QUOTE (Seth @ Jan 20 2011, 10:36 AM)

Does this mean that a magician will always be behind the people he is protecting? i.e. he must be able to see them (I guess with the usual constraints on mages seeing things they are targeting with spells) , so he has to keep looking at them (I am guessing blinking doesn't count )
Yeah, this points out two grey areas in the rules regarding Counterspelling.
1) Can an astute attacker distract the mage with a snap of the fingers or a tap on the shoulder? (just examples, OK?) If the mage turns away to look at the distraction, is the protection of the party nullified?
My take on this is that a blink or a momentary lapse of attention (nothing more than a complex action, say the casting of a spell at a target, or assensing something) to the other party members is not enough to drop the Counterspelling protection. Going into the bathroom to do number two does.
2) Is LOS to party members on the physical plane maintained for a magician who astrally projects/perceives (or a Free Spirit character who dematerializes)?
My take on this is that since spells can't affect / be on both the astral and physical planes at the same time, neither can their opposition, Counterspelling. Yes, spirit powers and spells can be maintained by someone who went on the other plane, but this is different from the more fundamental formation or negation of the magical construct.