[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

I ran a game this weekend where the Runners were looking for A Bad Guy.  They had a viable blood sample and naturally sent a spirit off to locate the NPC via the Search power.  This was a published adventure (technically written for 4th ed but came out during the swap over and so NPCs had dual statblocks, one for each edition.  Now the way the adventure was written, the PCs are "supposed" to find the guy and no meta info was given (such as thresholds) for the Search test... any attempt automatically is considered successful and gets the canned response which happens to be "He's at location X, but is on the move to a destination unknown".

The players love this response and tell me they tell the spirit to follow him and report back when he stops.  That's a natural response, I'd suppose.  However, I'm not sure that's a viable strategy based on how I understand how the Search power even works.

So Question One:  If you send a Spirit off on what proves to be a successful Search, does it actually ever leave your side/come into Astral proximity of the target, or does it just sit there next to you the whole time and eventually clairvoyantly come up with the answer?  I suppose either paradigm actually works given how the power is described and how the success test works in SR5.  On one hand there's fluff that makes it sound like the Spirit is physically roaming around, but on the other there's apparently no possibility of the Spirit being seen (or killed/banished) by the subject or other Astral security through which a Search may naturally trespass...

Question Two:  Assuming a successful Search does result in the Spirit's astral form coming into close proximity to the target, can the Spirit be told to not come back and report location until the target has been stationary for some threshold of time, or MUST it come back and report location the instant it is discovered?  (I'd presume it MUST but am curious about other opinions more familiar with SR5's meta)

Question Three: Again assuming a Search involves the Spirit zooming off "somewhere", is it possible to get any sort of sense of direction prior to completion of a search?  For example, the players wanted to know "which direction" the spirit zoomed off into, and begin at least moving the team in the "right direction" to minimize reaction time once they got a pinpoint.  Again I don't think it works that way... I'd see the Spirit as basically dissolving into the Astral during a Search and entering a "simultaneously nowhere AND everywhere" astral state that's impossible for metahumans to replicate.  Thoughts on whether it's possible to physically or astrally "chase" a Spirit using the Search power?

Question Four:  Once you put a Spirit on some kind of Remote Service, does the Conjurer's link to that Spirit still allow for communication/change of direction while the Spirit is no longer in your proximity?  If so, is there two way remote communication possible thru the Astral between PC and Spirit?  I presume "No" on both counts, but again looking for feedback from forumites more familiar with SR5's version of metaphysics.

[Jack_Spade]

Answer One: No, the search power does not mean the spirit (meta-)physically flies around and looks for the target. Otherwise it would be a remote service which would end all remaining services.

Answer Two: Based on one: Yes, you certainly can tell the spirit after the use of the search power to astrally travel to the target and stay in close proximity (Wards etc. permitting). Although this will be a remote service, ending your remaining services unless it's a bound spirit.

Answer Three: No, because they don't.

Answer Four: Yes. As long as the spirit is working for the conjurer they share a connection. As per Core p. 302
"SPIRIT-SUMMONER LINK
A spirit doesn’t have to speak to his summoner out loud. It can communicate telepathically with the summoner, even from astral space, so it doesn’t even have to manifest to receive orders or make reports. This link allows for communication over a distance but does not extend to the metaplanes, nor does it allow any other visual or audio connection. With this link, a summoner knows when a spirit he has summoned has been disrupted, as he will feel the loss of the link.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

So, in the situation of having sent a spirit to locate an NPC... the NPC was in a car or otherwise on the move.  The PCs tell the spirit "quick go follow him and tell us where he goes" and cash in any remaining services for the remote service.  The NPC moves however far from point of detection in the amount of time it takes the spirit to astrally zoom to that location, and may or may not be (re)detected for following.

If the NPC was not re-found based on proximity to that point of detection (hey, he was zooming along I-5 at 120kph!) the spirit would just report back "He's not here anymore, CYA!" and poof?

If the spirit is able to reaquire the NPC despite that NPC's motion away from that point of detection, then the spirit would interpret "telling us where he goes" based on its own intelligence and other factors relevant to its relationship to the PC?  Of course, it's not like a spirit can rattle off street names from astral space...

[Jack_Spade]

That situation needs a bit of adjudicating since the search interval is 10 minutes which can easily add a few dozen kilometers to the search radius, letting the power potentially fail. But yes, the spirit will tell you the location of the target at the point of completion. If you are on good terms with your spirits it probably will warn the conjurer that the target is moving. Based on the shift in difficulty during the search, the spirit might even be able to tell in what general direction he went (getting farther away from the spirit (difficulty increase, moving closer (difficulty decrease), or moving laterally (difficulty decrease then increase again, target likely detected at the closest point of proximity).

Once the spirit gets to the place, he'll likely notice that the point of detection was on a buys highway, so it should be possible to deduce in which direction the target moved. Again, depending on your standing with the spirit, it probably will tell you this as well.
Oh and, if you have chosen the correct spirit for the surroundings (Spirit of Man in this case) it should have no problem of knowing street names. 

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Thanks for your thoughts.   Another question coming from more familiarity with prior editions than SR5...

A vehicle still has its own aura, does it not?  Someone in astral space can't "see" inside the car unless he ghosts inside it because the auras inside are obscured by the car's own aura, correct?  (for that matter, prior editions used to make a point of stressing that vehicle windows are always mirrored, so you can't see inside a car from outside the car in physical space either...)

I'm thinking that even if the located target had been standing on a street corner or walking on a sidewalk when located, but if he gets into a car or bus by the time the spirit arrives, the spirit may not be able to find the target again without expending another use of the search power...

