So I've been thinking of running a game where the PC's are all mages and able to astrally project (or at least are awakened) and this way they can do runs on the metaplanes and stuff like that. Since I was going to do so much stuff on the Astral I had some questions that needed to be answered:

1. I know spells can be detected on the astral plane, but how does this work for illusions? Back when I played SR3 we used to play that if a mage astrally perceives someone using a spell like invisibility or physical mask they see through it and see the person and the fact that there is a spell that is cast. Of course if a player roles astral perception they can identify the spell. Is this right at all? Does the illusion extend to the astral plane (i.e. when a mage is invisible are they also invisible to a spirit on the astral plane?
-the justification that we've used for this is that a person using a ruthydium(sp?) cloak may be invisible on the physical, but not on the astral.

2. If a player is astrally projecting they can cast spells on the astral and the drain the mage takes is physical. Does can a mage only cast mana spells on the astral plane? would physical spells have any affect, since the mage is not on the physical plane? What are the differences between physical and mana spells? I don't have Street Magic, but was going to pick it up for this game. Does it give a more clear explanation in SM? Whats to stop a group of mage zipping around on the astral plane with their improved initiatives and killing every ghoul they come across?


Also, I don't know a lot about the Metaplanes and Astral quests, so I was just going to make up a bunch planes that worked like the astral. Some ideas were Farie, which can only be accessed through faire rings and a Ghost plane, things like that. Any suggestions?

In this edition, this is not necessarily the case.
As long as the mage isn't overcasting, the drain on the astral will be stun as well.



Yes.



No, physical spells have no effect on the astral, as there's no physical objects there.
Of course, you couldn't cast a mana spell from the astral to the physical- you'd have to be present on the physical plane to affect anything there.
Furthermore, you have to be on the astral plane to affect things there, either by projecting or astrally perceiving.

Always keep the two planes seperate, it's one of the basic principles of SR4 magic.



Mana spells only affect living beings and magic.
Physical spells can affect technological devices and other inanimate objects, living beings, materialized spirits- practically everything that is present on the physical plane.
They cause more drain, too.



I definitely recommend picking up SM for an all-magic campaign, it does provide a lot of information for the game you're planning.



Not much.
If the ghouls don't have magical defenses of their own, they'll be hosed as long as the mages can stay out of melee reach (which is easy in a lot of situations, given the speed and three-dimensional maneuverability of people who are astrally projecting).
Being dual-natured is a serious drawback in many situations and ghoul-zapping mages are the classic example for this.




SM provides some examples for metaplanes, but is far from exhaustive.
You can still make up planes of your own as you see fit- and if you want to use the metaplanes for more than just metaphysical window-dressing during initiation and the like, you'll have to put a lot of work of your own into it.
The information in SM is a good starting point, but with the exception of three metaplanar sites given as examples, it is quite unspecific.
S you'll have to design planes of your own if you want to play there.
The faerie plane you mention is a good example, practically every place from mythology, folklore or religion can easily be turned into a metaplane.
Getting to the metaplanes is tricky for non-initiates, but it is possible with the help of certain spirits who have the ability to open astral gates.
Rifts to the metaplanes that pop up without outside influences are, AFAIK, unheard of in canon SR, but would be imaginable.
I'd locate them in high-magic areas (good examples in North America would be parts of Tir Tairngire and the Deep Lacuna in L.A., as well as some areas in the NAN) and make them open only temporary.
A classic example would be the faerie ring only opening on a solstice or equinox.
Trigger conditions (saying a specific word or moving through the portal in a specified way) would also be possible.
An alternative would be to locate these portals on the metaplanes themselves and use them as a connection to other planes.

I guess i just played too much Planescape back in the 90s...but it's a wonderful source of inspiration for any metaplanar campaign.

I also like designing metaplanes that correspond to specific magical traditions.
E.G., i recently made up a place called The Asphalt Djungle, basically a shamanistic metaplane where the urban totems hold sway.
It looks a bit like a film noir version of NYC, with mile-high scyscrapers populated by ravens, owls and other birds that have made their way into the sprawls, endless parks filled with racoons and foxes, cats straying through sidestreets, deep sewers where alligators and rats dwell and so on.
All that stuff about wildlife migrating into the cities, nature adapting to human settlements and carving out an ecological niche on the fringes of civilization, but exaggerated to mythic proportions, with a lot of classic cultural iconography mixed in, fable-like talking animals and so on.
You may also encounter the spirits of ancestors of various urban tribes there, as well as archetypal scenes of the more vibrant aspects of sprawl life- the constant flow of metahumanity that constitutes the energies urban shamanism draws upon.

