Permanent spells Options

[Machiavelli]

I still don´t get if there was finally a statement how exactly this sh***t works. Does the effect start immediately after casting (so you are healed immedately but if you drop the spell the wounds open up again) or only after the spell became permanent? Are there "part-healings" if you drop the spell too soon?

[hobgoblin]

The spell works as a sustained spell until it has been sustained for the time given, then its effect becomes permanent.

[Machiavelli]

Thank you, but this doesn´t help me very much^^.

[hobgoblin]

Ok, at time of casting a number of boxes gets "healed" as long as the spell is sustained. Once said spell have been sustained for the time given, the wounds stay sealed and the spell "vanishes". Dropping the spell before then (like say if the magican gets knocked out or killed), the wounds reopen.

I am unsure if i am able to make it any more clear then that.

[Badmoodguy88]

You got to give time for that magic glue to dry.

[Machiavelli]

THIS was sufficent, thank you. Do you know a official reference that i could show my GM? He reads the rule like "it works after the complete amount of time".

[hobgoblin]

Sadly not, as i base this on how i recall it being described in previous edition. The SR4 descriptions are vague to the extreme (even the more detailed one in street magic). Funny enough, this seems to not have been a issue raised to faq required levels.

Still, i guess you could ask him this: If both instant and sustained spells take effect the moment they are successfully cast, why should the permanent spells break that pattern?

[Dakka Dakka]

For me it is quite obvious that permanent spells affect the target immediately after the spell is cast:
According to page 182 ff. of SR4A the effect of a spell (Step 5) occurs before it has to be sustained (Step 7) in any form. Furthermore the grimoire section of the BBB states that the effects of a permanent spell need to be sustained for a certain time after which the effect remains even without concentration of the magician:

Permanent spells must be sustained for a short time, after which their effects become “natural” and no longer require magic or concentration to maintain.

It does not say that only then does the effect occur.