Can Astral Combat be used against mundanes?, Attacking their aura? Options

[Jackstand]

They can go back to their bodies, too, and just set off an actual alarm, then, I suppose, head that-a-way and start manabolting suckas.

[Red_Cap]

They can go back to their bodies, too, and just set off an actual alarm, then, I suppose, head that-a-way and start manabolting suckas.

Sure they can, but the previously mentioned "direct bound spirits" to attack them is so much safer for all security forces involved. Joe the CorpSec goon would prefer that that guardian spirit take a bullet or two instead of him. After all, he's got a wife back home raising two kids who are already promised jobs with the corp middle management team.

[nezumi]

Plus there's always a strong chance the other side will have magical aid. I *believe* a projecting mage can still attack spells on the physical (except perhaps for elemental manipulations).

Anyone else remember when the astral mage would just command his elemental to materialize, then ground his force 10 fireball on the elemental? Ah, those were the days.

[kzt]

Plus there's always a strong chance the other side will have magical aid. I *believe* a projecting mage can still attack spells on the physical (except perhaps for elemental manipulations)..

I don't think you can EVER directly attack spells in SR4. You can just try to use counterspell on them.

[ornot]

I would permit a projecting mage to counterspell a physically present mage. However, without the physically present mage projecting or astrally perceiving he cannot be targetted by the astral mage. Of course, he'll need to do something about the astral mage or his spells will be continually countered, while the security forces spray bullets at the mage and his companions.

[NetWraith]

I have a astral question... Let's say you have a mage who is astrally projecting and you've got mundane goons sneaking up on him and his sleeping buddies. What is the opposed roll between his astral perception and thier infiltration... or does he automatically see thier auras.

[WeaverMount]

What happens to an astrally projecting mage that has there magic stat reduced to 0? Is time limit (magic hours) for astral projected reduced to nothing and the magician instantly dies? Does this make mana static extremely deadly to magicians?

[Dragnar]

I have a astral question... Let's say you have a mage who is astrally projecting and you've got mundane goons sneaking up on him and his sleeping buddies. What is the opposed roll between his astral perception and thier infiltration... or does he automatically see thier auras.

He "automatically" sees their auras just as much as a regular person "automatically" sees people, ie: without a test as long as they don't try to hide. If they do hide, it's the same opposed roll in both situations: (astral) perception against infiltration. The advantage of the astrally perceiving mage would be that he negates most of the goons toys to help them sneaking (chameleon suits, for example), but the general principle remains the same.

[Rasumichin]

He "automatically" sees their auras just as much as a regular person "automatically" sees people, ie: without a test as long as they don't try to hide. If they do hide, it's the same opposed roll in both situations: (astral) perception against infiltration. The advantage of the astrally perceiving mage would be that he negates most of the goons toys to help them sneaking (chameleon suits, for example), but the general principle remains the same.

This only applies if they are in the same room.
The astral presence of the mage could be miles away, though.
In such cases, a mage wouldn't be able to see the goons, of course.
He'd only realize that something is wrong if they start inflicting damage on his physical body (as that would automatically transfer to his astral presence, too).

Which is the reason why you should always leave a spirit or -for shorter projections- a watcher on site.
With the mental link between spirit and summoner you can easily monitor your "shoes", as well as relay messages to your teammates.


Of course, you'r completely right on the advantages of astral perception.
Practically everything that aids stealth tests doesn't work at all on the astral.

[nezumi]

What happens to an astrally projecting mage that has there magic stat reduced to 0? Is time limit (magic hours) for astral projected reduced to nothing and the magician instantly dies? Does this make mana static extremely deadly to magicians?

The mage "loses" 1 point of essence every hour he's out. When he hits 0, he's disrupted (so he goes back to his body and rolls for magic loss).

I'm guessing if his magic was somehow reduced to 0, it would work similarly - he'd lose the ability to project and he'd again be disrupted, except now there's no chance of magic loss.

[HentaiZonga]

Which is the reason why you should always leave a spirit or -for shorter projections- a watcher on site.
With the mental link between spirit and summoner you can easily monitor your "shoes", as well as relay messages to your teammates.

Or, if you've chosen a Possession tradition, just give the spirit your body and take care of two things at once. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Warlordtheft]

They can go back to their bodies, too, and just set off an actual alarm, then, I suppose, head that-a-way and start manabolting suckas.

Or have the spirit that taged along with him manifest and start causing havoc. He can then get a good description of the runners auras and track them down later if need be. He can also just go back and tell the rigger send the 3 Dobermans here and hose the place with lead.