here are the correct answers.
>Could an astral being, covered by a FAB-Net, attempt to untangle the
>net?
No, an astral being cannot interact with the physical. It can try and
move it out of the way but it can't unravel it. Now after much heated
debate in the Dev. office (mainly between myself and Lou Prosperi the
Earthdawn Developer) an interesting idea came up. If a physical object
with a stronger astral force pushes a living entity without movement
around - let's call it a fern - does the fern actually move in the
physical. (You know leaves blowing back and forth etc.) That is never
actually discussed in SR. The quick answer would be no. What goes for
the PC must metaphyscially work for everything. The physcial body of a
mage does not effect it's astral self, so that must be maintained over
all living creatures. Who knew that Philosphy Degree I have would
actually be useful.
>Is FAB astrally active?
NO!!! This is the correct answer...
>Is FAB dual-natured?
NO!!! This is the correct answer...again
>Is FAB mundane?
Yes...it must be...it has to be...or everything I believe in will
collapse...
OK that may be a bit too strong but hopefully this will make more
sense.
Mike Mulvihill
Shadowrun Line Developer
FASA
See our web page at www.fasa.com
FURTHER MESSAGES AND CLARIFICATIONS
Well, I was trying to mentally digest what FASAMike had sent us [the
corrected version] and so I sent him this one more message..included
is his reply..
GRANITE wrote:
>
> First I would like to say thank you for your reply and for the
> correction to your original reply :) I was going to go into a big
> deal about flying enchanted or living blades and such but your
> corrections stopped that rant before it got off of the
> ground...However...
>
> FASAMike@***.com wrote:
> >>Could an astral being, covered by a FAB-Net, attempt to untangle
> >>the net?
>
> >No, an astral being cannot interact with the physical. It can try
> >and move it out of the way but it can't unravel it. Now after much
> >heated debate in the Dev. office (mainly between myself and Lou
> >Prosperi the Earthdawn Developer) an interesting idea came up. If a
> >physical object with a stronger astral force pushes a living entity
> >without movement around - let's call it a fern - does the fern
> >actually move in the physical. (You know leaves blowing back and
> >forth etc.) That is never actually discussed in SR. The quick
> >answer would be no. What goes for the PC must metaphyscially work
> >for everything. The physcial body of a mage does not effect it's
> >astral self, so that must be maintained over all living creatures.
> >Who knew that Philosphy Degree I have would actually be useful.
>
> I believe the true question was: can the astral entity atempt to
> become unentangled with the net and escape..The answer is in the
> rules of the CorpSec book on Pg 103..Yes with modifiers unless a
> VERY specific situation occurs..But if I am understanding your
> answer an auras are more..elastic [for want of a better word]..and
> it is actually the auras of the FAB in the net that gets *stretched*
> around the astral Mage [or whatever] while the physical compenent
> actually comes to rest flat on the ground, showing no signs of the
> astral being entangled in the auras contained within the net..This
> actually make sense..Or at least more so than the way it was being
> interpreted..And it keep astral entities from picking up physical
> objects and becoming all powerful poltergeists and pretty much
> rendering obsolete all the other PCs..Game balance is once again
> achieved..
>
> >Is FAB astrally active?
>
> NO!!! This is the correct answer...
>
> I was going to have some fun with this one ;)
>
> Thanks again...
FASAMike wrote:
No problem...and good idea on the net...now soon as my head stops
hurting....
Mike
----------------------------------------------------
That should pretty much clarrify the whole FAB deal..
--------------------------------GRANITE
"Rock Steady"
===============================================
Lord, Grant Me The Serenity To Accept The Things I Cannot Change,
The Courage To Change The Things I Can,
And The Wisdom To Hide The Bodies Of Those People I Had To Kill
Because They Pissed Me Off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ShadowRunner's Serenity Prayer
===============================================
Kind of a bummer. Gettin' your butt kicked by a dead guy.
- Lt Col McQueen
The truth is a three edged sword. - Kosh
