| From: | Mike Elkins <MikeE@*********.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | >Quick question. Is astral perception "stereo"? I.e., if |
| Date: | Wed, 30 Apr 1997 14:07:51 -0500 |
>Quick question. Is astral perception "stereo"? I.e., if both your eyes
work
>you have depth perception because of the distance between both your
>eyes. If you allow a person to perceive from any point on their aura would
>they lose that depth perception? And, would it matter?
IMHO astral perception doesn't really have any true depth perception
anyway. The details you can get involve spirits, consciousness, and magic,
not exact placement. Astral perception does not superimpose itself on your
normal vision like a heads-up-display, it is another source of information
entirely, which is why you get a +2TN when trying to do things while
perceiving.
Also, IMHO you could "assense" around a corner by sticking your hand out,
but you'd have to stick enough of your hand to be a target for both spells and
more mundane threats. Your pinkie would not give you much info. I'd also
give the character ONLY astral info.
As a bit of roleplaying "flavor", eastern mystic traditions tell of a
"mystic third
eye" that exists in the middle of your forehead, which is how you perceive
the true nature of the universe. Characters from that kind of tradition might
see others who are assensing manifesting such a third eye on their aura.
Also, in my game, assensing is not very useful w/ inanimate objects. You
can tell how "processed" they are (as in the inanimate object spell target
number table), but all other info comes echos of people's interactions with
them. An example: an astrally projecting mage looks in some exec's office.
The handmade mahogany desk, 120 years old, is clearly made of wood,
made with care, and the mage can clearly feel that it has been used as a
desk. Careful inspection could reveal all sorts of (probably useless) details
from its past, and if the current owner has used it a lot, you might be able to
get some feelings about him. The brand new stapeler, right out of the box,
made by machine will simply give the information that its a technological
object, sitting on the desk, with no emotional content at all. If the exec had
used it for a few weeks, you might be able to tell that it is used in document
preparation. That fact that it is in the shape of a stapeler is NOT aparent to
astral senses. What you see is their emotional resonances, not their
physical form. Keeping thoughts like these in mind while GMing is a bit more
work than simply using "assensing is vision", but in my opionion it pays off
by making magic more mysterious and interesting to the players.
Double-Domed Mike
