From:	"Jason Carter, Nightstalker" <CARTER@***.EDU>
Subject:	Quickening stuff
Date:	Thu, 28 Jan 93 00:26:18 CET

Hi everyone,
It is now Official! The battle is over, of course the discussion must
continue as many people have said things I just have to comment on.

Flare, Shadowrun II page 148 section on spells sayes "A magician in astral
space cannot cast a spell at another spell, be he can cast one at any other
astral being."

QuickSilver, people who don't want to get involved shouldn't say anything :)
As for initiates being so awesome, they are more powerful than normal mages,
but I think most people overrate them, at least if they are at lower grades.
Initiates don't have all the power, they just want you to think they do. Oh,
and there is something special about them, they have a closer link to astral
space than normal magicians.

Magister,
That was a beautiful piece of writing you did there. It contains only a few
flaws. They are:
A) Spell linked to they guys aura? What gave you that idea? I'm not saying
its wrong, I've just never heard that before.
B) You can't cast a mana bolt at a spell, quickened or spell locked. To qoute
Shadowrun II page 148, Magical Items "Attacks are made against the the
lock, not against the spell." That's why you have to destroy a quickening
by astral combat or Dispelling.
Your desciption of Quickening as viewed in Astral Space is exactly as I
envisioned (or is that invisioned) it. It also goes a long way as to why I
don't believe you can ground through a quickening.

People in General,
I get the distinct impression (correct me if I'm wrong) that most people think
quickening is a cure all for spell locks. Congradulations, your an Initiate
and you'll never have to waste 45,000 nuyen on a spell lock again. That's just
not true. There are distinct advantages to both quickening and spell locks.
First of all Quickening doesn't cost a lot of money. It's also tougher to
remove than a spell lock. And (forgive me) you can't get zapped through a
quickening. Beside there's no astral trace so you can leave them lying around
like crazy.
Of course it cost a lot of Karma to get a powerful casting. It's harder to
set than a spell lock. And its always on! And if you don't think that's a
disadvantage try quickening Bear Form on yourself.
Spell locks are easy to set both in process and Karma. You can turn them on
and off at will.
Of course you'll spend a lot of time summoning watchers to look out for people
either try to ground through them or tracing them back to you. They have a
rather expensive price tag.

See Ya in Shadows,
Jason J Carter
The Nightstalker