 Masking: what does it effect?, Just need a quick answere |
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 Oct 24 2006, 03:03 AM
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#1
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299  |
If an initiate uses masking to look mundane how are Active spells, Bonded Foci and Astral Links effected?
Thanx ahead to anyone who helps me and references would be aprieciated. edit: just so I don't get bashed, I allready searched the froums for Masking and Foci and didn't find an answer |
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Oct 24 2006, 03:36 AM
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#2
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
They are not. See advanced masking, p60 SM, to mask them. |
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Oct 24 2006, 03:49 AM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
So if I'm a grade 1 initiate it's useless to me to take Masking, because I can't mask my foci and I'll have all these astral threads leading to my Lodge and every place I have put an active ward?
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Oct 24 2006, 04:51 AM
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#4
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
You need masking before you can buy advanced masking. And as grade 1 initiate you can't. If you want to mask and appear mundane don't have any spells active and don't carry any focuses. That's one of the many reasons why Synaptic Booster 2 is popular among mages in SR4. You can't easily detect it, you can't dispell it and wards don't notice it. Even using advanced masking links to active spirits, lodges and spells still exist. Though it's (like much of SR4 magic) unclear how you can spot them from the caster, since the rules discuss tracing it from the spell, spirit or lodge. There is nothing in the rules that states a tie is visable from the caster to the object, which would be in the assensing table if it were possible. |
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Oct 24 2006, 04:58 AM
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#5
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 750 Joined: 9-August 06 Member No.: 9,059 |
It's useless if you've got foci that you insist on carrying around, sure. And even Advanced Masking is useless if you're going to carry an active focus or sustained spell across a ward.
I agree with kzt that links shouldn't be obvious when studying a mage. On the other hand, I'm not entirely comfortable treating them as unidirection only from the item they're "tied" to, because this should be a method available to find your bound focus if someone steals it and removes it from you. And, hey, that was the one clever/useful thing Talon did in that awful Ragnarok book... Unmasked, I'd set a high Assensing threshold to spot links. Make it the same as the new SM number to notice how many bound spirits a mage has, maybe. I'd also probably let you use Advanced (or is it Extended?) Masking to hide such things just like the spell/focus itself. |
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Oct 24 2006, 05:27 AM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
OK :(
yet another character abortion. Thanks anyway. so what does improved masking allow you to do? BTW: I think that I will rule that assensing an astral link is the same test as astral tracking; assensing + Intuition (5) test but it's not an extended test, and the threshold is modified by the force of the linked item minimum 1. (BBB, pp. 184-85; Astral Tracking) Wait aminit. If the focus isn't active is it dual natured? |
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Oct 24 2006, 05:40 AM
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#7
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
You can hide auras from spells and foci. Only really useful when you are a high grade initiate. 5 success on Assensing might be an approach also to notice that the links exist, but you wouldn't know what was on the other end withou the astral tracking bit. Inactive focuses are not impacted by wards. bbb 186 |
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Oct 25 2006, 02:18 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
that's my point, kind of, do they look like magic when they're deactivated? Can deactivated Foci be masked by normal masking? |
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Oct 25 2006, 02:59 AM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 31-October 03 Member No.: 5,780 |
An inactive but bound foci doesn't light up until you 'turn it on', but anyone that assenses it properly will know it's useable by you, and find the link to you.
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Oct 25 2006, 03:13 AM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
By "light up" everyone means "to become dual natured/astraly active" right? Ok, but does it look like it's magical if it's not "litup"? And what is the threshold for assensing a deactivated focus? What if you wear it inside your shirt? WHAT IS IT THAT I DON'T GET ABOUT MAGIC AND WHY DIDN'T I JUST DECIDE TO PLAY CP2020?[/RANT] edit: Sorry i didn't mean to yell, I love magic, realllllly. Can a mage buy enhanced masking at grade 2 initiation? if so I'll buy the damned book and stop asking questions. Thanks to all who keep trying to help me :rotate: |
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Oct 25 2006, 03:19 AM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 31-October 03 Member No.: 5,780 |
Light up means become dual natured.
