Well, for starters, Sorcerers don't get Astral Perception, which can tend to make Assensing somewhat difficult. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Yes, I'd say a crossbow qualifies as a device. So would a catapult, pistol, slingshot, or just about anything mechanical. I'm pretty sure analyze device is getting a second look though due to the analyze gun twinkage that is possible with it. Hopefully we'll see some changes that nail down this spell a bit better.

i've used that definition of deivce from the get go, more or less . . at least, as long as i have been active in this thread anyway <.< . .
Muspelheimer was nice enough to point out that my definition did not match encyclopedia definition of either the english or german word . .
but i still stand by my point, that nothing that does not consist of at least 2 moving parts is a device but a thing instead . .

Even if you do not consider a sword a device, it is a piece of equipment, & thus an acceptable target for Analyze Device. As the sword is designed & used for combat, the spell provides bonus dice on all combat uses of the blade - aka attacks & defense. If you come up with another use for it that requires a test, such as a crowbar, you get the bonus for that as well.

Well, in SR4, technically they "get" it, but they use assensing at a -4 penalty (-6 if you are using the optional rule for expert aspected magicians). So you are better off using the spell (which can be used astrally).

Valid target yes. But the spell explicitly says it grants bonus dice to operating the device. Since a sword is not a device, and you can't "operate" one. It gets no bonus dice even though it is a valid target for the spell.

D'oh! I somehow mixed up Mystic Adept with Aspected Magician. All I can say is ... not enough caffeine! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

I looked up the spell description, and it did not say anything, but as a GM I would give them a chance to shake off the spell. Now all of them undressing and locking themselves in a closet....that would be doable and they'd be combat ineffective.

Analyze Device in my games ...

Melee Weapons ... No
Foci ... No
Smartguns ... Yes
Non-Smartguns ... No
Anything with a Device Rating ... Yes
Tumbler Locks ... Yes
... etc.

My top 10 spell list

1. Trid Phantasm
2. Heal
3. Stun Ball
4. Control Thoughts
5. Detect Guns (extended)
6. Mind Probe
7. Shape Change
8. Physical Mask
9. Magic Fingers
10. Increased Reflexes

It is indeed a mana spell, and I concede now that the exact nature of the "life" of an AI may therefore preclude the use of this spell with it. I need some more research to figure out what the nature of that "life" is supposed to be. Anybody got some input on this issue?

As far as getting the message across, my reading of "translates intent better than exact phrasing, and so cannot be used for delicate diplomacy" is that you cannot use the ambiguity for which diplomats are famous to say one thing but be able to later argue they meant something else. It is tough to obfuscate, in other words. What you really mean comes through no matter how you try to cover it.

In any case, it allows one to say, "Hey, buddy, lets talk this over without spilling any ectoplasm" in any language necessary.

Peter

I do believe translate is cast on the person who wants to be able to understand/speak the different language, not on what you are trying to understand/talk to. Thus, the mage could cast it on himself, and it would magically translate what the AI was saying.

emphasis mine, just curious, mind you, but: why? or better, why not?

Smartguns are a device. Non-smartguns are not.

Stuff.

of DOOM!

depending on your definition of the word of course

Yes, that was the response that ran through my mind when I read AllTheNothing's post, but the spell description says it sets up "a low-level telepathic communication between the subject and a specific target", so one -could- argue that both entities should need to be able to be affected by the spell.

Peter

Ok, smartguns are explicitly defined to be a device by the Rules.

That is basically my reasoning. I do seem to recall non-Smartguns being used as an example of something that was not a Device, but that might also have been something Synner wrote in a thread here somewhere.

The mage casts the spell on the subject (which may or may not be himself), who then chooses who he wishes to target, in the same manner as pretty much all Detection spells.

At the same time, a spell cast in the material plane does not reach into the astral plane and vice versa. If the Matrix is another 'plane', then the spell would not reach there. Do AIs exist outside the Matrix, ie. in the material plane?

Peter

I made no comment on whether or not the spell would work with AIs. In my opinion, I agree with you that it would not work, for the very reason you cite. Magic cannot affect the Matrix.

Sorcerers get Astral Perception, they don't get Astral projection. At least, in SR3 they don't, has that changed in SR4 like previously they couldn't conjure spirits but now they can?

Yeah. We covered the correction thing already.

So Sorcerers = Mystic Adepts? I thought sorcerer was just a flavour of magitian just like the hermetic, the miko, the shaman or the hougan/mambo (just to cite some flavours of magitian), where the heck are the rules for this fraggers?