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Posted by: Jizmack Jun 4 2011, 08:47 PM

I have a NPC that needs the help of the shadowrunner PCs to fake her death and conceal her in every way, longterm.

How can the players hide a mundane person’s aura from being found by a mage that is actively looking and is familiar with that aura?

I thank you in advance for any constructive feedback.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jun 4 2011, 08:49 PM

Cardboard box. (Not for the long term, of course, but fully effective.)

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 4 2011, 08:52 PM

Mage hunt '72

Posted by: Machiavelli Jun 4 2011, 08:59 PM

Spirit pact, inhabitation or possession of a free spirit with masking? I can´t think of other solutions.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jun 4 2011, 09:03 PM

Are we assuming that just killing the mage isn't an option? Much easier.

Posted by: Makki Jun 4 2011, 09:04 PM

stand in some very deep background count with a lot of people and plants around you. There are more modifiers to assensing in Street Magic. It's not masking, but astral hiding. Sitting in a strong ward helps against Ritual Magic.

Posted by: Jizmack Jun 4 2011, 09:08 PM

The mage is part of an investigator unit that work for Aztechnology... so, no it's not easier to kill the mage

Posted by: Adarael Jun 4 2011, 09:11 PM

Assuming no astral links to this person exist, I'd suggest moving very far away, to a very crowded new city. I've often had players try to use astral sight to find people whose aura they are familiar with, and the unfortunate part about that otherwise brilliant plan is that they're still looking for a needle in a haystack.

Say this woman is from Seattle. If you move her to a random suburb of Tokyo, there's no easy way for the mage tracking her to know where she is unless he has a ritual link. Even if he finds out she's "in tokyo" he still has to spot her. This is akin to flying an invisible, intangible helecopter around Tokyo looking for someone wearing a bright green jacket: it's doable, but unlikely.

really, just being someplace else is often good enough, unless the tracker knows where you live.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jun 4 2011, 09:13 PM

Plant those awakened lilies, etc.

I dunno, Jizmack. It's all about planning. Trick the mage into some kind of vulnerable situation. Be creative.

Posted by: Adarael Jun 4 2011, 09:14 PM

Actually, let's not say "any random city". Let's say "Hong Kong", because Hong Kong had wangtastically bizzare ley lines that make magical tracking a bitch.

Posted by: Makki Jun 4 2011, 10:15 PM

be/get a runner mage with Masking. Copy the aura of the asset. set up a trap.

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 5 2011, 01:58 AM

Just remember, when the character leaves, to burn the building they lived in. Astral Links can be made from a lot of things, and if the mage does know where the character lives, may be able to get it from almost anything if skilled enough (though a body part would be a lot easier to work with)

Posted by: BishopMcQ Jun 5 2011, 02:05 AM

Metaplanar quest--Go out into the deep unknown, hide it, and come back. Enemy mage has to go out to the metaplanes and undertake a quest of the same difficulty to find it. Downside is that while hiding, the NPC mage cannot use any magic.

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 5 2011, 02:19 AM

Huh? Since when can an awakened grab someone's aura and hide it in the metaplanes?

Posted by: BishopMcQ Jun 5 2011, 02:27 AM

Astral Concealment (Street Magic, p. 132) You aren't taking the aura there, you are moving the link so if someone tries astral tracking, it has to go to hell and back.

This was one of the methods discussed for Jane in DOTA3, but they opted for the amulet instead. Likewise, a unique enchantment with a Rating 12 mana void on the person would probably hide them--but keep them from having any access to their magic/abilities.

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 5 2011, 02:59 AM

Except that only works for a link that someone might follow. It doesn't help any against an aura being recognized.

Posted by: BishopMcQ Jun 5 2011, 03:52 AM

I'm sorry, I presumed the runners at least had the intelligence to take him somewhere no one would ever think to look for him. My solution is designed to stop ritual tracking, not the mage being ID'd while buying soynuts at the Stuffer Shack.

