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Message no. 1
From: Damion Milliken <adm82@***.EDU.AU>
Subject: Talking on the Astral
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 23:18:19 +1000
Philip Hayward writes:

> Can two projecting mages communicate on the astral plane? If so
> how? since only living things have an astral presence there is no
> air so no sound :) . But we play that you can sense emotions and
> intentions so we came up with a new language to understand these,
> its a bit like learning body language. It also has the advantage
> of overcoming language barriers but non-emotional complicated thoughts
> like explaining how a piece of equipment works is difficult.
> (unfortunately its yet another thing for mages to waste karma on)

Well, per the rules, it is possible for a projecting magician to listen in
to physical plane conversations. And it is possible for a projecting
magician to manifest and talk directly to the physical plane. But as for
talking astral to astral, there is no actual ruling on it. In one of the
Secrets of Power novels, Sam has an astral only conversation with Prof
Laverty, so if you take that, then you can have astral only conversations.

As for how such a conversation (or the two types of physical-astral
conversations) work, I'm at a loss to explain any of them. As you said,
everything is emotion and metaphorical on the astral. But remember, 'light'
works the same (more or less) on the astral as it's real world physical
counterpart does, and there is no decent explanation for that, so why can't
sound? Perhaps it has to be written off as another "what you think is what
you get" phenonema.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong E-mail: adm82@***.edu.au

(GEEK CODE 2.1) GE -d+@ H s++:-- !g p0 !au a18 w+ v(?) C++ US++>+++ P+ L !3
E? N K- W M@ !V po@ Y+ t+ 5 !j R+(++) G(+)('''') !tv(--@)
b++ D B? e+ u@ h* f+ !r n----(--)@ !y+
Message no. 2
From: Damion Milliken <adm82@***.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Talking on the Astral
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 1995 16:57:23 +1000
Philip Hayward writes:

> Oops.. I missed them rules. Whereabouts are they? How easy is it to
> manifest to talk to someone? Just as well we haven't done much regarding
> magic yet being a fairly magic weak party.

The rule about being able to hear physical conversations from the astral is
on pg 89 of the Grimything. The rule about projecting magicians being able
to manifest on the physical plane and talk is on pg 86 of the Grimything. As
for how easy it is, I'd imagine it would take a complex action, but
otherwise any projecting magician could do it.

> While I see the reasoning behind that argument I'm not overly fond of it
> I suspect it means that you could get away with alot merely by introducing
> a mad shaman.

Remember that one could also have societies views as the reasons, not the
individuals. And one could always assign a practicle limit, in that it is "as
you think", up until the bounds of the astral have been met. The actual limit
just hasn't been defined yet, so it is easy for a GM to disallow things
which are silly/munchkinous/unbalancing.

> As for being seen as your idealised image, do you see someone as their
> idealised image of themselves or as your idealised image of them?

Going by the example on pg 146 of SRII, and the accompanying text, it is as
_they_ wish, not as you wish.

> As for astral-physical communication does the manifesting mage still see
> on the astral plane, therefore sensing emotion? In which case he should
> gain a hefty bonus in negotiations, heck even astrally percieving
> during a bargaining session should help (or at least overcome the +2 TN#
> for physical tasks while percieving)

Well, to actually obtain any information from aura reading requires a
skill/attribute roll. This in turn requires a complex action. So if you want
to perceive while negotiating, and use aura reading to your advantage, then
whoever you're negotiating with will probably become suspicious when you
fade in and out of the negotiations every now and then. And when they
realise you are using magic, then they'll probably turn rather hostile (when
they think the worst). It'd be dicey at best.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong E-mail: adm82@***.edu.au

(GEEK CODE 2.1) GE -d+@ H s++:-- !g p0 !au a18 w+ v(?) C++ US++>+++ P+ L !3
E? N K- W M@ !V po@ Y+ t+ 5 !j R+(++) G(+)('''') !tv(--@)
b++ D B? e+$ u@ h* f+ !r n----(--)@ !y+
Message no. 3
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Talking on the Astral
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 1995 08:44:19 -0500
>>>>> "Damion" == Damion Milliken <adm82@***.EDU.AU>
writes:

Damion> The rule about being able to hear physical conversations from
Damion> the astral is on pg 89 of the Grimything. The rule about
Damion> projecting magicians being able to manifest on the physical
Damion> plane and talk is on pg 86 of the Grimything.

Be careful of your terminology here. An astrally projecting mage cannot
physically manifest, but he can make his presence visible and known.
He's still in astral, and he cannot affect the physical world the way a
manifested spirit or elemental can.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> | Warning: pregnant women, the elderly, and
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox | children under 10 should avoid prolonged
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! | exposure to Happy Fun Ball.

Further Reading

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