[Ryo]

I've noticed that Assensing seems to be the king of screwing over your players that want to ninja their ways into buildings, and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot they can do about it. So I've decided to introduce some manatech into my games in the form of an armor modification. Let me know if you guys think this is a good idea.

Shadow Lining

Capacity    Availability    Cost
[Rating 2,4,6]    16F    Rating*1000¥

With patrolling spirits being the bane of many a would-be infiltrator, there have been a number of attempts to find a means of blocking an Awakened creature's ability to Assense, or otherwise conceal a target from it. This armor modification uses a fabric derived from a plant related to the Haven Lily, resulting in a thin material with an astral shadow that is more opaque than clothing would otherwise be, reducing the visibility of the wearer's aura shining through her clothes. The thicker the fabric is made, the darker the shadow of their armor becomes. The Rating of the lining acts as a penalty to the Assensing Tests of would-be observers, up to a maximum of -6.
Note that having an Armored Jacket with an astral shadow that covers your own aura doesn't do you much good if your face is glowing like a Christmas Tree. When added to armor that does not cover the full body, the penalty is halved.

[Novocrane]

Might be worth pointing out; haven lilies create mana ebbs. Auras are easier to spot in mana ebbs.

[Ryo]

It was the only existing thing I could find that reduces the power of magical things, which is why I said it was a plant related to haven lilies, rather than the haven lily itself.

[Caradoc]

Tell me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Astral Assensing automatically get blocked by intervening barriers whether a glass window, cloth or whatever. Someone in the real world wearing an enclosed body suit is going to be harder to spot using Assensing from the Astral world.

On the other hand, someone projecting into the Astral world can only take the items that are bonded to him with him on his journey. For concealment purposes, I can't see why a Mage can't bond a body suit and 'wear' it into the Astral world so that it will be able to conceal him from Assensing. The Mage will just have to make sure there are no other bonded items outside the suit or active spells that will help give him/her away.

[Ryo]

By the current rules of assensing, your clothing and armor do not block your aura from shining through, which is why everyone is walking around as glowing beacons of visible auras instead of a bunch of floating faces. I believe Street Magic explained it as clothing and armor being too thin or close to the body.

If full body armor actually had an astral shadow that blocked your aura, then it would also block you for the purpose of LOS for spellcasting, which definitely isn't the case.

[Xenon]

A wall would block your aura. A spirit will not see you unless he is in the same corridor as you.

[Noble Drake]

Nothing special is needed to be astrally sneaky - normal stealth works just fine.

The language of "shining" and "glowing" with auras is meant to evoke a sense of your aura looking a certain way... not to imply that you cant duck behind a desk to hide from assensing because your whole body is like a light source.

[JackVII]

On a related note (I guess this is more rules than gear, but it is strongly related):

How is everyone handling perception in Astral Space? The book has a bit of weird text that seems to imply that Assenssing is used for all perception tests in Astral Space:

Like physical perception, you don’t need to make a test to see things that are immediately obvious (and since astral forms are bright and vibrant, this means that most astral forms are easy to spot). You only need to roll the dice when your target is trying to hide or when you’re trying to observe in detail—then you make an Assensing Test to see what you can see.

Is this more of that weird sentence parsing (see debates related to SA Recoil) of which CGL seems so fond? Does the final phrase only apply to the observe in detail or does it modify the whole sentence, in essence requiring assensing for all perception related tests in Astral space? I always thought assensing was more of an analytical skill that allowed you to gain greater insight into what you were seeing, not a skill that determined basic perception. Of note, it is not defaultable, unlike Perception, so I guess you're screwed completely if you don't have it.

Side Question: Do light conditions affect Astral Perception? I can't remember if it mentions it in the book anywhere.

[Xenon]

[Physical] Perception: Perception + Intuition [Mental]
Sensor Array Perception: Electronic Warfare + Intuition [Sensor]
Matrix Perception: Computer + Intuition [Data Processing]
Astral Perception: Assensing + Intuition [Astral]

Since most auras are easy to spot in astral space (you only need astral perception or astral projection for that) you would normally only use Assensing for "Observe in Detail" to analyze a particular aura (to figure out if the owner if the aura is an awakened character, got augmentations, accurate diagnosis of any disease or toxins or is a technomancer etc). It is also used when you want to see if a subject got matching emotions to what he is actually telling you. You use it for astral tracking (if you want to find the source of a magic signature left behind or if someone moved your body while you were out). To see through  mana illusions....