Edit: If you are still dealing with someone seeing him, then cosmetic surgery, preferably with phenotype changes, genetech for Masque or a full genewipe, and a brand new SIN, with the other being burnt. Also, buy a Hacker to maintain the Erased quality for the rest of the NPCs life.

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 5 2011, 03:55 AM

Presumably the NPC doesn't want to spend the rest of his/her life in a safehouse and/or doesn't want to have to move to some distant city.

Posted by: Nath Jun 5 2011, 09:48 AM

Search for the amulet the great dragon Dunkelzahn left to an ork called Craig Sanchez in his will. According to the adventure "What's in a name?" in Blood in the Boardroom, pp. 84-86, the amulet "can make any person's aura look nondescript, meaning that a heavily cybered person could use to appear as unaugmented on the astral plane. Treat thus as if a Grade 5 Initiate with a Magic of 11 were deliberately masking the wearer's aura. Also, treat the amulet as a unique magical item, meaning that it does not require bonding and cannot be dispelled, attacked astrally, or ground through (unless the gamemaster so desires), nor will it stop the wearer from walking through astral barriers."

For the full story, in 2033, Dunkelzahn forced the free spirit Buttercup into occupying thirteen-years old Craig Sanchez body for a year and a day, to teach it was metahuman's life was like. That's only after this experience that Butercup actually initiated pro-metahuman policies at Yamatetsu/Evo. The thing Dunkelzahn did resulted in Craig Sanchez knowing Buttercup True Name (well, instead of "knowing", it would be more appropriate to say that piece of information was somewhere in his head). So, to protect him from Buttercup after his death, he had the Draco Foundation handing him the amulet.
The aforementioned adventure is about the runners searching for Sanchez during the 2057-2060 Corporate War, as Buttercup located him in Seattle when he lost the amulet. It ends with Buttercup choosing to keep Sanchez alive and hiding in Singapore (so the PC can keep the amulet if they want to). Note that in Corporate Guide suggests Craig Sanchez is dead, while he elven daughter Julia (born from an ork and an human, or adopted ?) became Buttercup secretary.

Posted by: Sengir Jun 5 2011, 11:44 AM

Unless I'm forgetting some Metamagic, finding a person with a known aura requires the same effort as finding a known face in a crowd. So keeping in crowded places seems like a good start, the concrete wasteland of a typical wageslave settlement should also provide some Background Count.

Putting holes in an aura via cyber probably also makes it harder to recognize. And if even that is not enough, HMHVV or Cybermancy give the aura a complete makeover, with some _minor_ side effects.

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 5 2011, 01:32 PM

I'm pretty sure, that masking isn't even needed. Spirit and vessel become a composite entity which obviously is different from either the vessel or the astral spirit. As such the aura should be different as well.
Both methods however have their drawbacks as the vessel is (at least temporarily) not in control.

Posted by: Tanegar Jun 5 2011, 04:19 PM

Is the NPC a Twilight fan? Just tell her HMHVV will make her sparkly. Problem solved.

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 5 2011, 04:25 PM

I doubt the NPC is into classical literature

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 5 2011, 05:02 PM

Twilight classical? Literature? SCNR

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Jun 5 2011, 05:04 PM

Well, in 60 Years, it may be a classic, but it will never be Literature...

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 5 2011, 05:11 PM

I doubt that "Twilight" will ever become a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_book. Whether it is literature I cannot judge as I have not read it.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Jun 5 2011, 05:16 PM

Highly doubtful, but you never know. I certainly would not put it in the same company as Tolstoy, Steinbeck, or Shakespeare. Even my wife, who loves Vampire Fiction, absolutely hates these books. Quite Funny, actually.

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 5 2011, 05:19 PM

Vampire Fiction? AFAIK it was about fairies. Vampires don't sparkle. Period. And for that matter SR mages don't either, no matter what SR4A tells us.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Jun 5 2011, 05:24 PM

Heheh... Can't argue that one...

