So, I'm still very new to shadowrun. Got plenty of books, but finding the right information can be a daunting task.

I'm playing a very paranoid gun adept, who's van doubles as his spirit lodge. Now I know that's not precisely legal, but the with nature of the character, it made sense.

Now, he's sitting in the back of his van, cleaning one of his guns out, when he feels a an astrally projecting mage trying to break through the barrier of the spirit lodge.

What can a non-astrally perceptive character now do to stop the spirit from penetrating his barrier? What steps can he take in the future? Can he ever do anything to harm the mage?

Your help and information is greatly appreciated.

If he gains the Astral Perception power and a weapon focus, he can attack the mage. The real question that needs to be asked, though, is why a mage is attempting to breach somebody else's lodge. This is not something one does to satisfy idle curiosity, any more than one breaks into a home to satisfy idle curiosity. If your character has already made an enemy of the mage, he likely knows who it is and will immediately begin plotting bloody retribution.

We were hired to go on a hijack run. After successfully hijacking a box truck, and finding a suitable location to keep our heads down till we were informed of the drop-off location, a group of elves approached us and offered to pay more nuyen for the truck. My character went into his van and privately invited a few members of the group into the van, telling them his thoughts on the matter. Next thing I know, there's a mage trying to break in.

ok a few questions/answers to this scenario.

First, was the break in while you were meeting with the rest of your team? if so, was the group of elves still around? if so, never get into your vehicle while an unidentified group is still known to be in the area, thats basically saying "tag me!" Get their comm number, let them know you'll get back to them, or not, and dismiss them, then talk it over with the team. or do it out there in the open via sup vocal mics, or a private comm chat.

Also if the rest of your team is still outside the van and the elves are still around, did one of them just decide to sit down and astrally project while your own team did nothing about it? Really Aku has it right, don't ever leave the opposition in a position to spy on you that way. Cover your ass and use your tech (subvocal, AR chat, Tacsofts, private chat room, what ever) to keep your conversation secret. Got a white noise generator? Great! Keeps them from just listening in. Your lodge should keep out astral intruders or warn you when they try to break in. Time to move the conversation some where else when that happens. Where is your team mage during this anyway?

Aku and Mantis both hit the nail on the head. This situation is largely your team's fault and a major failure of tradecraft. Pile out of the van and gun those frakking elves down, and try to be a little more professional in the future.

Also pick up the Mind Net spell. Telepathy for all!

Assume the worst about the elves until proven innocent. If they suddenly show up, knowing about your cargo, then they probably intend to rob you if you won't sell peacefully. The pushiness of using a mage is a bad sign (if it was one of the elves).

Dealing with astral spies is hard; a lodge can warn you, but a non-mage can't stop them directly. You could send out a swarm of drones (hard to spot from the Astral) to look for the wizard's body and attack it.

My character has several white noise generators. He's completely over the top paranoid. All 6 seats in his van are equipped with a tag eraser, he's got 4 ECM sphere generators in the corners of the van, Directional ECM generators in the headlights and tail lights, white noise generators, etc. He regularly tag erases members of the team and their gear, whether requested or not. He's simply batshit insane, and I don't try to play it off as it's warranted or necessary. He's just a fruitloop.

Will white noise generators work against the Astral? Could an Astral read in on the conversation?

A more detailed scenario, since it seems like the devil's in the details here.

Our Johnson disappeared. The elves trying to buy/barter the cargo off of us, were introduced to us by our Johnson's bodyguard, so it's not like they were complete strangers.

We were instructed to pull the box truck into a large barn. Inside the box truck is our elven mage, and our puncher. My adept pulls his van outside the barn, and our face pulls his vehicle behind mine. When I finally walk over, our mage and the bodyguard are talking in elvish to each other about the details. I pull the troll puncher over and ask if he thinks any of this is odd. He says no. After the mage and the elves converse, I call the mage into the van, asking the same thing. Thats when my character notices someone trying to break into his lodge. I inform the mage, he goes astral, and tells the elven mage that things are cool, and everything's alright.

Afterwards, the elven bodyguard offers us work in the future, and gives us a 5k advance, on top of paying us for the last run. OOC, I wasn't sure if the encounter was meant to be as heavy handed as it was. What I wanted to avoid was blowing the elves away, only to find out the GM had planned them to be long running characters, and then it seems like I'm not a "team player".

Hyper-paranoid characters do tend to be that way.

I will say I am getting a vibe from you like John Malkovich's character from RED.




-k

Paranoia is not a medical condition when there is people trying to kill you, it is a lifestyle.

An Astral is not going to "hear" anything from your conversation. They best they are likely to do is be able to identify your astral signatures (maybe for later tracking) and get the "emotion" of the conversation. They won't get any details and likely won't even have a clue at who is talking or when.

Yeah an astral magician needs to manifest to hear things on the physical which means they are then visible to those on the physical plane. Possibly. I mean they could just hide behind some cover while listening in but they can't just hang on the astral without manifesting and still listen in on a conversation. As soon as they manifest there is a chance to spot them. Of course by using the subvocal mics you can then avoid having them listen to you. I don't believe can listen in on a conversation in sub vocal mode any easier on the astral than you could on the physical. Check Manifesting on pg 193 of SR4A for what they can actually do.

Yes.

It does, however, tend to be a very lonely lifestyle.





-k

That's what schizofrenia is for, now you have imaginary friends (let's just hope they don't try to screw you over).

Read SR4A p178:

While the contents of a lodge can be moved, lodges are not portable... After being moved, a lodge must be set up again and a new activation ritual performed.

Your scenario isn't a real issue.

Mesh

he did admit that his lodge wasnt exactly RAW, if his GM allows it...

That would explain that then.

If you're looking for more "not precisely rule adhering" tips, ask your GM to let you mount an astral machine gun on a turret on top of the lodge.

Funny that two of you should mention that.

He's infused his main firearm with a personality upgrade, and did the same for his van.

He, being the intensely paranoid type of course, put a hard switch on the wireless for both, and installed skin links. So most of the time, it appears as if the character is talking and arguing with himself, whereas really his hardware is pointing out the stupidity in his plan. The two (the gun and the van) even argue on occasion, one being faux British and the other Faux French, and things go full blown bonkers when the mentor spirit arrives.

He's a lonely, sad man. And it's fun as hell playing him.

Mesh... obvious troll is obvious.

To the rest, thanks for the information, it was quite helpful, and I'm always eager to soak in more.

I still say put the screws to those frakking elves about the astral mage trying to breach your lodge, and gun 'em down if you don't get answers you like.

I'd be weighing the downsides of screwing Old Johnson, and that does to your reputation, against how dangerous those elves seem, and how much your own mage is already in bed with them.

Sure, my astral machine gun was a jab, but offering rules quotes is a far cry from trolling. That was uncalled for.

Essentially, your roving lodge has opened the door on mobile mana barriers which have the potential for abuse. Don't get bent out of shape if someone offers you a made up solution (astral guns) for a mechanic that only exists in your game (roving lodges).

Mesh

I'd have a serious word with YOUR mage. He said all was well? Ask him what really happened. If he refuses or gives a non-committal answer, something must be wrong.