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Message no. 1
From: Sebastian Vilstrup <vilstrup@*****.IHI.KU.DK>
Subject: Mil-Spec armour and Aura
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 20:30:35 +0200
We had a discussion going on for a while in my gaming group. It is
something like this:

Party 1: "Since the armour is hardened, vehicle rated and probably rather
thick, the character's aura cannot be seen by mages and therefore not
be targetted by spells. Just like passengers in a car."

Party 2: "And make the sams vulnerable only to damaging manipulations!
Not bloody likely."

Party 1: "But the riggers do that already!"

It went on and on for a while. Eventually we boiled it down to: How thick
is an aura?

What do you think? the invulnerability thing could be offset by
targetting a nearby rat with area-of-effect spell, but still. Talk to me!

- Sebastian
Message no. 2
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Mil-Spec armour and Aura
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 15:02:12 -0400
>>>>> "Sebastian" == Sebastian Vilstrup
<vilstrup@*****.IHI.KU.DK>
>>>>> writes:

Sebastian> It went on and on for a while. Eventually we boiled it down
Sebastian> to: How thick is an aura?

If you read your books a bit more carefully you'd have an answer to this
question already. A person's aura extends several inches to a foot or
maybe a bit more outside the physical volume they occupy. If your armor
is that thick, you aren't going to be able to move in it. For
playability reasons, it is assumed that people who are "sealed" inside a
vehicle are well enough inside that their auras do not extend beyond the
confines of the cabin.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> | Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox |
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Message no. 3
From: Menard Steve <menars@***.UMONTREAL.CA>
Subject: Re: Mil-Spec armour and Aura
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 15:34:54 -0400
On Tue, 13 Jun 1995, Sebastian Vilstrup wrote:

> We had a discussion going on for a while in my gaming group. It is
> something like this:
>
> Party 1: "Since the armour is hardened, vehicle rated and probably rather
> thick, the character's aura cannot be seen by mages and therefore not
> be targetted by spells. Just like passengers in a car."
>
> Party 2: "And make the sams vulnerable only to damaging manipulations!
> Not bloody likely."
>
> Party 1: "But the riggers do that already!"
>
> It went on and on for a while. Eventually we boiled it down to: How thick
> is an aura?

The question is not to know how thick is an aura, but if the hardened
armor has one. Remember that cras do have auras(however faint) so that
you cannot target auras in the car because they are IN the car's aura. Or
you can rule that you can target people in cars(since glass in
transparent in the astral) which does make more sense to me. It boils
down to, if a car blocks spells in your game, anything as complicated(so
that it has an aura) will to. The good thing about that is that the armor
will become a possible target for spells like wrecker!

>
> What do you think? the invulnerability thing could be offset by
> targetting a nearby rat with area-of-effect spell, but still. Talk to me!
>
> - Sebastian
>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- |\_/| Still The One and Only Wolfbane! ---
--- |o o| " Hey! Why ya lookin' at me so weird? Ain't ya 'ver seen a ---
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Message no. 4
From: Mark Steedman <RSMS@******.EEE.RGU.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Mil-Spec armour and Aura
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 10:38:08 GMT
Menard Steve writes

> On Tue, 13 Jun 1995, Sebastian Vilstrup wrote:
>
> > We had a discussion going on for a while in my gaming group. It is
> > something like this:
trim...
> > It went on and on for a while. Eventually we boiled it down to: How thick
> > is an aura?
>
there are a few hints in the book.

> >
> > What do you think? the invulnerability thing could be offset by
> > targetting a nearby rat with area-of-effect spell, but still. Talk to me!
> >
> > - Sebastian
> >
>
Cars are plenty viable targets for power bolt spells, actual the best
way to get rid of them in most conditions. Someones armour is
generally not as its inside thier aura so you target 'both' at their
body stat.
If you want to rule powered armour (the real bulky stuff) as poviding
the person inside with potection remeber that any power spells
hitting them will now attack the armour, target number 8 for complex
object. Note that it would need a body score, and does not add the
characters body, though you could karam it the same way a rigger
karmas drones that get hit. The dividing line is a matter of
definition
Security armour as SR2 should be treated as armour, part of the
person.
Things such as that autoloader out of aliens, or Battletech
clans type powered suits that are more like minature 'battlemechs'
should get treated as a car with a person inside.
GM discretion is needed here just remember if it counts as a
seperate target write stats for it as its bound to get targeted.

Cars only block spells if you cannot see the people, most of todays
cars you can though they would get partial cover, so fireball on the
driver of a car gets him, the passengers, and oh look the cars in it
as well, oh dear! One way glass in the windows stops this trick,
cannot see, cannot target, just remember don't open the windows to
shoot out! (its been done, in came the fragging manaball, boom, oops!)

Mark
Message no. 5
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Mil-Spec armour and Aura
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 15:00:57 +0200
> The question is not to know how thick is an aura, but if the hardened
>armor has one. Remember that cras do have auras(however faint) so that
>you cannot target auras in the car because they are IN the car's aura.

That contradicts something else: pregnant women -- you can "see" the baby's
aura within that of the mother, so you should also be able to see the auras
of people in a car.
Not that I have a better answer, though...


Gurth@******.nl - Gurth@***.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
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Message no. 6
From: Jani Fikouras <feanor@**********.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
Subject: Re: Mil-Spec armour and Aura
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 14:28:55 +0200
> What do you think? the invulnerability thing could be offset by
> targetting a nearby rat with area-of-effect spell, but still. Talk to me!

This is irrelevant, you can always see the aura of a person no matter
what he's wearing. Cars are a different thing because they enclose the
person. And besides cars have their own (albeit weak) aura.

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Further Reading

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