And it doesn't 'look' magical. It looks like what any other item does. Presumably, 1 success should be enough to determine its magical, but more may be required to get the link and track (doesn't it say 3 successes somewhere involving tracking???) If someone is wearing it inside a shirt, then you got to spot it under the shirt. GM's problem from there. |
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Oct 25 2006, 03:23 AM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
threshold 5 pg. 184-185 Thanks Cold-Dragon. |
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Oct 25 2006, 08:02 AM
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#13
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
Yes, you can take Extended Masking as your metamagic technique at initiate grade 2, but as has been mentioned, only if you took Masking as your first metamagic (its a prereq for developing the advanced form). In Street Magic we've formalized the distinction between basic and advanced metamagics (those with prereqs) that's actually been around since MitS.
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Oct 25 2006, 10:22 PM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
so it's the same as the MiTS initiation bonus?
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Oct 25 2006, 10:47 PM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 31-October 03 Member No.: 5,780 |
If by bonus you mean the same treshold as regular masking has, then yes. Extended masking is simply masking that you can spread out to other things like your foci and sustained spells. It is otherwise the same in mechanics. The one difference is that there is a limit to how powerful an aura you can mask besides your own.
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Oct 25 2006, 10:57 PM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
Thanx C.D. I'm not ready to buy Street magic yet.
Everyone, thankyou for helping me, I just might be able to save an NPC central to my campaign. To sum: astral links and deactivated foci are not immediatly obvious to astral perception a deactivated focus might be further obscured by clothing or similar A second level initiate may mask active foci/spells making them look mundane/undetectable |
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Oct 25 2006, 11:39 PM
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#17
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Shadow Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 3,737 Joined: 2-June 06 From: Secret Tunnels under the UK (South West) Member No.: 8,636 |
OneTrikPony: I hope this isn't too late to be useful. I was just flipping through Street Magic and I came across something I'd forgotten about: Masking Foci! They're only useable by initiates with masking, but they add their force to an initiate's grade for the opposed rolls. It's a little ambiguous but I don't think most GMs would have a huge problem with ruling that it also affects the number of things you can conceal as well. Especially if it were essential to a good character idea. Yes, you'd still need to get to your second initiate grade to get Extended Masking and make full use of it, but maybe this helps make the character concept closer to viable. |
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Oct 25 2006, 11:53 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 500 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Salt Lake UT Member No.: 9,299 |
Dangit Knasser, That's just not funny! Every time I think I won't have to buy the damded book some one says something like that.
:D J/K, Sigh, I'm going to have to buy it aren't I? Yeah, my initiate needs to be super low key, no one knows she's a mage, a masking foci sounds like it would be a primary piece of gear for this character. Thanx |
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Oct 26 2006, 12:55 AM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 31-October 03 Member No.: 5,780 |
Well, you could use the MiTS, but then you have to guess how things work, and I think there are some things in SM not in that.
But yeah, if you really want to use things from the book, you may as well get it if you can, lol. The catch with a masking foci is that they're expensive - almost as bad as power foci. If you're going going to dabble in it, you should probably save the karma for initiation instead of the focus. Now if you're going to get a strong one, the cost is 6 per force - two or 3 initiation's worth of karma will definitely make you a chameleon (pardon spelling?). |
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Oct 26 2006, 09:44 AM
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#20
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Shadow Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 3,737 Joined: 2-June 06 From: Secret Tunnels under the UK (South West) Member No.: 8,636 |
:D I do my best! Following on from ColdDragon - in SR4 they're not as expensive as Power Foci. They're about half the equivalent force cost. That's still pretty pricey for what they are, but it ain't quite so bad. I want to emphasize that if you're a player, just double check with your GM that you can use the boost to your initiate grade to conceal extra spells / foci when you have Extended Masking. I'd allow it, but some might read it differently. Of course if you just want to be hard to assense, then it's fine. But walking round with quickened spells and active foci is nice. Of course, personally, I don't think anything quite compares to the Centering Focus. :P |
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