[UmaroVI]

It's a background count. BGC rules in Street Magic say mundanes detect it like an astral form. But Awakened characters lose magic, and they automatically notice. If the are Astrally Percieving, then they can also see that you are a walking BGC from a distance - but if you get within range of them, it's automatic.

[Sichr]

Nothing is automatic. You need to rll assensing to identify the source IMO. And those astral forms...did you noticed that spart: astral form passing through their aura...that doesnt mean anywhere close, but throught their body.. If impostor just pass by the didnt notice even bad feeling. And for those awakened character...I can hardly imagine that this would not be acompanied with Masking or Flexible signature...or both...

[Captain Karzak]

I think I'm confused.

Isn't the only way awakened can actually see the hazing if they're actually "looking"?

I mean, astral perception is perception+intuition (4) for both mundane and awakened, but awakened get +2 dice.

(UmaroVI, I see you say it's automatic. I'm referencing:

Astral Detection
Physical beings may sense when an astral form passes through their
aura. Make a Perception + Intuition (4) Test; apply a +2 dice pool
bonus if the character is Awakened.

Street Magic discusses background count in depth.

page 118:
Background count also affects astral visibility (see p.
114), which affects both assensing and astral combat.

So I don't why it wouldn't be automatic to notice this kind of distortion swirling around a single being. I mean in the physical world you automatically notice fog, or smoke or darkness. Plus the whole losing magic thing would be super noticeable if an awakened character got close enough to the skinwalker.

[Sichr]

again the question that came up sometimes...how large area is affected by background count? Since we dont have domains anymore, its quite hard to tell. and if there is 50 people in the background are, how would you identify the exact one who is causing it...even with reduced visibility that douesnt allow you to see inside the are clearly?
So IMO automatic lockon the impostor is impossible.

[FastJack]

again the question that came up sometimes...how large area is affected by background count? Since we dont have domains anymore, its quite hard to tell. and if there is 50 people in the background are, how would you identify the exact one who is causing it...even with reduced visibility that douesnt allow you to see inside the are clearly?
So IMO automatic lockon the impostor is impossible.

Per the Astral Hazing, the Background Count extends out X meters from the person, where X is their Essence. If they sit still for a while, it will expand out at rate of one meter per every two or three hours.

[Ryo]

Not to mention Astral Hazing was coined by Cyberzombies, and all the flavor text and Jackpoint talk suggest every awakened anywhere near one of those puppies saw the Bad Juju without issue. And it was apparently like staring in the face of Cthulu.

Skin Walker is a Blood Adept specific ability, and since Blood Magic pretty much outright says 'THIS IS FOR NPCS ONLY, DO NOT GIVE TO YOUR PCS,' it's only ever gonna come up if you're using a Skin Walker against your PCs. So yes, 99% of the population has an Intuition+Perception (4) test to notice the blight on the universe walking within 6 meters of them, but 25% of the average 'runner group, cause they're always gonna have a mage, will notice when their Magic rating suddenly tanks 4 points.

Heck, even the Adept without Astral Perception is gonna wonder when you go "okay, you approach the diplomat. You just lost Killing Hands, Critical Strike 4, Combat Sense 2, Improved Ability: Unarmed Combat 2, and Mystic Armor."

[kirk]

(snip)
Heck, even the Adept without Astral Perception is gonna wonder when you go "okay, you approach the diplomat. You just lost Killing Hands, Critical Strike 4, Combat Sense 2, Improved Ability: Unarmed Combat 2, and Mystic Armor."

How's he going to know without trying to use them?

(I know. SM says that if the adept enters a background count area he picks what he loses, which means he knows he's entered such a zone whether he perceived it or not. Me, as GM I'd not say anything unless he either met an astral perception OR tried to use a power OR a power was being used at the time.)

[Kontact]

Skin Walker is a Blood Adept specific ability, and since Blood Magic pretty much outright says 'THIS IS FOR NPCS ONLY, DO NOT GIVE TO YOUR PCS,' it's only ever gonna come up if you're using a Skin Walker against your PCs. So yes, 99% of the population has an Intuition+Perception (4) test to notice the blight on the universe walking within 6 meters of them, but 25% of the average 'runner group, cause they're always gonna have a mage, will notice when their Magic rating suddenly tanks 4 points.

Yep.

And the domain of the BC would be... blood magic.  Giving your skin walking NPC +4 to his magic attribute and -4 to any PCs entering H2H range with said Blood Adept as well as +2 Drain Value to spells cast at the aforementioned adept.

