From:	Matb <mbreton@**.NETCOM.COM>
Subject:	Re: Area of Effect Spells and Astral Targeting
Date:	Sat, 12 Jul 1997 20:59:16 -0700

> > Makes sense, but it's wrong. Assensing is a natural extension of normal
> > eyesight and thus counts for targeting purposes.

> Nope.

Read my comments to Spike, vis a vis nitpicking.

> > The physical realm is the
> > least important portion of casting a spell; the spell energy jumps from
> > caster aura to target aura and takes place completely on Astral.

> To affect a physical target, it has to ground into their body, in the physical.
> That requires physically seeing the target.

Nope. You synch to an aura, not a physical structure. The spell
targets the aura. Follow.

> "A magician cannot, however, cast spells directly at invisible beings or beings
> in astral space [except] by using enhanced vision or astral perception." Quote
it
> correctly, it makes sense. You added that 'except'.

Corrected Third Printing, Bruce. The 'except' is part of the quote.
The obvious implication is that since you *can* assense invisible
creatures, you can 'bolt them. I don't see a hideous game imbalance
stemming from that.

> "A good rule of thumb is that magicians
> must see their targets with their eyes or a natural extension of those eyes."

Ahh. The reason for the nit. Again, you're assensing (astral sight)
the target. If you want to read it that tightly, you eliminate any
possibility of Astral combat, or targeting non-manifested elementals,
among other things.

> To ground a spell into the physical, the spell needs two things: visual (with
> physical senses) confirmation of the target, and a split-second synchronization
> of auras to tell the spell where, it astral, to go. Simple? Simple.

And incorrect. True? True. A mage is most likely to decide to target
something because he's seen it, yes, but it's not a requirement;
otherwise Ye Olde Blind Mage is SOL.

Just read the section on combat spells; because the auras are synched,
the spell energy leaps between the two. It crosses the distance in
Astral space; the spell is utterly unconcerned with physical matters
until it bumps into its target.

And note, that in the 'Astral glimpse' required to synch auras, the
magician _sees_ the aura of the target.