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 5 2011, 05:26 PM

I'm sure some sparkle. If there can be a shamanic mask that appears as gouts of flame, I'm sure another sparkle's like Tinkerbell's fairy dust.

Besides, think of the revenue you could get for a glitterdust-like spell...

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 5 2011, 05:28 PM

Perhaps classic wasn't quite the right word, it just sounded better than 'really old book'. Is there a term for that besides classic? I don't think ancient or antique quite fits either.

Edit: Nor dated, as that generally implies that it is outdated as opposed to simply old.

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 5 2011, 05:29 PM

Hmmm. I think the phrase you are looking look for is "old crap"

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 5 2011, 05:30 PM

While accurate, it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Jun 5 2011, 05:30 PM

*Ding Ding Ding*... We have a winner...

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 5 2011, 05:37 PM

Sorry to derail the thread but not only magic users with a shamanic mask can sparkle as of SR4A. Contrary to SR4 the mana becomes visible during casting, no matter how invisible the effect of the spell is. In previous editions the mundanes could only see marks of strain/concentration on the magician during casting.
This sentence was added in SR4A, it is not in SR4.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Jun 5 2011, 05:54 PM

And yet, it is an OR statement. I tend towards the disturbance in the Air. Hair begins to float, or the hairs on your arms and neck stand up, or a tingling sensation all over your skin as the mana converges (Kind of like the effects surrounding Charlie in the movie Firestarter). You know, that sort of thing. Can the effect be glowy and visible, sure, but that is the easy way out. I would leave it up to the caster as to how their magic appears when they cast. My wife had tiny tinkerbell-like sound effects that manifested when her magic was used. I tend to like the flavor that that generates MUCH more than just the generic Sparkly Glowies effect...

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 5 2011, 06:26 PM

The point is not whether it is sparkles or some other visible mundanely detectable sign. My point is the mana itself should not be visible. Sure you can see that the mana forces sweat on the magicians brow or that the mage has to gasp for air as he casts a powerful spell, but mana was never visible perceivable before in SR and I like it that way.

Making it visible makes it easier to justify the ridiculously low perception threshold though.

[Edit]Made it clearer that may statement was not limited to the visusal sense[/Edit]

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 5 2011, 06:36 PM

I agree. Mana shouldn't be visible, other then the affect it's causing (and potential secondary effects on the caster or minor manipulations as the caster weaves the spell, unless they usually have a mask) The Fluff, even in SR4 tend to support this, and the low perception threshold can be justified by a growing familiarity to magic in the world, too.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Jun 5 2011, 06:43 PM

I get it... I always understood the effect to be a Result of the gathering Mana, not the Mana itself. No worries though. Thresholds are what they are.

Posted by: redwulf25 Jun 5 2011, 08:35 PM

According to a local store it's Teen Self Help.

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 5 2011, 08:44 PM

... Suuurrrreeee

Posted by: redwulf25 Jun 5 2011, 08:49 PM

Does "It's noteworthy how awful this is." count?

Posted by: redwulf25 Jun 5 2011, 08:50 PM

Well, I'm sure a lot of them read about Edward then spend some time "self helping".

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 5 2011, 08:56 PM

Fair enough...

Posted by: Irion Jun 5 2011, 09:22 PM

Well, they do. And I have to say I do like the rule. It is easy to use and it puts an end to the question: Does the guy realise if I am raping the the mind of his boss.

Posted by: longbowrocks Jun 6 2011, 05:42 AM

You could buy a Rover 2068 for 25k nuyen, equip a ram plate, and flatten him. The difficult suddenly becomes easy when you can dish out a 26 DV attack while only having to absorb 6 DV with body + armor.

Posted by: Cain Jun 6 2011, 06:04 AM

As far as seeing mana itself, I think of it like when there's a lot of electricity in the air: hair will stand on end, things will smell and feel funny, etc. But at no point are you actually seeing the electricity.

