Hey, was skimming my Street Magic again and came across the Astral Gate power.

It can be used to allow mundanes to project. But since SR4 links the time you can stay on the astral to your magic rating (instead of essence in SR3 when I recall correctly), how long can a Mundane stay on the Astral Plane?

As long as the spirit uses the power?
As long as his essence in hours?
As long as the force of the spirit?

Or did I miss something here?

As long as the Spirit uses that power. Yes, as soon as the Spirit ends it, the mundanes die instantly (unless using that special magic concoction described in Arsenal). Which is why it's a very dangerous thing to bargain with Spirits to use that power (and to enter the metaplanes at all, when you're a mundane).

As long as the spirit maintains the power. The power creates a rift, the rift forces people to project. When the rift closes and they are not inside their bodies... ce la vis. They don't have a magic rating to sustain them while projecting. Can be an interesting way to kill people. Hm...

Yeah that is tricky, by RAW a mundane would go "Hey I bet I could leave my body and move around!" and then instantly die why the tried it because they have a magic stat of 0 meaning they can project for 0 hours.

I would roll with the spirits force because that means the team is all on the same clock.

Why? They don't need that. They can project indefinitly as long as their bodies remain inside the rift and vice versa.

Magicians can't project indefendantly , so why would mundanes? The power said that it gives an ability with no description of how that ability works. So we assume that it works exactly the way it is define else where. Except in this case that means they you die as soon as you use it. So I'm reinterpreting "The magician can maintain this form for a number of hours equal to her Magic attribute" as "The mundane can maintain this form for a number of hours equal to the Magic attribute of the thing granting the ability".

In a rift anyone projects as long as their body is inside said rift. It's a rule that applies to anyone equally. A magician has just the bonus that once the rift or his body are removed he can still find a way back using his own projection time. Unless he's a non initiate on the metaplanes. Then he is boned.

Doesn't Astral Gateway actually make it so the mundane's (or magician's) entire body goes Astral? It isn't projecting as much as entirely stepping through the rift/gateway.

Not anymore, it doesn't. It creates an astral rift, and that forces you to project to wherever it is conected to.

Hmmmm. I guess I need to review that section. That what I get for making assumptions ...

I know that feeling too well.

Let me break this down


You are forced to become dual natured like ghoul or astrally persevering magician. You are allowed to astrally project. So you body stays completely physical the whole time. By RAW a mundane has the option of killing themselves instantly by leaving there body, but think this is what we are talking about house ruling

Read the page about astral rifts.

In short, in a rift everyone is able to project into the place the rift connects to. Mundanes don't die the instant they project, since the users own abilities (and hence magic) is a non factor. Perception and projection are both "sponsored" by the rift and as long as it exists and your body is inside it you're safe.

Btw, in a rift you're dual natured like an astrally percieving magician, not like a ghoul. Yes, there is a diffrence.