[SoA2064] Sota 64 Finally Options

[Casper]

Well I just picked it up about an hour ago. I havn't been able to read anything out of it yet. But I will see what i can put together in a few hours after I get some other things out of the way.

How about anyone else? Find it yet?

And can we get a forum for it.

Zach

[JongWK]

[Bane]

Expect a SOTA:2064 forum when your address bar no longer says "forums-temp.dumpshock.com"

[Siege]

Some long overdue spook gear - although I think the briefcase rocket was a tad much.

The adept powers range from absolutely rocking to downright scary. So help me, I'm gonna make an adept with a -2 delusion: Batman.

A couple of new flaws, including the much bandied "Character Dossier" which isn't quite as bad as a "Police Record", but still beefy. Also "Incomplete Deprogramming" for all you Alias junkies.

Which leads me to the aliaschips - finally, p-fix chips have numbers and stuff. Let the fun begin. Although the number support is a little weak, it's more than has been printed before.

And you thought mages were nervous before - "magic cameras." The line that made me cringe - "captures astral signatures."

-Siege

[Tanka]

[Kanada Ten]

[Tanka]

Possibly, but it seems likely that it would need to be able to make the disctinction between "person" and "object," as some objects have auras or aura-equivalents. (Mainly foci, manifested spirits, et cetera.)

[Kanada Ten]

I would imagine it is a layer of dual natured cells, like an optic nerve, that simply translates astral impressions into some kind of photo-chemical reaction. It may even take astral perception to see what the 'image' looks like or to 'feel' the impressions.

[Edward]

I can conserve of several possible ways to build a camera that could detect astral objects.

The easiest would involve some form of astral detecting physically reactive compound or organism connected to a detector. I believe there was a fluresnt moss that did this.

A traditional camera with awakened film (ether traditional film roll or hooked to electric receptors for digital image) would be of limited utility without some form of awakened lenses.

Or they could find or create an awakened critter that could have a transducer installed and be trained to transfer what it sees threw the transducer (meaning that you get what it thinks it sees not what it is actually seeing). Cut away the unnecessary portions and put it in an elegant box.

Edward

[Eyeless Blond]

[Kanada Ten]

A second use for the Astral Window spell, hooray!

[Jason Farlander]

Umm... I dont think there is any canon indication that either fiberoptics nor binoculars have any effect on Astral perception. They both can generate physical LOS, but I do not believe it is mentioned anywhere that you can astrally percieve through a fiberoptic cable or binoculars (dont have books, cant check immediately, will do so when i get home unless someone else does first).

[mfb]

i went round and round about that with some other players, recently. i contended that since the astral senses section of SR3 say that you have your normal sense of sight, things like optical magnification should work just fine. they disagreed, saying that light doesn't even exist on the astral plane. i dunno.

[Wireknight]

Okay, so, care to give a list of the adept powers/metamagics? I'm going to pick up the book as soon as it's available here(where is "there" that you acquired it, anyhow), but I'm curious as to what's been done for(or to) adepts, as I play quite a few.

[Tanka]

Light is created from living things, so it does exist. (On the astral, that is.)

IIRC, anything you pay Essence for works properly with Astral Perception. (Not Projection, as you are no longer "home.")

Anything that is natural magnification works as well (so no electronic zooms for you magical snipers).

[Jason Farlander]

[Bane]

Yes, I believe the book says that the astral plan is lit by the glow of auras and such, so you could argue that that light can be magnified.

I think FAB-I is the one that dies when an astral form passes through it and glows under an ultraviolet light. I don't think it's too big a stretch to extend a similar principle to film.

[SilverWolf_assas...]

Magic Camera's eh?
Start the damage control team off with a good ritual tracking.
Sounds like a regular Witch-Hunt.

As far as I can tell fiber optics by virtue of their lack of electronic reliance allow light refractions to create a line of sight for casting purposes (with modifiers). It is safe to say that with "magic camera's" in place that astral light (auras and such) operates in the same way as physical light.

With that line of logic in place I say, "Bring in the astral wood pyre and the fire elementals! We are having ourselves a BBQ."

Lep, illusionist extraordinaire
“Welcome to the fun house”
:dead:

[mfb]

farlander, your proposal that the output generated by auras and interpreted as 'light' isn't actually light isn't supported by the books.

[Jason Farlander]

I dont even know how to begin to respond to that statement, mfb. That it isnt self evident to you baffles me.

However, while I do a little bit of research to back up my claim definitively, I ask that you provide a canon quote that indicates, unambiguously, that astral "light" is the same as physical light.

[FlakJacket]

Sod the debate, I want adept powers! Gimme! :D

[mfb]

bah. i do have a page number--first sentence under the Astral Senses section of SR3, page 173, where it says that your astral form has the normal senses of sight and hearing (the normal sense of sight involves the manipulation and measurement of light; anything else isn't normal). and, i'd like to point out that every passage but one talks about light as if it works the same on the astral as it does in the physical (for instance, on page 82 of MitS, under Astral Visibility, it states that the light level of the physical plane has no effect on astral visibility because of the light provided by the auras of the Earth and other living beings).

however, on page 104 of SOTA:63, under the Prometheus Fiberoptic Observation Network section (which begins on pg 103) it states in no uncertain terms that astral perception cannot be used through fiberoptics. fie, i am defeated. i'll get you next time, Gadget!

[Kanada Ten]

[Jason Farlander]

I notice that you have admitted defeat, and SOTA63 was the next book I was going to check for exactly that device - but I'll go ahead and post the quotes I accumulated from SR3 so the time it took to assemble them wasnt entirely wasted.

A slew of quotes that indicate that astral "light" is not analogous to physical light:

"Astral perception does not rely on physical vision in any way; it is a psychic sense." SR3 171

"blind magicians can see perfectly well on the astral." SR3 173

"physical light level does not affect visual perception on the astral." SR3 173

"Written information and symbols carry their emotional intent rather than their informational intent... you could scan a sheet of paper and get feelings of love and longing from it, but you can't read it to see that it's a love letter." SR3 173 [since when does light reflect off of emotional intent???]

"All astral forms have the ability to manifest, to make themselves visible and audible to beings in the physical world through an act of will. The astral form appears as a ghostly image to all viewers on the physical plane.... A manifestation is entirely psychic. Machines cannot percieve it in any way; cameras do not see it, microphones do not hear it, and so forth. For characters with cybereyes, the image is in their minds, so they can see the manifestation despite their cyber." [emphases mine. if the astral form is actually producing real light, why cant machines see it? why is it described as being in the viewers' minds? why are they using the terms "image," "visible" and "audible" to describe something that is neither really actual light or sound?]

But yeah... as long as I have Penny and her trusty dog Brain over here to help me out of these tricky situations, I will always triumph!

This post has been edited by Jason Farlander: Oct 6 2004, 03:26 AM

[SilverWolf_assas...]

I am to understand that the Magic Camera, or at least the idea of it functioning as a normal camera, is contrary to actual game mechanics. Either it works on a completely different function then I imagine it or perhaps this explains it.

Page 19 of Harlequins Back
"Yes, this does mean that a character's world view shapes how magic works for him in the Shadowrun Universe."

Those crazy scientists.

Hany, Pirate of the mega-corporate waters.
"Giving the Middle East a bad name."