Wards, can they be used as links? Options

[Stormdrake]

The question was raised could one mage use a ward as a link to attack another mage? The argument is that unless the ward has been quickened it most be linked to the casting mage otherwise he/she would not know when it was broken. Any thoughts out there?

[BitBasher]

I would say no, there is precedence that a mage can be linked to somehting that he cannot be attacked through. In fact, in 3rd edition being linked to something does not make you vulnerable except in that you are easier to track down. you are linked to spirits, when one dies you know it, yet nuking the spirit does not hurt the mage. (except for financially, in the case of elementals)

[Sphynx]

Yes, a ward is a link to its owner. However, just an FYI, wards can't be Quickened. ;)

Sphynx

[Edit]All Magical things have a link to their owner is the first line of text under the heading Astral Tracking in the SR3/BBB[/Edit]

[CoalHeart]

How long does it take to set up a ward? and is there a limit to how strong they can be?

yes I am a rube that should go look stuff up, But lack of books makes me cry. I run almost purely off of remembering what I read when I borrowed some books from a friend for a month.

[Sphynx]

1 hour per Force
TN equal to Force
Max Force equal to (combined)Magic Rating of person(s)

Sphynx

[CoalHeart]

roll magic Vs force of ward to set up and reduce time by successes?

[TinkerGnome]

Wards don't provide a link good enough to work for anything other than symbolic linking. Nor do spirits, etc.

However, with symbolic linking, feel free to zap the mage across it.

[Stormdrake]

If you can use the mages wards to zap him, even if he is behind them than what is the value of the wards?

[TinkerGnome]

Well, a magical link only makes you vulnerable to ritual sorcery. It's not that bad, really, for most mages. Of course, I make wards somewhat more "dumb" than magic circles (both of which provide good links to the mage, as well) by requiring symbolic linking to use them for targeting. Magic circles don't require an metamagics to use in this manner.

[Guest_Artemis_*]

Reference SR3 p. 174

[Backgammon]

Well, since wards only require someone with a Magic rating, and no skill or special knowledge at all (seems innate knowledge to awakened or groggies), I'm guessing sec corps use groggies and low level adepts to do warding. Saves a lot on salaries.

[TinkerGnome]

There was a long winded thread on the subject of ward availabilities sometime recently. I'd have to dig, but I created a "warding corp" magical group which would do creation, maintenance, and monitoring for low monthly fees ;)

[Dr Vital]

Wards, as written, don't quite make sense.

They describe the basic "area" they cover as 50 cubic meters. But wards don't fill volume, they define an area on it's edges right? Once you pass through you're golden... So is that the amount of space that is inside the warded area?

If that's true, are Wards always cubes? What if you had a mountain hideout and just wanted to ward it's outer face, but not bother with the other 3 sides?

[BitBasher]

[Stormdrake]

The wards volume is more a discription of the amount of area it can cover. At least thats how I have always looked at it. Could be wrong but then what about all the traditions of making wards in circles.

[BitBasher]

I have never seen an example of a ward in a circle, I have seen a hermetic circle in a circle, but that's because a hermetic circle acts like a ward equal to the circle's force when the circle is active.

[Guest_Artemis_*]

The shape matters very little. The idea is displacement. Can a room (such as the oval office, if you prefer) that is roughly... say 30 cubic meters in size be warded. “Well yes, that's easy” says the president's mage. Can be anywhere up to or less than the Combined Magic ratings of the ward makers.

A ward is much like a bank vault. Not only the door or the back wall, but a completely sealed container. If it were just a piece of it like the front wall, then it would be all to easy for an astral mage to squeeze around or underneath it. The purpose of warding a room is to keep outsiders from coming in, covering every nook and cranny.

Now you're correct when you say that once you're in, everything is crickett. The ward itself is basically an astral skin/barrier that layers the walls of the room or container. But it will always be an enclosed physical space of some kind, whether a door is open or closed. And such a space always has volume to it and thus we say square meters.

Doesn't mean necessarily that a warded space has to be square in shape, cubic meters is just a physical means of measurement that most SR players and GMs are familiar with since we play by the metric system.