Construction and Excavation with Magic, SR3 Mages and building Options

[JaronK]

Let's say I want to excavate an area for construction (mostly so I can have an underground compound that's safe from astral intrusion). I'm a Shaman and have a few more shaman in the group, and we might be able to get a Hermetic Magician. What magical effects could be used to make this cheaper and easier? I don't think any shamanic spirits can do it, but could an Earth Spirit excavate an area? Or could a City Spirit? Are there spells somewhere that might help? If not, do people have any other suggestions? We've got a full team working on building up our compound.

[crizh]

Shape [Material] in Street Magic.

Shape Earth and Shape Stone ought to cover nearly all of your needs.

[Marshwiggle]

Great form earth elementals can cause earthquakes and the like in combat. I'd say they should be able to do some sort of digging as well. Spirits of earth/ground don't seem to have anything like that - in fact, they don't seem terribly different from spirits of the mountains, except they are easier to summon and move around.

Your real problem isn't digging. Your real problem is shoring up your underground lair. Just because you've got a big hole doesn't mean it won't collapse, fill up with water, and so on. Shape X or earth elementals or whatever can dig just fine. So can machines, explosives, whatever. You'll still need someone who knows the minimal basics of engineering to make sure things don't fall over or flood on you.

[JaronK]

Isn't Street Magic SR4? I'm in an SR3 group here.

EDIT: Ah, it's in Magic in the Shadows. Yes, that will do nicely. Shame that Earth Spirits don't seem to be able to do much... we're not going to get access to Great Form Earth Spirits for a long time.

[tisoz]

The spirits could manually dig it out, like with shovels, for a service.