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GrinderTheTroll
In SR4.core, it states that an assensing test can be used to determine if an Illusion is real or otherwise (assuming the spell hasn't been resisted).

With this in mind and given the fact you *can't* spellcast your way into faking an Aura, wouldn't the lack of a "living" aura reveal an illusion of a living thing (viewed Astrally) as immediately non-living and fake? I am not sure what SM says about masking auras so this might be covered there.

Thanks,

~GTT
James McMurray
I would rule yes.
Slithery D
I agree. The assensing test to detect unresisted illusions should only come into play with simple Mask spells on a person that don't try for any huge physical changes, like replacing an arm, that would be automatically obvious from an astral check.
Jaid
non-living or really oddly masked, at any rate.

mind you, non-living doesn't necessarily mean not a threat, so just cause they know it isn't alive (or at least, very unlikely) doesn't mean they can completely disregard it.
Kairo
QUOTE (GrinderTheTroll)
In SR4.core, it states that an assensing test can be used to determine if an Illusion is real or otherwise (assuming the spell hasn't been resisted).

With this in mind and given the fact you *can't* spellcast your way into faking an Aura, wouldn't the lack of a "living" aura reveal an illusion of a living thing (viewed Astrally) as immediately non-living and fake? I am not sure what SM says about masking auras so this might be covered there.

Thanks,

~GTT

I'd say that the lack of a "living" aura would definately reveal the illusion of a living thing to be false. At least, that's how I'd rule it as a GM for my team.
Jaid
it is possible, with masking, to make yourself look like a lifeless object, is it not? presumably, this would make it slightly less than 100% certain...
James McMurray
Is it? It wasn't in prior editions.
Slithery D
The BBB Masking rules only let you look mundane, look like your Magic is higher or lower, or look like "a different type of astral creature." So when you're projecting you can look like a fire elemental if you like. I suppose you could look like a spirit was possesing you when you're in your body.

To which should be added the implicit rule in fooling wards (no longer spoofing) that you can copy someone else's aura, too, although there aren't rules for determining whether you can fool observation, just fooling a ward.
hyzmarca
"Ha! That giant cougar is just an illusion. It has no aura."

Five seconds later

"Help! It's eating me. The drone is eating me."

Realistic fake skin is readily available in 2070. Sometimes, it pays to camouflage a drone.
fool
actually we always played that spells were visible on the astral plane as a spell. So you'd know that there was a spell and the assensing would tell you what kind of spell.
edit. this might be a throwback to the older systems
Samaels Ghost
Still works that way. Any astrally perceiving character can tell very basic qualities of the aura they see without an assensing test. They can tell between spells, foci, spirits and projecting mages without a test.
Eyeless Blond
A rule which I really dislike. It makes the illusionist specialist near completely useless. Well, they're still stupidly effective against mundanes, but useless against other Awakened.
Samaels Ghost
I had the same reaction.
Slithery D
Depending on the situation/mission, I more often find taking spells through wards to be the tougher challenge. At least with masking you can disguise yourself outside a ward.
GrinderTheTroll
QUOTE (Samaels Ghost)
Still works that way. Any astrally perceiving character can tell very basic qualities of the aura they see without an assensing test. They can tell between spells, foci, spirits and projecting mages without a test.

Where does it say this? On Sr4.201 it says an Assensing Test is required to determine if it's an Illusion or not.
Samaels Ghost
Pg. 182.

"Without attempting to read an aura, a magician can still get an impression of what type of aura it is (spell, spirit, living creature etc.)."

RAW as written, just spells, spirits, and living creatures can be told apart without a check. I included foci because they are usually obvious, unless your spirits are shaped like items. Projecting mages I interpret as being living creatures. I had to check this out for an astral trick one of my NPCs pulled.
GrinderTheTroll
Thanks for the reference.

I might ignore that no-roll rule for something like an illusion specifically intending to deceive someone else they'd be rather useless when view by Astral beings.
Ophis
I'd allow astral sensing to beat Physical illusions everytime, as they to my mind produce a magic "thing" that produces the photons, sound waves, smells etc as "real" things thus fooling tech. Mana illusions are magic "things" that affect the viewers(or whatevers) mind to see something. I would allow this to fool astral sight totally if the viewer hadn't resisted, though I might grant a bonus to resist if viewing it in astral.
hyzmarca
But what about a living creature whose aura is covered by a spell. Say, for example, a character with armor sustained?

Can the magician sort the armor spell from its subject without assensing? I say nay. If this is the case then it would be possible for an illusion spell to foll someone. They would see the illusion spell as being a spell but would not know if there was a living aura beneath it without assensing.
Slithery D
QUOTE (Ophis)
I'd allow astral sensing to beat Physical illusions everytime, as they to my mind produce a magic "thing" that produces the photons, sound waves, smells etc as "real" things thus fooling tech. Mana illusions are magic "things" that affect the viewers(or whatevers) mind to see something. I would allow this to fool astral sight totally if the viewer hadn't resisted, though I might grant a bonus to resist if viewing it in astral.

The problem is that they then see an illusion of whatever the caster inteded...which, whatever it is, isn't an aura and is therefore obviously an illusion!

Allowing astral illusions is a pretty huge change in the game. The solutions are Masking for personal illusions, Masking wards for stationary illusions, and a full scale assault on astral space by a projecting mage with elementals in tow to achieve "astral superiority" and make any opposing mages afraid to leave the runway, er, assense. You lose a lot of subtlety, but you can still slip in some helpful illusions under the confusion, like disguising your team as security responding to what's obviously prep for a mundane attack.
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