Ok, this question is sort of important. It determines the diffrence between some runners getting away nearly free, and a TPK.

Do adept activated powers, such as attribute boost, leave astral signatures?

yes and no. they leave them on whatever they affect, and as they affect the adept only, it will go with the adept.

basically your better of assensing the adepts aura at that point...

this also means that a mage only using spells on himself and his team will not leave behind any astral prints.

slap a spell on something else tho (unless it can be grabbed on the way out) and a print stays behind...

means that bodycount after a fireball will be one hell of a calling card

A spirit or mage astrally projecting can always assense a mage or an adept on the astral. Sometimes adepts if they don't have astral perception they can get spotted and never even know it. If a mage, adept, or mystic adept summons a spirit that spirit will have the mages, adepts, or mystic adepts signature. If a one of them slings a spell that will leave a footprint. I don't know if the process of summoning a spirit leaves a footprint, but that will probably catch a lot of debate with no real answer. If a spirit uses a critter power that does not leave a signature, but if they fling a spell that also leaves a sig. If your adept uses improved skill or kenisics that does not leave an astral signature as it is a passive adept power. I don't know about one who uses a power that requires activation, but I think it could leave a signature.... gee that gets kinda hazy. Anything that would be linked to your magic stat I think "might" be able to leave a signature. I do say might, because that will require some research and I can't really do that at the moment. Generally though signatures are created by mages.

Hobogoblin are you sure thats how it goes? So if a mage used a touch spell that wouldn't leave an astral sig? I thought a footprint is left defensively or offensively.

The evil thing is against a team that does not use masking they are in a spot of trouble. Since Astral movement is at jumping jack flash speeds if you spend too long in a facility (a.k.a. more then 10 minutes) our GM generally has mages from other facilities owned by the company to send spirits on the remote task to assense the threat at that facility and then dissapear so that the mage will then be able to track the party. It makes it all that much more vital to cut tail and run once you have been found out.

it being a touch spell has nothing to do with it, its the target, or specifically, if the target is left behind or not...

so if a mage uses a touch spell to drop a drone or guard, either will have the signature of that mage on them for force hours.

the tricky thing about adepts are that most powers are internal, and therefor leave no signature on external targets (the adept is the target).

A fair and simple way to run things is that any roll that involves your magic attribute leaves a signature, and the signature is on whatever the effect that called for the roll affects. Thus an adept power which uses the magic attribute and affects the adept will leave the signature on the adept, and if someone sees a lot of signatures on the adept that may tip them off to assense the adept themselves.

I would note however, that indirect attack spells(such as fireball) would not leave a signature on their targets but in the area where they are cast, the fire that hits someone from a fireball spell isn't magic, but the effect that created it is.

Keep in mind that the official rules of astral signatures are a little....vauge, and (I would assume) with good reason. A GM who wants the players to be really careful to avoid detection with a kind of cat and mouse crime game will make almost every action leave a sig, while a GM who wants less of a crime drama feel will generally only care about sigs for significant events, same goes for matrix data trails and leaving behind DNA evidence.

hahahhahahahhahaha, they can't track me down that easily tom

Summoning a spirit most definitely leaves an astral signature, in the place where you summoned the spirit. There is also a signature on the spirit itself.

The rules say that a signature is left on "anything affected by them", so a detection spell would leave a signature both on the casting mage, and anything they observed via the spell. A fireball would leave signatures all over the place, as the walls are likely scorched.

Since it's "anything they affect", most adept signatures will go with the adept. However, some won't; Killing Hands will leave its signature on anything the adept hits. Improved Ability: Pistols will leave a signature on the guns. And so on.

I would still contend that a fireball spell doesn't leave a signature on the people it damages, the magic doesn't affect them, the magic creates the fire that affects them. I has to do with how indirect attack spells work. I would imagine the lack of signatures would be a strong advantage indirect spells would have.

A powerball on the other hand would be one hell of an astral mess to clean up.

It is vaguely worded, and could be read to include the use of adept powers. But the way that it ties duration to Force leads me to believe it was intended only for uses of sorcery and conjuring.