[firebug]

No, vehicles and drone's don't have auras.  Only living beings have auras (which mind you, does include plant life).  But you can't see auras through matter, so being inside the car still blocks someone from assensing the person inside.  Clear glass is opaque on the astral, for the record, so you can't even see auras through that.

By the way, a blood sample isn't enough for the Search power.  That's enough for a sympathetic ritual (which I believe would require a special metamagic technique), but the Search power requires a mental image (from either the spirit or the summoner).  So, if the magician had seen the guy before then it's no issue.

[Marcus]

Can't you get an astral signature from blood? I thought you could. The idea of being able to ritual nuke some fool but not being able search them causes me to much cognitive dissonance.

As I understand in general search works baring certain meta-magics, spirit lodges, astral barrier-ed structures, or their final said destination happening to have being completely cover in ivy or something similar. The guy driving around may slow down the process, and require some spirit re-summons but, sooner or later your team can mark-oh polo-oh there way to him. 

[Sphinx]

Blood doesn't help a spirit's Search power; they just need a clear mental image of the target (Search, SR5 p.400).

Blood can be a Material Link for ritual magic (Material Link, SR5 p.297), which can be used indirectly to track a person through astral space (Astral Tracking, SR5 p.315). This requires a ritual with the "Material Link" keyword -- in the basic rulebook, the only option is Curse (p.297), which lets you cast an illusion spell from a distance. It also takes a magical lodge, some reagents, and several hours (all based on the Force of the ritual). While the ritual is in progress, there's a magical connection between the ritual caster and the target. This connection can be tracked (both ways, so watch your back), but there's a catch: since the ritual caster is busy casting the ritual, they need someone else to make the actual Astral Tracking test. That's where your spirit comes in, unless you have a second magician on the team.

In the absence of a Material Link, initiates who learn Psychometry (SG p.144) can use a favorite item as a Sympathetic Link (SG p.145). This makes the Ritual Spellcasting test harder, but has no effect on the Astral Tracking test. An enchanter who knows Psychometry can also craft a Symbolic Link, like a voodoo doll, depending on how well acquainted they are with the target (SG p.216).

[Marcus]

Keeping in mind that Curse is actually in illusion spell you happened to pick up under the ritual tag.

[Sphinx]

Keeping in mind that Curse is actually in illusion spell you happened to pick up under the ritual tag.

I don't think that's true. The explanation of the "Spell" keyword in ritual descriptions (SR5 p.297) says, "This ritual is used in conjunction with a spell that the ritual leader knows. Some of its properties might change—the ritual has details on how." The descriptions for Curse, Prodigal Spell, and Remote Sensing likewise indicate that they extend the reach of your regular spells, not that they require you to learn the spells twice. 

If you know Agony and Confusion as illusion spells and Curse as a ritual, then Curse lets you cast either illusion from a distance (with a Material Link). Agony and Illusion are spells; Curse is a ritual with the "Spell" keyword. Similarly, learning the Prodigal Spell and Remote Sensing rituals lets you use any of your regular combat or detection spells (respectively) from a distance (with a Spotter).

[Marcus]

Keeping in mind that Curse is actually in illusion spell you happened to pick up under the ritual tag.

I don't think that's true. The explanation of the "Spell" keyword in ritual descriptions (SR5 p.297) says, "This ritual is used in conjunction with a spell that the ritual leader knows. Some of its properties might change—the ritual has details on how." The descriptions for Curse, Prodigal Spell, and Remote Sensing likewise indicate that they extend the reach of your regular spells, not that they require you to learn the spells twice. 

If you know Agony and Confusion as illusion spells and Curse as a ritual, then Curse lets you cast either illusion from a distance (with a Material Link). Agony and Illusion are spells; Curse is a ritual with the "Spell" keyword. Similarly, learning the Prodigal Spell and Remote Sensing rituals lets you use any of your regular combat or detection spells (respectively) from a distance (with a Spotter).

Curse
(Material Link, Spell)
A Curse allows an illusion spell to be cast on a subject
through a material link rather than a mystic link from
observing the subject. A Curse can be used on any target,
whether within visual range of the leader or not,
provided there is a link to the target. If the spell applies
to multiple targets, such as in a mass spell, then
the ritual must have a link to each of the targets

When you buy a spell you tag it sorcery, ritual or alchemy, it determines how it's cast.
So any single target illusion spell.

[Rosa]

The "Spell" keyword in a ritual states "This ritual is used in conjunction with a spell that the ritual leader knows. ....." ( SR5 page 297 ) so I would say that Sphinx is correct.

Nowhere does it say that ritual is a tag you can put on a spell, rather you can choose to learn a new spell, an alchemical preparation or a new ritual ( meaning from the list of rituals in the book ) ( Learning spells page 299 SR5 ).

"Spells learned through normal channels  can be incorporated into some rituals, such as a combat spell into the Prodigal spell ritual and do not cost additional karma to learn separately ( an advantage that ritual magic has over alchemy ). (SR5 page 295 )

[firebug]

If you think that's not clear enough Marcus, I can bring it up with the errata team and see what they think.  But my personal input is that Curse is its own ritual that you use in conjunction with another Illusion spell you've learned normally, as opposed to having to learn, say "Hot Potato Curse".

[忍]

Regardless of how humorous it sounds to know a Hot Potato Curse.

[PiXeL01]

Hot Potato Curse is nasty! So would a Bugs curse be.