Concealing Auras, How can a mundane hide his/her aura from mages Options

[Jizmack]

I have a NPC that needs the help of the shadowrunner PCs to fake her death and conceal her in every way, longterm.

How can the players hide a mundane person’s aura from being found by a mage that is actively looking and is familiar with that aura?

I thank you in advance for any constructive feedback.

[Yerameyahu]

Cardboard box. (Not for the long term, of course, but fully effective.)

[HunterHerne]

Mage hunt '72

[Machiavelli]

Spirit pact, inhabitation or possession of a free spirit with masking? I can´t think of other solutions.

[Yerameyahu]

Are we assuming that just killing the mage isn't an option? Much easier. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Makki]

stand in some very deep background count with a lot of people and plants around you. There are more modifiers to assensing in Street Magic. It's not masking, but astral hiding. Sitting in a strong ward helps against Ritual Magic.

[Jizmack]

Are we assuming that just killing the mage isn't an option? Much easier. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The mage is part of an investigator unit that work for Aztechnology... so, no it's not easier to kill the mage (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[Adarael]

I have a NPC that needs the help of the shadowrunner PCs to fake her death and conceal her in every way, longterm.

How can the players hide a mundane person’s aura from being found by a mage that is actively looking and is familiar with that aura?

I thank you in advance for any constructive feedback.

Assuming no astral links to this person exist, I'd suggest moving very far away, to a very crowded new city. I've often had players try to use astral sight to find people whose aura they are familiar with, and the unfortunate part about that otherwise brilliant plan is that they're still looking for a needle in a haystack.

Say this woman is from Seattle. If you move her to a random suburb of Tokyo, there's no easy way for the mage tracking her to know where she is unless he has a ritual link. Even if he finds out she's "in tokyo" he still has to spot her. This is akin to flying an invisible, intangible helecopter around Tokyo looking for someone wearing a bright green jacket: it's doable, but unlikely.

really, just being someplace else is often good enough, unless the tracker knows where you live.

[Yerameyahu]

Plant those awakened lilies, etc.

I dunno, Jizmack. It's all about planning. Trick the mage into some kind of vulnerable situation. Be creative. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Adarael]

Actually, let's not say "any random city". Let's say "Hong Kong", because Hong Kong had wangtastically bizzare ley lines that make magical tracking a bitch.

[Makki]

be/get a runner mage with Masking. Copy the aura of the asset. set up a trap.

[HunterHerne]

Just remember, when the character leaves, to burn the building they lived in. Astral Links can be made from a lot of things, and if the mage does know where the character lives, may be able to get it from almost anything if skilled enough (though a body part would be a lot easier to work with)

[BishopMcQ]

Metaplanar quest--Go out into the deep unknown, hide it, and come back. Enemy mage has to go out to the metaplanes and undertake a quest of the same difficulty to find it. Downside is that while hiding, the NPC mage cannot use any magic.

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

Metaplanar quest--Go out into the deep unknown, hide it, and come back. Enemy mage has to go out to the metaplanes and undertake a quest of the same difficulty to find it. Downside is that while hiding, the NPC mage cannot use any magic.

Huh? Since when can an awakened grab someone's aura and hide it in the metaplanes?

[BishopMcQ]

Astral Concealment (Street Magic, p. 132) You aren't taking the aura there, you are moving the link so if someone tries astral tracking, it has to go to hell and back.

This was one of the methods discussed for Jane in DOTA3, but they opted for the amulet instead. Likewise, a unique enchantment with a Rating 12 mana void on the person would probably hide them--but keep them from having any access to their magic/abilities.

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

Except that only works for a link that someone might follow. It doesn't help any against an aura being recognized.

[BishopMcQ]

I'm sorry, I presumed the runners at least had the intelligence to take him somewhere no one would ever think to look for him. My solution is designed to stop ritual tracking, not the mage being ID'd while buying soynuts at the Stuffer Shack.

