So the mage has gone into astral to gather some info on the facility, lets say a factory of a few buildings. For simplicity there is no astral security whatsoever or anything.
I know you cannot see through objects in astral (walls / windows) but can move through them (right ?).

How would you go about handling this situation in game (and of course avoiding to explicitly go through every little detail the mage performs) ?

Last time, I told him how many people where in each buildings (and some guards outside), and he checked back at night and he got a new "body count" for each building. I also gave him a vague idea of what was going on in each building or the buildings functions, without going into details such as "here is rigger control room" or "here is the security office" and such. So, would you say that i gave away too little or too much ?

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Moving on, lets say the runners decide to hit the facility and a sec mage is on call so she goes to the facility remotely (astrally). What options do the remote sec mage really have here so long as the runner mage stays out of astral ? Can she see the runner mage as mage aura if she gets close enough (i guess so) ? can she possibly attack the runner mage / other runners in any way ?

For simplicity assume the sec mage has all spells in the corebook.

If the runner decides to goes astral, i know he can be attacked in astral space (astral combat and/or using mana spells only).

The astral mage can without any problem ge a look at his non-astral counterpart's aura. Seeing the physical look would require to manifest - becoming sivible and audible in tthe process.

He can't interfere with the physical plane, though he can call on bound spirits or summon some on the fly in the astral then have them materialize (as opposed to marely manifesting) and acting physically on his behalf even if he can't have direct action.

The reconnaissance you handled perfectly fine. You can increase or decrease the level of detail based on the sassensing test. part of assensing skill would be understanding how astral perceptions relate to mundane world items.

You've got the basic for the astral security mage, to use spells he has to wait till one of the team becomes dual natured or projects.

However, there are a things an astral mage can do to really hurt the party. One is that the mage can assense the team and thus serve as a witness, and can also track them down later using ritual sorcery and astral tracking. The other item is that the astral mage can have conjuring and can summon spirits. The summoned spirits can then Materialize and attack the team. Finally, the astral security mage can scout for the physical security team, watching the runners, and then going to the site security and Manifesting, or using Watchers to communicate to the in site security. Knowing where the runners are and setting up an ambush can provide an incredible advantage to the site defenders.

Thank you for the clarrification and inspiration.

This is the information I give to the mage in my game. The level of information is based on the Assensing success, which I make him roll once:

- How many people and race, and their location. Also Gender if deemed useful

- The map

- If awakened, but not if he's a mage/adept. I'll give the Magic stat based on the Assensing result. I'll play Masking accordingly as well (most probable case being looking like a mundane).

- Presence of 'wares. I'll say if the NPC has cybereyes, cyberlimbs, and wired reflex. These cyberwares are so common and easy to spot (wired reflex being very invasive and show traces everywhere in the body). I'll give wired reflex level if the mage is able to get the Essence level.

- The presence of any other magic

- The general mood of the area if useful. For example, going in a Doc Wagon hospital will surely show a high level of negative feelings from the wounded/sick.

- Unless the drones are moving, I won't give their presence. I believe that since drones are not living and kinda blends into the greyish decor, the mage could simply not see them.

About what a mage can do in the astral:
- Summon/call/order spirits who can affect the physical
- Counterspelling
- Spying ahead and communicating the info using manifestation
- Astral Combat (need an astrally active target)
- Spellcasting (also need an astrally active target)

manifesting does not let you perceive the physical world. It only let's you be perceived by the physical world. (SR4A p. 193)

I usually allow a perception check to see if they can make out what an astral shadow is supposed to be, coupled with a LOG + INT roll if it's something that'd be difficult to distinguish from the Astral. My read on things is that astral shadows are indistinct, but not necessarily indiscernable.

Thank you for info.