Mundane light and darkness does not affect auras in astral space and icons in augmented reality. Walls are walls in astral space as well, you can still move through them if you are astral projecting but you can't see through them. Walls does not exist in matrix and you can still see device icon with augmented reality even if it's associated device is on the other side of a wall.

[KarmaInferno]

You know what works?

A big cardboard box.

 


-k

[CanRay]

You know what works?

A big cardboard box.

 

-k

Snake?  SNAKE?  SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE???

[Reaver]

I will probably end up treating Sneaking like infiltration in 4e, meaning it still works on Astral perception. After all, the 2 are not dis-similar.

In the astral world, everything is still there (minus the incidentals, like books and what not) so there is just as many places to hide from observation from an astral viewer as there is to hide in the mundane world....


After all, if you can sneak your way past that thermo equipped motion sensitive camera, Why not the spirit?

[Mirikon]

While physical gear (beyond said cardboard box) would not have an effect on how well you can be seen on the astral, there is potential for metamagics to do something of the sort. As for how you hide on the astral? That's a grey area of sorts, but I'd go with Sneaking+Logic [Astral] vs. Assensing+Intuition [Astral], with the obvious caveat that you'd need to be aware of the astral plane (perceiving, projecting, or dual-natured) to attempt it. The reason for Sneaking+Logic is that Sneaking is an Agility skill, and Logic replaces Agility on the Astral, so fewer leaps to go through there. As it stands, Masking can display a false aura (turning a mage into a mundane, or making a low-level initiate look like a dragon), but it doesn't keep you from being seen (observe in detail is different from 'spot', after all).

As for how the metamagic would work, I'd do it something like this:
Perception Filter
Prerequisite: Masking metamagic
The initiate is able to more effectively hide himself from astral observers. When using this metamagic, those using astral perception must make an opposed Assensing+Intuition [Astral] roll vs. the initiate's Sneaking+Logic [Astral] roll. The initiate adds his initiate grade to his dice pool for this test. If the creature using astral perception does not gain at least one net hit on the opposed test, he fails to notice the initiate's aura, though on a tie he may have a sensation of feeling that there was something in his 'peripheral vision' that is gone when he turns to look at it. If the perceiving creature spots the initiate, he does not have to make the opposed test again unless the initiate takes a complex action to 'hide' himself again. Using skills from the Conjuring, Sorcery, or Enchantment skill groups, or engaging in Astral Combat gives perceiving creatures a new chance to spot you, with a +2 dice pool bonus to their roll. Using this metamagic has no affect on perception tests in the material plane.

The basic idea of the metamagic is kindof like the 'perception filter' idea in Doctor Who. Your aura isn't gone or disguised in any way, but people just can't quite notice it as easily, like it was a half-step to the left of where you actually are, so to speak. An in universe analogy would be the astral construct mentioned in Feral Cities (page 20) that surrounds Elemental Hall, the local headquarters of the ASPS.

[KarmaInferno]

Disguising yourself as a bush might work.



-k

[WrongConcept]

On my humble opinion i must say that if any day i would play SR5 i would treat it as SR4, for me the act of Stealth or Infiltration (in SR4) conveys an emotional Blandness state, its a must do to effectively be able to react calmly and level headed, this translates into the Astral Plane into a more opaque Aura because if strong emotions are Bright then no emotions should be opaque, fallowing this logic then it wouldn't make a difference in the Astral Plane and on the Material Plane if someone is trying to sneak past your Awakened guard or his spirits his hits will still count as the threshold, after all you are accostumed to se auras of bright colors nor auras of opaque colors that become hard to distinguis especially in urban areas, for me there is no penalty not to the awakened not the un awakened trying to sneak.

But as i said thats my humble opinion and interpretation of the setting.

Edit: Also i like to keep things simple when possible.