Stupid question, Spellcasting/Power foci & Drain Resistance Tests Options

[Dahrken]

In order to be able to mimick the aura of the creator of the ward you need to have assensed it, so this can quickly more troublesome than you make it sound to be - for exemple if he is inside the ward....

[CeeJay]

Isn't it enough to know the creators astral signature to fool a ward with masking? If so, it should be enough to assense the ward itself as it should carry it's creator's signature.

-CJ

[crizh]

If so, it should be enough to assense the ward itself as it should carry it's creator's signature.

-CJ

I kinda think so too but the RAW doesn't really support it.

I could buy using the Ward itself as a symbolic link to the creator.

[Karoline]

I kinda think so too but the RAW doesn't really support it.

I could buy using the Ward itself as a symbolic link to the creator.

Seems like mages would be more wary of providing wards if it could be used as a symbolic link, or to directly assense the mage's aura.

I don't think the warding mage would much like the idea of a mage using his wards to kill him in his sleep, or track him down and drop a spirit on his bed or something like that. And if bypassing a ward is as simple as having the masking metamagic.... of course simply dropping all your spells and walking through works too, so maybe that isn't such a huge security flaw. Still think alot of people might not want their astral signature floating around all over the place.

[Lansdren]

Reading aura of the mage from a ward might make for a pretty good metamagic though. maybe with a reduction in chances of gettnig a good fix based on hours since it was put up / strengthened. Maybe something like Assensing test with a dice pool modifier of -1 per hour since created Makes it handy but not super useful

[Karoline]

Reading aura of the mage from a ward might make for a pretty good metamagic though. maybe with a reduction in chances of gettnig a good fix based on hours since it was put up / strengthened. Maybe something like Assensing test with a dice pool modifier of -1 per hour since created Makes it handy but not super useful

Per hour seems a bit much. Don't wards last weeks/months/until they break? The metamagic would be useless unless it had just been put up. Perhaps per day or even per week... or maybe per initiation grade days would work best.

[Lansdren]

Per hour seems a bit much. Don't wards last weeks/months/until they break? The metamagic would be useless unless it had just been put up. Perhaps per day or even per week... or maybe per initiation grade days would work best.

My main thought for such a reduction was if your a wage mage putting up wards as a living would you like every one to be a 24/7 neon sign saying this is how you find my soul to kill me in my sleep

With a time in hours you could have a window of opportunity to get the astral scent as it were but if you miss it all you get is the ward not the creator. I'm thinking similar to how your astral imprint when throwing around heavy mojo dissipates overtime and is harder to assense (could even just copy those rules)

[Karoline]

My main thought for such a reduction was if your a wage mage putting up wards as a living would you like every one to be a 24/7 neon sign saying this is how you find my soul to kill me in my sleep

With a time in hours you could have a window of opportunity to get the astral scent as it were but if you miss it all you get is the ward not the creator. I'm thinking similar to how your astral imprint when throwing around heavy mojo dissipates overtime and is harder to assense (could even just copy those rules)

Yeah, I understand what you mean, but you suggested it as a metamagic, which means not that many awakened would have access to it in the first place. And remember that spell signature goes away after the spell ends, so if you sustain a spell for 6 hours, it doesn't lose its signature, it keeps it up. Same goes for quickened spells AFAIK.

Anyway, I'm mostly thinking that no one would ever bother with the metamagic if there was only a couple hour window of opportunity on something that is done semi-annually. Especially since it is really only needed if you have quickened spells on you or something similar.

[crizh]

You're adding an unnecessary step. You can use a symbolic link if you don't have the astral signature.

You could design a Metamagic (or even a spell) to divine the signature of the mage that created a ward which would let you slip through with Masking and you wouldn't create a backdoor that would allow you to remote destroy the creator with Ritual magic.

[Dahrken]

The rules in Street MAgic (page 124) says you have two options :
1) being able to see the ward's creator aura to use as a reference , eventually finding him by tracking the astral link between the ward and it's creatorn or having assensed him previously.
2) use a material, sympathetic or symbolic link for the synchronization process. The penalties to the test to fool the ward are the same as for ritual sorcery.

[crizh]

That just gave me a great idea for a group contact....

[Tyro]

That just gave me a great idea for a group contact....

What's that?

[crizh]

A network of shadowrunning initiates who keep records of the auras of corporate wage-mages.

You could use Masking to demonstrate the aura of anyone you have previously assensed to the rest of the group so everybody knows the auras everybody else knows. You could develop a knowledge skill that reflects how many auras you have memorized and how useful they are.

You might even develop some sort of online market-place for trading in particularly sensitive auras.

[Karoline]

A network of shadowrunning initiates who keep records of the auras of corporate wage-mages.

You could use Masking to demonstrate the aura of anyone you have previously assensed to the rest of the group so everybody knows the auras everybody else knows. You could develop a knowledge skill that reflects how many auras you have memorized and how useful they are.

You might even develop some sort of online market-place for trading in particularly sensitive auras.

Good idea, but then you have 500 auras to pick from, and only one will get you through the ward. Still need some way of matching ward to creator.

[crizh]

I imagine with the correct intelligence you would be able to narrow down the number of possible auras to under half a dozen. A failed attempt doesn't alert the creator so you're fine so long as you have time.

[Patrick the Gnom...]

You're adding an unnecessary step. You can use a symbolic link if you don't have the astral signature.

You could design a Metamagic (or even a spell) to divine the signature of the mage that created a ward which would let you slip through with Masking and you wouldn't create a backdoor that would allow you to remote destroy the creator with Ritual magic.

So you're basically sugesting a house rule to make wards useless against people with two metamagics?

[crizh]

So you're basically sugesting a house rule to make wards useless against people with two metamagics?

Low level Wards are already useless against anyone with two Metamagics (Masking and Symbolic Linking) or one Metamagic and one piece of specific knowledge.

[Karoline]

Actually, wards of any kind are already useless against anyone who doesn't have quickened spells or is duel natured actually. They just turn off their foci for a few seconds, walk through, and turn them back on and they're good to go.

[CeeJay]

Wards are designed to be a barrier for astal entities. As such they are by design ineffective against completely mundane beings.

But wards are still an effective way of keeping astrally projecting mages and spirits in check. Of course, as it was mentioned, there are ways to fool wards but this requires some effort (expenditure of karma to learn the required metamagic techniques and last but not least time to fool the ward). And you will usually have to do it twice, once entering the warded zone and once again, when you want to leave.

-CJ