Hi everybody,
yesterday we were a bit confused about the Spirit/Paracritter power Concealment in Astral space.
SR4 (birthday edition) p. 293
The rules states it gives penalties to Perception checks to locate the subject. And then a very unclear sentence at the end:
"Concealment also allows dual natured critters to conceal themselves and others from astral detection." Do the "others" have to be dual natured, too. And why only dual natured critters?
My current interpretation is that concealment makes it harder to spot someone, not to read his aura. As the astral space reveals any living things and beings quite obviously, I stated that if characters try to hide in astral space, for example a magician trying to take cover in front or beneath other auras, using infiltration himself (I read somewhere that this is possible), the Concealment would work against the required opposing Perception test.
Basically, Concealment won't make the auras or anything invisible in astral space, it would "only" make it much harder to spot/notice via the penalty dice.
Other opinions?
Btw., it was about how to pass by watchers on guard when infiltrating a large facility. The onyl way without alert I see is to sneak passed them, using "dead" objects as cover, crossing gaps when the watcher looks another direction etc., just like sneaking passed guards in real space.
