A mage runner could just find a random apartment somewhere, go to the basement, dig into the wall, and make his own little hobbit-hole that no one but a mage that finds his astral signature could get into. He doesn't even need to ward the place or pay rent; no one knows that he's even there, and no one could find his place with astral projection or Search because it's in the middle of the earth. If there are people on the other side, he'll just tunnel his way out into another basement or something.
I also realized something. Each spell gives the mage, like, one X-Men power that they can basically use at will. That's insanely awesome.
Full Version: Paranoia evolved.
I'm sure I don't get what your trying to say here:
| QUOTE |
| go to the basement, dig into the wall, and make his own little hobbit-hole |
digging into the basement wall of a building in the middle of the sprawl has a high probability of
- cave-ins
- hitting power/water/telecom/sewage lines (resulting in giving away your presence, electrocution, drowning, additional chances of cave-ins, or just general gross-ness.)
- creating structural weaknesses in the building above you.
| QUOTE |
| that no one but a mage that finds his astral signature could get into. |
The superintendent is likely to notice a big gaping hole beside the boiler. If you're planning to hide the entrance with magic, then the spell would have to be anchored or quickened in order to keep it up all the time requiring initiation and karma sunk into the spell. Even then, the presence of the spell would be obvious to any searching hearth spirit, unless the entrance was also warded with a masking ward (requiring additional initiation.)
Ignoring all this, he's still stuck living in an unfinished dirty hole-in-the-wall, with no running water, no toilet, no lights, no heat... He'd be better off just summoning a spirit to conceal him at the beginning of each night, and sleeping in the lobby.
Can't you just cast the spell again to put the wall back?
Cement yourself into a hole the the ground? I guess you could create some sort of spell to do that. You still can be found by astral search though since you have created a hole in the giasphere. Unless you have also brought along a rebreather, have an appropriate spell, or somehow otherwise deal with the lack of fresh air you might as well have hidden by sticking your head in a plastic bag. 
They can find the hole in the gaiasphere even though it's hidden deep within solid astral matter? You could also have a quickened oxygenate spell on the hole or something. Which would also be hidden by being buried in dirt. I'm also assuming that you could just haul in building materials and reinforce the hole that way. Or you could build your hole somewhere outside city limits and reinforce the walls with shaped concrete.
Astral Search doesn't literally involve the spirit running around looking for stuff - that's just Astral Movement. The Search power involves the creature standing in one place concentrating until they know where the object is.
So impenetrable astral stuff being between the spirit and the target is useless against Search. An astral barrier disturbs the mana flow and hinders Search, but just hiding in a bubble suurounded by Earth is no defense at all.
-Frank
So impenetrable astral stuff being between the spirit and the target is useless against Search. An astral barrier disturbs the mana flow and hinders Search, but just hiding in a bubble suurounded by Earth is no defense at all.
-Frank
So a ward that costs nothing but time would stop the search? There are still huge benefits to hiding in a well-furnished earth-bubble. And you could always have an earth and water spirit to work together to divert a spring toward you.
| QUOTE (emo samurai @ Mar 13 2006, 02:58 PM) |
| They can find the hole in the gaiasphere even though it's hidden deep within solid astral matter? You could also have a quickened oxygenate spell on the hole or something. Which would also be hidden by being buried in dirt. I'm also assuming that you could just haul in building materials and reinforce the hole that way. Or you could build your hole somewhere outside city limits and reinforce the walls with shaped concrete. |
You punched a hole in the gaiasphere. The concrete isn't part of the gaiasphere. Trying to backfill dirt? There isn't really any canon that I know of that talks about fill back in manmade holes in the gaiasphere and how long that takes to reestablish on the astral. It could take a while, hard to say.
Besides I really don't get what you want to accomplish? A secure safe place to stay on the cheap? A Fortress of Solitude that is a Street Lifestyle? Because you are talking about a lot of hassle for something that isn't really going to get you much more than just not doing stupid stuff to have people hunting you down.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| There are still huge benefits to hiding in a well-furnished earth-bubble. And you could always have an earth and water spirit to work together to divert a spring toward you. |
if the mage were paranoid, and didn't value physical socialization, this would be workable. the kind of life you're talking about, though, is worse than most first-world prisons. there'd have to be something wrong with your wiring to want that kind of life.
