QUOTE (Apathy @ Dec 30 2008, 09:23 PM)

This is an interesting idea that I hadn't thought of before. Do you think that non-sapient paracritters would instinctively build wards to protect their lairs and such? If so, sewers full of devil rats might have little wards all over the place. Might make for some interesting fluff.
Indeed, even though the fluff mentioned in
Street Magic suggests that setting up a ward requires some rituals, such as painting protective signs on the walls and so on.
Also, warding in the traditional sense requires a certain degree of abstract reasoning, as you have to understand that astral threats may arise in the first place.
But i wouldn't completely rule out the possibility that some non-sapient critters instinctively ward their lairs to some degree.
The description of warding in the SR4 BBB doesn't mention the Sapience power as a prerequisite.
Of course, if that is possible, these wards would have something makeshift and unsophisticated about them (they couldn't be above Force 1 anyway), but the idea seems interesting.