| From: | Louis Barrera <lbarrera@****.NASA.GOV> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: To C or N, the Rub |
| Date: | Sun, 2 Apr 1995 14:20:23 -0700 |
> Ok, Damion, my remark about short range in astral comes from the line,
> under Astral Combat that says "Astral combat works exactly like Melee
> Combat, because the nature of astral space prevents ranged attacks."
Feanor (aka Jani) writes:
> This doesnt have to mean that there is no ranged combat because you
>cant see. How about its impossible because you cant get ahold of
>anything to throw - when you are in the astral you cant just grab a
>pebble and proceed to hurl it - and thats a fact.
Well, ok, except that The Rules on weapon foci don't exclude things that
can be thrown, such as rocks, sticks, spears, boomerangs, etc. My
'vison' of the etheric is a constantly pulsing, shifting, glowing melange.
Sometimes the view is 'relatively' clear, sometimes it's like a thousand
neon signs looked at through a foggy lense. This would be one of the
reasons for the astral perception test rules, and it would also give a
reason for the astral evasion rules. If you can see forever, or at least
EXTREMELY far, someone could never run away, except for dodging
into physical barriers, and the astral rules don't require this. They simply
let you get lost in the background noise.
Feanor (aka Jani) writes:
> It doesnt say that it's (spellcasting) a ranged attack, it says its treated
>like a ranged attack.
Well, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and smells like a duck........
There is a sanity check that needs to be applied to spellcasting in the
etheric. Two mages are astrally projecting. On a clear day, they see
each other across miles and miles. One decides to cast a spell at the
other. How long does it take for the spell to get there? Is it
instantaneous? Will the other mage have a chance to react? Will
something get in the way during transit. But wait, you say. They were
polarized, therefore the spell will seek the target out (this only matters if
the effect isn't instantaneous.) What if the mage crosses a barrier, or
"goes to ground" and causes the casting magician to lose LOS. The spell
will probably have to "fight" its way through. Ok, now, what if one of the
mages is masked (per the initiate ability.) The casting mage has to
correctly see through the mask, or he can't hit his opponent with a spell,
as he is not 'seeing' his target appropriately. Or would you simply attach
a target modifier ( should be hefty.)
Feanor writes:
> Who says that there is such a thing as "gaia" ? The only thing that
>remotely resembles gaia in SR is elemental earth (or any other element)
>and this substance certainly ist sentient.
I don't know your definition of Gaia. I try not to anthropomophize. SRII
says specifically that "The Earth is a living thing". It doesn't say the
biosphere, it says the Earth. The biosphere adds to this aura. It is a
holistic view, with all of us parasites on this rock we call Earth. There is
not intelligence (as we understand it) attached to the Earth, Gaia,
whatever. If there was, it should have gotten rid of us long ago. (By the
way Bob@**, I'm interested in that staving off the Ice Age bit you refer to.
The Earth wouldn't care.)
Jani writes:
> I'd rather you used the term biosphere instead of gaia, as the biosphere
>is nothing more than a collection of living organisms, whereas you seem
>to use gaia as if it has some sort of intelligence.
> As for living things blocking your vision, well of course they do - they
>block your movement dont they ?
So ka. But if you missed my reference, it's not just organic things. It's
the natural inorganics also. By the way, can you brush aside plant life if
you are astrally projecting? I don't think so. The question is, when does
the sandstorm become too dense to move through? It appears to be, not
until it becomes a solid, coallesced mass. But along time before then it's
going to frag your ability to perceive.
Jani writes:
> Let me elaborate on this, light as we know it doesnt exist in the astral.
>We suppose that astral vision is facilitated by the presense of a
>different kind of "light" emited by all life forms. This "astral
light"
>however does not obey the laws of physics as we know them - yet it
>makes it possible to see through materials we know to be transparent
>from our native plane.
> So what makes you think that 4 meters of glass will be less
>transparent than 1 cm, when we dont even know why glass is
>transparent in the astral ????
My take is that it is in the "nature" of the object, pardon my use of the
term nature. This would also explain the mirror trick. I don't consider this
slight of hand, rulewise. Fetishes don't have to be shaped like their
purpose. Their intrinsic nature lets them do what they do. Air is
transparent (up to a point.) Therefore it by itself, does not block LOS. I
have looked through lots of glass, and it's nature isn't transparent. By
the same rule, one murder does not a background count make. Mass
executions, however, cause an effect that frags with casting.
Jani writes:
> This has got nothing to do with it, read Hunter and Prey - the
>references to space stations and the kind of magic being researched
>on them make it clear that magic in space is feasible.
I cannot place Hunter and Prey, so this may be off base (as if my entire
rambling had a shed of rationale to it.) Off planet magic is possible if you
bring lifeforce with you. If there is sufficient stored magic in items,
plants, and people in a single locale, you could be able to create a small
pocket of magic. Now, how long this can go on for is another question.
With constant resuppling, maybe indefinitely. And, as any offplanet work
is going to entail restocking of supplies, it is feasible. (I have worked on
the real space station project. Read the address.) If you can point me in
the right direction, I would like to read/assimilate the referenced Hunter
and Prey. Now, if the question is on another planet, well, it has its own
aura, so the question is already answered.
In terms of Nature, Gaia, the planet Earth, and their assorted relationship
to magic, read Ehran the Scribes little speech. It's information that wasn't
supposed to get out, and now there is a smear campaign afoot to
discredit it. I believe there is more fact than fiction there.
Again, I have tried to piece some thread through The Rules. If you want
to chuck it all, make a hybrid, whatever, go for it.
Lou - Go lemmings, Go!
