According to LOS rules, the character must be able to see the target without digital enhancement, however they can use optical enhancement. I suspect this rule was put in to allow mages with cybereyes to still be able to cast spells,

Mage sight goggles allow a character to look around a corner 30m away, and do so using fibre optics. As a result, it is an analog signal.

Does this mean a mage can launch mana bolts, acid streams, etc through mage sight goggles?

If so, how does this manifest? Does the power behind the spell materialize on the target directly? Does it fly from the mage directly, ignoring any objects between the mage and target? Or is the spell somehow channeled through the goggles themselves?

I can't imagine a stream of acid flying from the mage's hands, through a fiber optic line, and then spraying out the other end. There's going to be collateral damage there, there's just got to be.

So how do you folks run this? It seems ridiculously easy to abuse from my point of view. Casting spells through a tiny hole in a brick wall comes to mind, with the mage actually 30m along the wall so blowing a panther round through it is still extremely unlikely to hit.

A mage definitely can target spells through mage goggles and other fiber optics. In SR4, spells do not "travel" but originate at the target. Therefore you need LOS through a non-digital optic (or ritual magic) to target the spell, but the spell itself "erupts" at the target.

With the exception of indrect combat spells, unfortunately. Indirect spells such as lightning bolt, acid stream, etc, do travel a path. Hence the ability of the target to dodge. It doesn't explicitly state this, but it says "Treat it like a ranged attack." While this is open to interpretation, I've always dealt with it as originating from the caster and travelling in a straight line.

These are the only exception to the otherwise clear-cut 'see it, blast it' rules. Mana bolts, balls, and all the other non-indirect spells will whack your target just fine.

...ok going out on a limb here...

Maybe what they need is spell ranges like that other game uses. After all, Mundane weapons have range limits/modifiers, why shouldn't spells? That would rein in magic a bit. After all, isn't the mage channelling the mana? Therefore it should come form the mage as it does in every other game system.

If you have a copy of Grimoire I suggest using the range table for casting in that. Since vision modifiers affect spellcasting, it also wouldn't be hard to apply some of those to the casting. I believe the table went something like this:

0-100m: -1
100-200m: -2
300-500m: -3
500-1000m: -4

Or something. My grimoire is in a box in the closet, and I don't wanna dig it up at the moment.

...I'll have to dig my old copy up & houserule it in.

I still have an issue though with spells manifesting themselves at the target rather than from the caster. It contradicts all notions of magic that I ever read about in fantasy fiction or dealt with in other games.

That's actually pretty much verbatim from 2nd Edition Grimoire or Awakenings - I forget which. Most of the evidence from 3rd and 4th support it being the case in subsequent editions, as well. Especially the ever popular section, "Why magic doesn't look like it does on the trid" - namely that most spells are very hard to see, if they can be seen at all.

Uhh, no. You launch a bead-sized projectile that flies straight out and blows up. Like an airburst grenade.

They even make you take an attack roll to fit it through tight spaces.

Heh... maybe they'll do that in 4E, since rumor has it that they're essentially copying the mechanics from MMOs like WoW.

Not well, too.

If its trated like a grenade I wonder if its reasonable to say that the mage could lob it around the corner using the mage sight goggles like a smartgun link to aim around the corner.

Also, keep in mind casting through mage sight goggles has a penalty of something like -2 dice.

p. 324:

So what is the point of origin of a spell... the eyes of the caster (which allows firing around corners with magesight goggles) or the hand of the caster?

Neither. The spell erupts at the target and does not travel from the caster at all.

Unless it's indirect. Then it most definitely does travel.

Thanks for the clarification!

Here's the table from the Grimoire for ranges.