...or when it is a stated requirement of the spell itself, like with Mindlink (IIRC), where LOS must be maintained for the spell to continue to work.

And you'd be right, which is what everyone has said (so far).

No, they just have to remain within the area of the spell, not LOS.

That is not true at all. Mask, as with most every other sustainable spell, works just fine when the magician is nowhere in sight. Mindlink is an exception because it is a Detection spell that only grants its effect to others within the area of the spell, and maintains that sense only as long as you are within that area. You can leave and re-enter the area whenever you like, however, and the spell will still function as long as the mage is sustaining it.

My mistake. I thought there was something specific stated for this spell, over and above the normal Detection limitations.

Sustaining magic was new concept for me when I started SR and I don't recall seeing sustained type spells in other games. It's either a throwback from it being a new concept, or maybe some goofy notion from the movies somewhere, they always seem to need to keep an eye on their targets too.

wouldn't that be like Levitate dropping the instant the mage is no longer touching the target?

Redundant as it is at this point, where on earth did you get that assumption?

~J

Okay, after poring thru the BBB I still don't see any penalties to sipping in the cafe while your buddies go enhanced in the sewers. Where does it say this? Is it in MitS or BBB?

Also, I came up with another way of discouraging that other than the "you get 1 karma" which frankly to me is an easy way of getting karma every week. Yes, you're ducking out of the threat, but you're also earning money from the run and you do get that one or two karma. However, in BBB it says that all things astral are linked to their owner - so frankly if you are fighting spirits and they notice the people they fight are being amplified by someone else who isn't there, they are going to go track down the mage. So if the mage is sipping coffee in a coffeehouse, the mage will probably be attacked, without the support he/she would normally have, by one or more spirits.

I still would like to see the book page where Synner's quote comes from - would make all of this moot.

Doc

If you aren't actually Astrally Perceiving, you cannot be attacked by anything purely Astral. The Spirit would have to Materialize for it to have an effect on you. You could not Project while sustaining spells, as Projection is an Exclusive Action.

Problem is: In SR3 spells are not dual-natured, so no, a spirit cannot attack a spell in SR3 in the described manner ...

You ... I was talking to DrJest

You can attack the focus itself since it's astrally-active when active, but they fight back. Quickened spells make spells self-sustaining, so I assume that means that they're either physical or astral depending on how they were originally cast. Sure, the magician has to use astral perception while Quickening the spell, but that's a requirement for the process, not the end result.

Grounding is gone. Initiation has been reworked, and is now graded. With the exception of Inc. Reflexes +3, the Inc. Attribute +X spells are gone, in favor of generic spells that cap out at their Force rating.

Those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Don't worry about it. We haven't even gotten into sustaining foci vs. spell locks, which further make that tactic impractical. Not to mention the fact that initiation itself is changes, so you no longer get all the metamagics at once. You can still pull the Increase Attribute trick off, but it's much less broken than it was before.

I would think wards are also included, though not mentioned. Also, a link may be hidden, or redirected, though a metaplane per MitS.