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From:	Charles KcKenzie <kilroy@**.WISC.EDU>
Subject:	Mage Stuff/Fiber Optics/etc.
Date:	Tue, 11 Jul 1995 13:43:46 -0500

Message no. 1 Does anyone know the rules for casting spells through fiberoptic lines?

Also, can a line be made portable (kinda like a periscope) so that a mage can
sniper from full cover?

Can a laser travel through a fiberoptic net?
ie. can a mage get fried if his sensors are seen?

With light in the astral plane being provided by living things, can a
mage using the standard +2 for astral perception use it to ignore normal
visibiliy target# penalties?

Kilroy

From:	Ian Smith <KildTheCat@***.COM>
Subject:	Re: Mage Stuff/Fiber Optics/etc.
Date:	Tue, 11 Jul 1995 16:25:13 -0400

Message no. 2 Just got the CorpSec book . . .
As far as casting through FibOptic Lines goes, the mage suffers a blanket +1
to spellcasting test target numbers, and a +2 to drain test target numbers
for every 500meters of opticable. The max is 2500 meters ( these special
made lines can't use the period electronic enhancers that are normative for
fiber-optic lines ).

From:	Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU>
Subject:	Re: Mage Stuff/Fiber Optics/etc.
Date:	Wed, 12 Jul 1995 21:40:59 +0930

Message no. 3 Charles KcKenzie wrote:
>
> Does anyone know the rules for casting spells through fiberoptic lines?

If you can put a lens in each end, and don't bend it too much, and don't
make it too long (about 50 metres, I think is the rule), you can cast
through it. I think there are some perception mods, though, and damaging
manipulations will just laugh at you.

> Also, can a line be made portable (kinda like a periscope) so that a mage can
> sniper from full cover?

Sure... but what's wrong with a real periscope?

> Can a laser travel through a fiberoptic net?
> ie. can a mage get fried if his sensors are seen?

*ROTFL* Actually, yeah... it won't even lose it's coherence. Lasers are
used all the time in BIG fibre-optic networks. However... the size of the
holes are maybe a centimetre in diameter. That's damn good shooting, Tex...
(On the other hand, if it DOES hit, you're looking at one blind (or dead)
mage).

> With light in the astral plane being provided by living things, can a
> mage using the standard +2 for astral perception use it to ignore normal
> visibiliy target# penalties?

No. Why? There is no light on the Astral...

--
Robert Watkins bob@**.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.
*** Finger me for my geek code ***

From:	WILLIAM FRIERSON <will1am@*****.ASU.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Mage Stuff/Fiber Optics/etc.
Date:	Thu, 13 Jul 1995 03:07:42 -0700

Message no. 4 >> Can a laser travel through a fiberoptic net?
>> ie. can a mage get fried if his sensors are seen?
>
>*ROTFL* Actually, yeah... it won't even lose it's coherence. Lasers are
>used all the time in BIG fibre-optic networks. However... the size of the
>holes are maybe a centimetre in diameter. That's damn good shooting, Tex...
>(On the other hand, if it DOES hit, you're looking at one blind (or dead)
>mage).

Well, the former Soviet Union had a device that ID'd reflective optic sensors
and then pulsed a laser into them, to burn them out. The device didn't work too
well, but it provided the basis for a US military R&D project. They already
have a prototype that fits onto a HMMWV (Hummer).

Later

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William Frierson Internet: WILL1AM@*****.asu.edu

From:	Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU>
Subject:	Re: Mage Stuff/Fiber Optics/etc.
Date:	Thu, 13 Jul 1995 20:24:29 +0930

Message no. 5 WILLIAM FRIERSON wrote:
>
> Well, the former Soviet Union had a device that ID'd reflective optic sensors
> and then pulsed a laser into them, to burn them out. The device didn't work too
> well, but it provided the basis for a US military R&D project. They already
> have a prototype that fits onto a HMMWV (Hummer).

A "reflective optic sensor" sounds to me like something that sends out
light, and what is returned (like someone with a torch, or (more commonly)
a laser sight). A fibre-optic "pipe" doesn't do that... it's just a channel
for normally reflected light, same as your eyes are.

--
Robert Watkins bob@**.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.
*** Finger me for my geek code ***

From:	WILLIAM FRIERSON <will1am@*****.ASU.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Mage Stuff/Fiber Optics/etc.
Date:	Fri, 14 Jul 1995 04:42:47 -0700

Message no. 6 Robert Watkins (bob@**.ntu.edu.au) wrote:

>A "reflective optic sensor" sounds to me like something that sends out
>light, and what is returned (like someone with a torch, or (more commonly)
>a laser sight). A fibre-optic "pipe" doesn't do that... it's just a channel
>for normally reflected light, same as your eyes are.

What it looked for was targeting optics, ie tank thermal sights. Anything
that reflected light at all. That includes cockpit windscreens, and tank
vision blocks (a simple periscope). That's why windscreens got a coating
that tinted them gold. To keep the pilot from being blinded.

And the prototype is supposed to destroy the actual targeting system. Pretty
nasty stuff.

If the mage can see out, a properly directed flash of light could blind the
mage, at least temporarily. It does have a lens, and the lens does carry
light (obviously, since the mage can see). It sort of like tracers, they
work _both_ ways. I imagine you could put a filter on the lens, but it
can't be processed electronically, or the mage can't use it to target spells.

Later

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William Frierson Internet: WILL1AM@*****.asu.edu

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