[shadowwoelf]

So I am confused as to magic involving the astral plane. From what I read and understood mages can't attack people in a plane different from them. So if they are astrally projecting they cannot attack people in the physical realm? My friend says that they could still attack in the physical plane using mana magic though.  If they are allowed to attack the physical realm from the astral is there any protection for a team without a mage?

Example: A mage is astrally projecting himself, and found us. His astral body is behind a concrete wall, while his physical body is somewhere else in the world.  We have an adept who can see in the astral plane, but since the mage is floating behind a concrete wall it is impossible for the adept to touch him.  We can't outrun the mage since he moves around the astral plane at the speed of thought* (Not sure how fast this is, but since neuron transfer is .2ms it must be very fast). At this point is the entire team screwed because our team doesn't have a mage?

Side question: Are there any other planes? If we assume that there is the astral plane, physical plane, and the technological plane. I was wondering if there was another lesser known plane.

[Crunch]

1) The Matrix isn't really a "technological plane". It's a shared hallucination distinct from the magic system.
2) There are metaplanes "beyond" the astral. They'll probably be covered in detail in this editions magic book.
3) As a general rule only things active on the astral can be effected by astral beings. In practical terms a mage on the astral can target other astral forms, spirits, dual natured beings (mystical critters simultaneously present on the astral and physical plane), and astrally perceiving beings. There are exceptions but that's the general rule.

[GiraffeShaman]

You can't be attacked by the astrally projecting mage unless you astrally project or perceive. Note that dual creatures can't stop perceiving astrally and thus are always fair game. The downside is if no one challenges him on the astral he can spy on you and relay information to his comrades.

There are endless amounts of other planes. There are the Metaplanes, where shamans go on spiritual journies and quests. There also distant and alien planes were magical threats sometimes come from. For example, there is a distant plane the insect spirits come from. They aren't insects on that plane, it's just how their alien nature gets translated when they come to the SR world's plane.

Crunch is a Vatjob Ninja I see. The Matrix might be becoming something like another plane, with the rise of the Resonance, whatever that is. Technomancers are certainly becoming like mages. (Purposely so the devs have said)

[shadowwoelf]

So just to clarify mana ball wouldn't work on the astral plane?

[GiraffeShaman]

Pg. 281:

A magician in the physical world can only cast spells
on targets that are in the physical world. Similarly, a
magician in astral space can only cast spells on targets
that are present in astral space (though auras of things
in the physical world can be seen, auras alone cannot
be targeted). If you’re using astral perception (or you are
otherwise dual-natured), you can cast spells on targets
in either the physical world or astral plane. Only mana-
based spells work in astral space, even if you’re in the
physical world astrally perceiving the target.
Area Spells: Area spells can be cast on a specific