Most first-world prisons don't let you roam free. If he just slept there and didn't spend much time in his earth bubble, that would be okay. If he had a separate place to play video games, store his stuff, and cook, that would probably not add to his "on the radar" rating much, if at all. This is just a good place to avoid having someone knife you in your sleep and stay away from organized crime.
Two words: Bomb shelter. The only place to live for the truly paranoid.
Two words popped into my head when I read this: Saddam Hussein.
| QUOTE |
| If he had a separate place to play video games, store his stuff, and cook, that would probably not add to his "on the radar" rating much, if at all. |
I guess that all depends on how much time he's gonna spend playing video games.
| QUOTE (Shrike30) | ||
Two words popped into my head when I read this: Saddam Hussein.
I guess that all depends on how much time he's gonna spend playing video games. |
And if the video games are online, now we have a datatrail.
He'll spend, like, 80% of his waking hours away from his hole. Plus, this is a great way to stash the group's weaponry. Assuming the hole stays up.
Shape change into a man-turtle, learn kung-fu and live in the sewer. I think thats the most simple solution.
Actually, I was going to say that my mage lived in a painfully bland box apartment building. It was so manufactured that it had background count, making it unpleasent for astral people.
Actually, I was going to say that my mage lived in a painfully bland box apartment building. It was so manufactured that it had background count, making it unpleasent for astral people.
Ow. You can do that? I thought magic was supposed to make your life more transcendent.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| He'll spend, like, 80% of his waking hours away from his hole. Plus, this is a great way to stash the group's weaponry. Assuming the hole stays up. |
all an enemy mage has to do is track the guy astrally when he's not at home (which, like you said, would be a lot of the time), and then follow him.
Could my player anchor a ward onto an article of clothing?
I am under the impression that wards are immobile.
All the RAW says is that it has to be linked to an object. It says that "a ward cannot be moved from its physical component to another location." But if it's still with its physical component, then I don't see the problem if the physical component's carried.
| QUOTE (emo samurai @ Mar 13 2006, 11:25 PM) |
| All the RAW says is that it has to be linked to an object. It says that "a ward cannot be moved from its physical component to another location." But if it's still with its physical component, then I don't see the problem if the physical component's carried. |
Next step, grasshopper, is to argue that you can ward bullets to use them to negate Immunity to Normal Weapons of a spirit or to shoot astral only beings.
You can ward something like a car, or a van, something with rigid, enclosed sides and structure.
Clothing moves around a fair bit, and alters shape too much.
Clothing moves around a fair bit, and alters shape too much.
| QUOTE (Ranneko) |
| You can ward something like a car, or a van, something with rigid, enclosed sides and structure. Clothing moves around a fair bit, and alters shape too much. |
So then we ward a helmet and headbutt spirits.
Here is the previous thread about the uses and abuses of wards. 
Thanks, folks. At the time I saw the reply, I was too tired and wasn't nearly drunk enough to argue that kind of logic.
| QUOTE (emo samurai @ Mar 13 2006, 10:20 PM) |
| Ow. You can do that? I thought magic was supposed to make your life more transcendent. |
That's the religious view of it.
It's been my experience the Shadowrunners are a lot more on the "pragmatic" side of the philosophical spectrum.
Anyway, how enlightened do you think you're going to get by living in a dirt hole under an apartment building?
And playing video games, no less.
Good point. So he'd probably be this enlightened.
I saw the jerking off video. That was 73|-| 4vvphU1_. But really, no one can judge anyone's path to enlightenment but himself.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| I saw the jerking off video. That was 73|-| 4vvphU1_. |
I edited it out of my post in favor of the better video. Anything that prompts leetspeek like that needs to be culled with swift prejudice.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| But really, no one can judge anyone's path to enlightenment but himself. |
... And the snide people. We can judge pretty effortlessly.
What if enlightenment is more like living life in the moment? Then again, sleeping in a cave doesn't seem very freewheeling to me.
| QUOTE (Lagomorph) |
| Shape change into a man-turtle, learn kung-fu and live in the sewer. I think thats the most simple solution. |
If you have 3 brothers and a Rat-Man Sensei it works even better
As for the Saddam Hussein thing, I went looking for an image link to post the second I saw this thread too.
My take: it seems like an awful lot of trouble and lifestyle sacrifice to go through to have an eccentric version of street lifestyle.
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