Masking question Options

[Spook]

Okay, the common use of masking seems to be for magically active characters to cover up the fact that they are, and tends to be the first metamagic technique anyone buys.

My question is : could a character mask themselves to look like something else? Say a highly initiated mage wants to look like a magically active but uninitiated person, or a free water elemental needs to appear mundane on the astral.

[Sandoval Smith]

According to MitS, Masking can be used to make an Intiates aura seem either mundane, or awakened but unintiated. A free spirit may have 'Aura Masking' which allows it to make it's aura match it's current form (if trying to pass as a mundane animal or human) or to appear as a normal spirit of its type.

[Spook]

Perfect, thanks :)

[Canid13]

An adept were-eagle in my campaign uses Masking to appear as a human on the astral as well. MitS doesn't imply this can be done, so I don't think it's a stretch.

[Lantzer]

Personally, I'd say that the masking available to initiates would be limited to making the were-eagle look like a mundane eagle on the astral, the same way a human can mask himself as a mundane human. The human is not allowed to maks himeslef as a dog, or a tree, even if he has transformed/ shapeshifted/ illusioned himself to a tree or dog.

Free spirits and possibly dragons can get the super-duper masking, but it's not available to mages by current rules. Notice that both of these creatures are plot devices, not PCs.

[Lindt]

Candid, are you saying that your using masking to hide the dual nature of a shifter? Which Ill admit is pretty slick. Im not sure Id allow you to appear as something your not, (human in eagle form, or eagle in human form) but I might go as far as to say you could use masking to appear like a 'normal' human, vs a dual-natured shifter.

[Jrayjoker]

Lindt, according to canon (IIRC) all shifters are animal forms that can assume human shape, not vice versa. I have to side with Lantzer's interpretation of things.

I could see letting shifter mages take improved masking after multiple initiations and make an open test to see how well the aura could be mainpulated to appear human...

[Canid13]

I give the were-eagle a couple of options - look like a non dual natured initiate human or look like an unawakened eagle. Either way, it's deliberate masking so if he ain't deliberately masking he's a 'something' which has a distinctly eagle shape.

If he wants to look like a completely mundane human then he's suffering penalties for controling his astral form through masking.

[Jrayjoker]

Sounds fair to me, but is it canon or a house rule? (No books on hand to double check)

[Canid13]

Well, I got the impression this was based in canon from the SRComp and MitS passages about it, but it could be a house rule.

[Jrayjoker]

Thanks for the refs