But we're derailing the thread. What's wrong is that there's essentially two questions we're trying to answer: how to disguise a person's aura, and how to protect a person from ritual sorcery. The OP didn't specify if Aztechnology had a ritual link to the mundane in question, so I'm going to focus on auras.

AFAIK, there's no way for a mundane's aura to change naturally. There are ways to make your aura less visible on the astral plane, like using stealth and hiding in crowds. But the aura itself doesn't change, it's just harder to spot it. The trick here is, an aura is like someone's face: you can't find someone if all you have on them is a description of their face. At best, you can describe it to others, but there's no guarantee they'll get it right. Assuming they didn't get a Kirilian photograph of the aura (highly unlikely), and since there's no equivalent of a police sketch artist for auras, only the person who saw the aura will recognize it.

So, the best thing to do in the situation described is stay away from the mage. I gather that the mundane in question lives in a big city, so he should be fairly safe-- accidentally encountering the mage isn't likely to happen. Even if he does run across the mage, it's like spotting a familiar face in a crowd. It's possible, just not extremely likely or easy. On top of that, if the mundane's in public, it's highly unlikely that the mage will actually do anything: how often do you approach a stranger just because they look familiar? Let alone attack them on sight?

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jun 6 2011, 06:06 AM

There might well be a police sketch artist for auras. But it doesn't really change the scenario.

Posted by: TheOOB Jun 6 2011, 07:17 AM

You know, if you hide for a few weeks/months, the mage is unlikely to continue looking, especially if he's a corp mage. Looking for a runner is not exact ally profitable. After the mage stops actively looking, it's much the same as hiding from someone who knows your face.

Posted by: Cain Jun 6 2011, 07:53 AM

Exactly. You can't ritually track someone from seeing their aura, is the basic point. Knowing someone's aura won't help you track down someone, it'll just help you identify them when you narrow your search through other means.

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 6 2011, 07:56 AM

You can't but a spirit's search power does exactly that.

Posted by: Cain Jun 6 2011, 09:08 AM

Not really. You can use Search on anything you have a mental description of. So, while you could use an aura, you could also use security camera footage. Seeing your aura doesn't make you any more vulnerable than seeing your face.

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 6 2011, 09:38 AM

Right, the aura is not needed, but it is not clear whether video footage works. You need a mental image of the target, technically a video feed can only generate a mental image of the video image of the target. Not sure if that is enough.

Posted by: Cain Jun 6 2011, 11:33 AM

All you need is a mental description. You can describe a book in a library, for example, and that works even if you haven't seen the book. You can also use a photograph.

Basically, having your aura seen is no more dangerous than having your face caught on film. In some ways, it's less dangerous, since you can't hand out mug shots of someone's aura or search for it on the Matrix.

Posted by: TheOOB Jun 6 2011, 11:40 PM

Barring astral photography natch

Posted by: HunterHerne Jun 7 2011, 12:46 AM

If you are being astrally photographed, you have more problems then the mage chasing you. Especially if you are on the run at the time.

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 7 2011, 03:23 AM

Yeah, you'd have to be standing perfectly still for like... what is it, 10 minutes? 1 minute at the very least. If you're doing that, you've likely already been caught.

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 7 2011, 04:55 AM

I recently checked it. It is 30 min, but the person only has to remain within the camera's field of view.

Posted by: Ghost_in_the_System Jun 7 2011, 04:57 AM

Which is still quite a while in a single place where an enemy is observing you. I think that still falls a bit under 'if they've got this of you, they've already captured you'.

Posted by: Cain Jun 7 2011, 10:10 AM

Still won't do much. Hand it out to the 95% of the population that's mundane, all they'll be able to do is say:"Whoa, cool colors."

Posted by: Dakka Dakka Jun 7 2011, 10:26 AM

99% Mundanes.