From:	L Canthros <lobo1@****.COM>
Subject:	Re: Noticing Spellcasting
Date:	Sun, 27 Apr 1997 22:45:37 EDT

On Sun, 27 Apr 1997 18:04:36 -0500 "Boyd Stephen Smith, Jr."
<gilmeth@*********.COM> writes:
<snip>
>Now, what exactly is "purely" physical

I used the description to indicate an entity which has a 'living' aura
(this includes items like foci) which are not dual-natured (possessed,
either temporarily or permanently, of an active presence in both physical
and astral planes) or solely astral, like a non-manifested spirit. IOW, a
being which cannot see the astral, at least for the moment.

<snip>
>I had never thought of making the astral "shimmer" even slightly
>concealable, I always thoughts spells were quite flashy in astral space
>and you couldn't hide them. Also, why would the target number of the
>test be modified down the by magic rating of the mage, if at all. I
>figure a force 6 spell would be just as flashy in astral space (as it is
>just the spell in astral) when cast by a mage with magic rating 1 or by
>a mage with magic rating 247 (a little out of proportion but...)

When you get a chance, you might re-read the section on Noticing
Spellcasting (p132, SR2) for the exact target number calculations, and
for a short description of what happens on the physical plane when a
spell is cast. As the spell travels from the caster (the wiz-mage) to the
target (unsuspecting mundane), it traverses the distance in astral space,
however, like a non-manifested spirit, it causes 'ripples' in physical
space, like the effect you get when looking through the air rising from a
hot surface and see a distorted view of what you're looking at. I don't
have an exact page ref for that, except that I know it's in the Magic
section somewhere, probably with the Noticing Spellcasting rules. What
I'm trying to say is that, yes, the spell would not be concealable in
astral space, but that I wasn't talking about the astral to begin with.

--
-Canthros (I hope I didn't just sound like a prick...)
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