Just gave me a fun idea for an astrally projecting ghoul hunter...

This is a fantastic idea and I'm going to have to steal it.

Also, something I was thinking of making a homebrew metamagic technique called Gating that would use the conjuring skill in some way in order to access the metaplanes. That way when the PC's need to start accessing the metaplanes the have the option of either hunting down a free spirit with that specific power, which could be risky and unreliable or spend the karma on the metamagic which is more reliable but would also be met with some type of NuYen cost. My goal is to keep with the Shadowrun setting, but increase the cosmic scope thanks mainly to this really satisfying Nobilis game I'm playing in.

Instead of a game-altering metamagic, a recommend something more of an artifact.

The Book of Gates and Keys

The Book of Gates and Keys is 1001 pages thick, hand written, thread bound, with a cover made of green leather and blue felt, and is mildly enchanted but lack an Astral presence. On each page is the description of a metaplane, and on each page is the True Name of a spirit from that metaplane known as it's Gatekeeper. If summoned, the Gatekeeper will take the book's owner and his companions to it's metaplane, in exchange for a token tribute. A copper coin is the standard tribute, though the Gatekeepers are rarely picky. Should no tribute be offered, the Gatekeeper will leave. Should the Gatekeeper be insulted, well just don't insult the Gatekeeper.

The Book of Gates and Keys possesses the Regeneration Power and has a Body of 12 and a Magic of 4 for the purpose of regenerating. It cannot be permanently destroyed.


There, Instant Astral Quest Machine.

Alternate writeup

The Book of Gates and Keys (Alternate)

The Book of Gates and Keys is 1001 pages thick, hand written, thread bound, with a cover made of green leather and blue felt, and is mildly enchanted but lack an Astral presence. On each page is the description of a metaplane, and on each page is the image of a gateway. If a character rubs blood onto the the picture of a gateway, it will open a portal to the depicted metaplane.

The Book of Gates and Keys possesses the Regeneration Power and has a Body of 12 and a Magic of 4 for the purpose of regenerating. It cannot be permanently destroyed.


There, Instant Astral Quest Machine


Me, I say that everything that has ever been imagined by any metahuman ever is real and has it's own metaplane. Magnum PI? It has a metaplane. And you can go there. There is one Metaplane based on Dungeons & Dragons that used d20 dice and stats, you have to convert your characters if you go there. There is one metaplane based on Desert Bus, from Pen & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. It's nothing but an empty Bus, driving through the desert, back and fourth, forever. It takes 8 hours of driving, real time, to reach the Citadel. There is one metaplane that is nothing but shrimp, literally. There is no Earth, no sky, no moon, no stars, just shrimp, floating in space, so many of them that some clumps of shrimp have their own gravitational pull. And Artemis's Lover, it has a metaplane, too. And this guy, totally not insane.

I imagine your characters would grow tired of that one quickly.

Depending on how much sauce they bring with them.

Yup, could do. Just keep in kind that if it were that easy, there wouldn't be any ghouls left. Given that weakness, I would expect most ghouls to tend to stay indoors where mages can't zap them from too far away. Also, there is a gang of ghouls in Redmond which would probably come after you as soon as they heard about you, and you can bet they have mages if they have lasted this long.

shrimp?

Oh, you're welcome.



Note that guidance spirits in great form also have the Astral Gate power, so in theory, there already is a reliable metamagic that grants acces to the planes (besides a lot of other benefits...Invoking certainly is one of the more powerful metamagic techniques out there).
Of course, this requires a tradition that uses guidance spirits, such as Wuxia.

It's a Buffyverse reference.

One of my favorite pieces of fluff/setting is the Bug City source book from SR2. Before the bugs hit all the ghouls were given housing in Cabrini Green, which is a large government housing project. Since ghouls are dual-natured Cabrini Green became one of the only safe places in the city after the bugs struck since they could actually fight them off, even when they hadn't materialized. I'd always imagine most ghouls have at least a couple ranks in Unarmed just so they can deal with all of the strange shit that no doubted lives on the astral.

the problem with ghouls having unarmed combat is: it's of no use versus wholly astrally entities (like projecting mages). according to RAW you have to use astral combat to fight such things.

I know. You were supposed to go; "Yes a whole plane of nothing but shrimp, why?"

to which I would reply; "I'm allergic."

Oh, I wasn't aware they changed that. Use to be if you were dual natured you just used unarmed. Sure the other guys attacked you more, but since both people rolled there unarmed + combat pool and the person with more successes won, even if they attacked you and you had tons of ranks/combat pool, it was a pretty dangerous prospect.