[Senko]

If your using a physical mask spell to look like someone your not and then use the masking metamagic is it possible to appear as mundane or would the spell negate it? E.g a white man using the spell to look like a black woman could they conceal their aura so the only way to realize anything was false would be to see through the mask spell? That is magicall assensed their aura is that of a mundane black woman even though their sustaining the spell. I think it'd work but I'm not sure.

[Dr. Meatgrinder]

You need Extended Masking to mask the sustained spell.

And remember, the Physical Mask spell has no effect on purely astral entities, so you're banking on your Masking to preserve your cover (most likely decent against a typical projecting magician or low-Force spirit, but probably not enough against a dedicated seer or a high-Force spirit).

[Senko]

Extended masking thanks, wasn't thnking to go up against high end security with this just for meets and the like on runs to help hide the mage's real identity. Fake SIN, Fake face, ballistic mask where acceptable to cover the fake face and masking (extended) to keep astral observers from seeing anything odd and reporting it to the Johnson if they're around.

[Top Dog]

Physical Mask and the Masking metamagic will (assuming the opponent doesn't pierce the illusions) work to show your enemy the image you want; Physical Mask on the physical, and Masking on the astral.

The problem is that the Physical Mask spell itself is still visible on the Astral. To hide that, you need Extended Masking, as Dr Meatgrinder said.

However, seeing the Physical Mask on the astral does not break the illusion! Of course, it might tip off the astral viewer that something is amiss, but he still sees you as the Physical Mask/Masking dictates. Furthermore, he can't see that you have the spell "Physical Mask" active. What he sees is that you have a spell active; and, with 2 hits on the assensing test, that it's an Illusion spell. There's no threshold at which he sees the exact spell, so that will always stay hidden.

Now, if you want to appear mundane, having an Illusion spell active on you is problematic, to say the least. You still show as a mundane black woman, but you'd have to explain why you have an illusion cast on you, and who did it. So for that particular application, it might not be worth it. In other situations it'd be hard to explain too, unless the opponent wouldn't be surprised seeing an active spell on you.

[Edit] Oh, by the way, besides (Extended) Masking, there's also a spell line in (I believe) Shadow Spells (might be Street Grimoire) that allows you to change magical auras. It's the only Illusion that works in the astral, and I'm pretty sure you can use that to hide the aura of Physical Mask and itself. (Not sure what it's called; the area version is called Manascape).

[Senko]

I'll take a look at that. The important part isn't to hide I'm a mage it's why I'm being hired afterall. It's to hide what kind of mage I am male, female, young, old, black, white, Human, shifter etc. If I can make the form appear to be my real one all the better but the importance is hiding all clues to what that is.

[Herr Brackhaus]

As Top Dog mentioned, check out False Impression and Manascape, page 20 of Shadow Spells. You can't create an aura out of nothing with this spell, but you can alter existing auras to look like something else. In other words, you could make your Physical Mask spell look like another, less suspicious sustained spell.

[Top Dog]

Then Physical Mask and Masking does the trick. The only problem is that they can see an active spell and might look closer, but as long as they don't break those two you'd be fine. And a magician having an active spell active - even an illusion - shouldn't invoke tóó much suspicion. False Impression still helps of course.

Of course, if they roll well enough to see through the illusion the jig is up. But that'll always be the case.

[Herr Brackhaus]

False Impression with Edge; if they can roll 6+ hits on an Assenssing test, you've probably got bigger problems

[Top Dog]

Eh, even NPC's get lucky sometimes. And 8+ dice on Assensing isn't that uncommon.

Speaking of, I'm thinking False Impressions would be better then Masking here. False Impressions is a "normal" spellcasting test - so typically, say, 6+6 + Power Focus. Maybe specialization. Masking would then be 6 + initiation grade + Power Focus. Magic and Power Focus are common, so the difference is Spellcasting skill (plus specializaion) vs Initiation Grade. The former is almost always higher.

Of course, it's also a spell, which means you have to sustain it somehow, while Masking is passive. And cost is different, and... well you get the point. But raw success-wise, False Impression should win out.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Yep, Spellcasting is a huge boon for False Impression, and casting it at Force 1 with Reagents or Edge and sustaining it with a sustaining focus or focused concentration (or just by using Psyche for a total of -2 for the two spells) is a good way to keep yourself hidden.