Edit: If you are still dealing with someone seeing him, then cosmetic surgery, preferably with phenotype changes, genetech for Masque or a full genewipe, and a brand new SIN, with the other being burnt. Also, buy a Hacker to maintain the Erased quality for the rest of the NPCs life.

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

I'm sorry, I presumed the runners at least had the intelligence to take him somewhere no one would ever think to look for him. My solution is designed to stop ritual tracking, not the mage being ID'd while buying soynuts at the Stuffer Shack.

I have a NPC that needs the help of the shadowrunner PCs to fake her death and conceal her in every way, longterm.

Presumably the NPC doesn't want to spend the rest of his/her life in a safehouse and/or doesn't want to have to move to some distant city.

[Nath]

Search for the amulet the great dragon Dunkelzahn left to an ork called Craig Sanchez in his will. According to the adventure "What's in a name?" in Blood in the Boardroom, pp. 84-86, the amulet "can make any person's aura look nondescript, meaning that a heavily cybered person could use to appear as unaugmented on the astral plane. Treat thus as if a Grade 5 Initiate with a Magic of 11 were deliberately masking the wearer's aura. Also, treat the amulet as a unique magical item, meaning that it does not require bonding and cannot be dispelled, attacked astrally, or ground through (unless the gamemaster so desires), nor will it stop the wearer from walking through astral barriers."

For the full story, in 2033, Dunkelzahn forced the free spirit Buttercup into occupying thirteen-years old Craig Sanchez body for a year and a day, to teach it was metahuman's life was like. That's only after this experience that Butercup actually initiated pro-metahuman policies at Yamatetsu/Evo. The thing Dunkelzahn did resulted in Craig Sanchez knowing Buttercup True Name (well, instead of "knowing", it would be more appropriate to say that piece of information was somewhere in his head). So, to protect him from Buttercup after his death, he had the Draco Foundation handing him the amulet.
The aforementioned adventure is about the runners searching for Sanchez during the 2057-2060 Corporate War, as Buttercup located him in Seattle when he lost the amulet. It ends with Buttercup choosing to keep Sanchez alive and hiding in Singapore (so the PC can keep the amulet if they want to). Note that in Corporate Guide suggests Craig Sanchez is dead, while he elven daughter Julia (born from an ork and an human, or adopted ?) became Buttercup secretary.

[Sengir]

Unless I'm forgetting some Metamagic, finding a person with a known aura requires the same effort as finding a known face in a crowd. So keeping in crowded places seems like a good start, the concrete wasteland of a typical wageslave settlement should also provide some Background Count.

Putting holes in an aura via cyber probably also makes it harder to recognize. And if even that is not enough, HMHVV or Cybermancy give the aura a complete makeover, with some _minor_ side effects.

[Dakka Dakka]

Spirit pact, inhabitation or possession of a free spirit with masking? I can´t think of other solutions.

I'm pretty sure, that masking isn't even needed. Spirit and vessel become a composite entity which obviously is different from either the vessel or the astral spirit. As such the aura should be different as well.
Both methods however have their drawbacks as the vessel is (at least temporarily) not in control.

[Tanegar]

Unless I'm forgetting some Metamagic, finding a person with a known aura requires the same effort as finding a known face in a crowd. So keeping in crowded places seems like a good start, the concrete wasteland of a typical wageslave settlement should also provide some Background Count.

Putting holes in an aura via cyber probably also makes it harder to recognize. And if even that is not enough, HMHVV or Cybermancy give the aura a complete makeover, with some _minor_ side effects.

Is the NPC a Twilight fan? Just tell her HMHVV will make her sparkly. Problem solved. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Ghost_in_the_Sys...]

Is the NPC a Twilight fan? Just tell her HMHVV will make her sparkly. Problem solved. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I doubt the NPC is into classical literature (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Dakka Dakka]

Twilight classical? Literature? SCNR

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Twilight classical? Literature? SCNR

Well, in 60 Years, it may be a classic, but it will never be Literature... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)