Ancient elves, slumbering dragons... vampires? Options

[MJBurrage]

I don't see a problem with the SR4 Noticing Magic rule compared to past editions.
Shadowrun 4:

  Just how obvious are magical skills? Not very, since most spells and spirits have little, if any, visible effect in the physical world (unless the magician prefers to have flashy effects, or her tradition calls for it). An observer has to notice the magician’s intense look of concentration, whispered incantations, and small gestures. Magicians of some traditions display a more visible change when practicing magic known as the shamanic mask. The shamanic mask typically changes the magician’s features temporarily to display characteristics appropriate to her mentor spirit or tradition—an eagle shaman, for example, might seem to have feathers or beaklike features while spellcasting or summoning.
  Noticing if someone is using a magical skill requires a Perception Test (p. 135) with a threshold equal to 6 minus the magic’s Force. More powerful magic is easier to spot with the gathered mana normally appearing as a disturbance or glowing aura in the air around the caster. The gamemaster should apply additional modifiers as appropriate, or if the perceiver is Awakened themselves (+2 dice), astrally perceiving (+2 dice), or if a shamanic mask is evident (+2 dice).

Shadowrun 3:

  Just how obvious are magical skills? Not very, since most spells and spirits have little, if any, visible effect in the physical world. An observer has to notice the magician’s intense look of concentration, whispered incantations, small gestures and changes like the shamanic mask (p. 163). The raw power and complexity of an effect determines how visible the magician’s efforts are.
  Noticing if someone is using a magical skill requires a Perception Test. The base Target Number is 4, plus the caster’s Magic Attribute, minus the Force of the magic being performed. So, a spellcaster with Magic 6 casting a spell with a Force of 4 results in a target number of 6 to notice it (4 + 6 – 4). If the spell were Force 2, the target number would be 8 (4 + 6 – 2).
  Situational modifiers for Perception Tests should be applied (see Perception Tests, p. 231). Consult the Noticing Spellcasting Modifiers Table for additional modifiers.

SR4 does not indicate when magic becomes "More powerful", so it is up to the GM. Even in SR3, the target number when overcasting got so low, as to be almost automatic. All SR4 does is give an example of what might be visible in those cases. At my table Overcasting is the threshold for a visible sign (other than concentration etc.) Those with a totem of some sort show a shamnic mask, and those without show more of a glow. Both effects seem to me to fit the all but automatic target number / threshold level indicated for powerful magic.

[Semerkhet]

I mean, sparkly magic doesn't *not* make sense. It's magic, anything is equally valid. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The precedent from earlier editions where magic was very hard to notice makes those options a smidgen less than equally valid, imo.