I think that it is an excellent power.

[Ryo]

Skin Walker is a Blood Adept specific ability, and since Blood Magic pretty much outright says 'THIS IS FOR NPCS ONLY, DO NOT GIVE TO YOUR PCS,' it's only ever gonna come up if you're using a Skin Walker against your PCs. So yes, 99% of the population has an Intuition+Perception (4) test to notice the blight on the universe walking within 6 meters of them, but 25% of the average 'runner group, cause they're always gonna have a mage, will notice when their Magic rating suddenly tanks 4 points.

Yep.

And the domain of the BC would be... blood magic.  Giving your skin walking NPC +4 to his magic attribute and -4 to any PCs entering H2H range with said Blood Adept as well as +2 Drain Value to spells cast at the aforementioned adept.

I think that it is an excellent power.

See...I hadn't considered that. Astral Hazing suggests that the background count doesn't match the aspect of the magician in it, and Skin Walker says 'they gain the Astral Hazing flaw,' which suggests its supposed to be a hindrance, not a boon.

And while that would be horribly mean and make Skin Walker suddenly super useful, yeah, it would still be in a manner that isn't quite in line with the sneaky sneaky espionage flavor that entire book is supposed to be giving. It'd be more of a "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, I HAVE WRAPPED MYSELF IN THE FLESH OF MY ENEMIES TO CRUSH YOUR FEEBLE MINDS!" thing.

[Netzgeist]

"The most stealthy one can be is when there is no one to see him".

[Dr. Meatgrinder]

Skin Walker is a Blood Adept specific ability, and since Blood Magic pretty much outright says 'THIS IS FOR NPCS ONLY, DO NOT GIVE TO YOUR PCS,' it's only ever gonna come up if you're using a Skin Walker against your PCs. So yes, 99% of the population has an Intuition+Perception (4) test to notice the blight on the universe walking within 6 meters of them, but 25% of the average 'runner group, cause they're always gonna have a mage, will notice when their Magic rating suddenly tanks 4 points.

Yep.

And the domain of the BC would be... blood magic.  Giving your skin walking NPC +4 to his magic attribute and -4 to any PCs entering H2H range with said Blood Adept as well as +2 Drain Value to spells cast at the aforementioned adept.

I think that it is an excellent power.

See...I hadn't considered that. Astral Hazing suggests that the background count doesn't match the aspect of the magician in it, and Skin Walker says 'they gain the Astral Hazing flaw,' which suggests its supposed to be a hindrance, not a boon.

And while that would be horribly mean and make Skin Walker suddenly super useful, yeah, it would still be in a manner that isn't quite in line with the sneaky sneaky espionage flavor that entire book is supposed to be giving. It'd be more of a "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, I HAVE WRAPPED MYSELF IN THE FLESH OF MY ENEMIES TO CRUSH YOUR FEEBLE MINDS!" thing.

"...this background count also impairs her own actions if the character is Awakened" (RC, 116).

If it were aspected toward the character, you'd see a lot more PC magicians running around SURGEd with the 15 BP "negative" quality that gave a friendly +4 BC.

[CanRay]

It'd be more of a "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, I HAVE WRAPPED MYSELF IN THE FLESH OF MY ENEMIES TO CRUSH YOUR FEEBLE MINDS!" thing.

You say that like it's a bad thing. 

[Ryo]

It'd be more of a "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, I HAVE WRAPPED MYSELF IN THE FLESH OF MY ENEMIES TO CRUSH YOUR FEEBLE MINDS!" thing.

You say that like it's a bad thing. 

Only when you're trying to be subtle. Otherwise, its a great thing.

[Machiavelli]

No, it isn´t.^^ It´s like a lot of things in SR4....at the beginning they look shiny and after you take a closer look, it becomes rusty like hell. The intention of this ability IS to be sneaky....but it isn´t sneaky at all. So what?

[Kontact]

"...this background count also impairs her own actions if the character is Awakened" (RC, 116).

If it were aspected toward the character, you'd see a lot more PC magicians running around SURGEd with the 15 BP "negative" quality that gave a friendly +4 BC.

Yes.  It's negative for PCs, because PCs don't get to play twisted traditions.  A BC domain of pain, hate, and other negative feelings will never be good for a PC... Unless he uses Geomancy to switch it up.. but that's... anyway.

I'm the GM.  I get to make baddies who are powered by murderthoughts.  Ergo, crazy skinwalker baddie.