Shadowrun

Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: &#24525; on <03-03-16/0232:49>

Title: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: &#24525; on <03-03-16/0232:49>
Does anyone know if there is an astral smoke bomb that would block vision from someone either in meatspace astrally perceiving or in astral space perceiving "normally" (astrally)?
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Mirikon on <03-03-16/0237:19>
Don't think its been updated for 5th yet, but the Petite-brume grenade from 4th was just what you were looking for. Basically put a cloud of FAB I or something else in the air to act like an astral smoke grenade.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Medicineman on <03-03-16/0331:15>
Does anyone know if there is an astral smoke bomb that would block vision from someone either in meatspace astrally perceiving or in astral space perceiving "normally" (astrally)?

Backgroundcount is a kinda astral smokebomb....

With a Dance in the Smoke
Medicineman
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: bangbangtequila on <03-03-16/0809:58>
(https://media.giphy.com/media/uMjltAZ3FHV8k/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Blue Rose on <03-11-16/0905:52>
Astrally, living things are an opaque barrier, IIRC, so if you could somehow load a bomb with something alive, it should do the trick.  Algae grenade?  Jar of bees... and some wasps?
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Dinendae on <03-11-16/0910:04>
Astrally, living things are an opaque barrier, IIRC, so if you could somehow load a bomb with something alive, it should do the trick.  Algae grenade?  Jar of bees... and some wasps?


FAB? Your mage will love you!  ;D
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: MijRai on <03-11-16/1018:23>
FAB I and II aren't dangerous, the mage can suck it up until it's FAB III.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Blue Rose on <03-11-16/1426:15>
Of course, for the stated goal, it doesn't have to be fancy awakened bacteria. It can be yeast.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: MijRai on <03-11-16/1930:47>
That depends on how much of an aura yeast puts off.  Might not be opaque enough without going for some ludicrous dispersal system to get enough of it where you want it. 
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Sendaz on <03-11-16/2115:58>
Before we turned to Running, we did work with Awakened yeasts in the hope of starting our own chain of premier bakeries offering astrally inspired breads.

Alas ultimately those dreams were shattered as we couldn't raise the dough. :P
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Damian Knight on <03-27-16/1015:45>
Dear 忍,
We here at Ares Macrotechnology would like to extend our personal gratitude for this ingenious idea.
This "Astral Concealment Device" (ACD) is currently patented and is being developed en mass for commercial sale.
To show our thanks, we would like to send you one dozen (12) of the first batch of the aforementioned ACD's.

We hope you enjoy this gift.
-Damian Knight, CEO at Ares Macrotechnology
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Marcus Gideon on <03-27-16/1200:13>
Dear 忍,
We here at Ares Macrotechnology would like to extend our personal gratitude for this ingenious idea.
This "Astral Concealment Device" (ACD) is currently patented and is being developed en mass for commercial sale.
To show our thanks, we would like to send you one dozen (12) of the first batch of the aforementioned ACD's.

We hope you enjoy this gift.
-Damian Knight, CEO at Ares Macrotechnology

Don't you mean Astral Concealment / Deployable Cloud? Otherwise known as AC/DC =)
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Damian Knight on <03-27-16/1318:20>
Ah, yes, late 20th century music references.
We could use an innovator like you at Ares Macrotechnology.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Blue Rose on <03-27-16/1331:23>
Mister Knight, do you have anything to say about the rumors that you are secretly Iron Man?
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Marcus Gideon on <03-27-16/1754:09>
Ah, yes, late 20th century music references.
We could use an innovator like you at Ares Macrotechnology.
"At Ares" sounds somewhat constrictive. I like to go where the wind takes me (read: paycheck). But, I am a big fan of the Ares Predator after all. Have your people get with my people. We'll do lunch!
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: DeathStrobe on <03-27-16/2116:40>
Normal smoke grenades should cause shadows in the astral. Likewise, water isn't invisible and neither is clouds nor ice. Things don't need to be living to have an aura, just living things have brighter auras.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Marcus Gideon on <03-27-16/2249:43>
Normal smoke grenades should cause shadows in the astral. Likewise, water isn't invisible and neither is clouds nor ice. Things don't need to be living to have an aura, just living things have brighter auras.
If that were the case, the Astral would constantly be opaque. Or you'd be seeing a lot more clouds wandering around.

Whenever someone is smoking a cigarette, you'd see an aura emitting an opaque blob every few minutes.
When someone eats too much Taco Bell, there would be an opaque blob following them to the bathroom.
When the lady in the mall tries to spray you with a sample of the latest fragrance, that too would be an opaque blob.

If you're saying "smoke is substance, so it casts a shadow" then everything airborne has some degree of substance.

Or... remember that the Astral plane is a magical realm, and not everything makes sense to our mundane minds. Life, thought, and magic hold sway over there, not physics. And something as transient as a randomly occurring puff of smoke is probably not going to manifest. Not when a more common sight is the cloud of gloom and dread hanging over cubicles on Monday morning when nobody wants to be back at work.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: Blue Rose on <03-27-16/2316:13>
The astral isn't so much about bodies and forms so much as minds, concepts, and spirits.  A building has some slight astral presence (and opacity) because it is a persistent concept in the world that has sustained itself over time.  Grow vines on the walls and they become impenetrable astrally because of the spiritual essence of the vines.

Have a pool of water and you can pass right through.  Have a lake, and it's utterly impenetrable, because it's a boundary of the gaiasphere.

Have a glass window?  It's no different than a wall.

Astral works differently from normal space and sight.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: DeathStrobe on <03-27-16/2321:07>
By that logic we shouldn't be able to see buildings or pools of water.

All physical things cast shadows in the astral, including air. The reason you aren't blinded by air's shadow is the same reason we can see through it in physical space, it's not thick enough to matter in most regards.

I agree that the astral is not physical space, so natural laws of physics with light don't work. For example you can't assense through glass and mirror's aren't reflective. But this doesn't stop things with matter from casting shadows in the astral.

The reason you can't see radon or other "invisible" gasses, is simple there isn't enough of it to significantly cast a shadow to be perceived by a metahuman. But if it was dense enough, it would. Or are we to believe that water is invisible on the astral unless it was ice?

Quote
Have a lake, and it's utterly impenetrable, because it's a boundary of the gaiasphere.

That doesn't hold up as Cyberpirates had rules for navigating the oceans in the astral.
Title: Re: Is there an astral "smoke bomb"
Post by: adzling on <03-28-16/0958:46>
Blue Rose describes how 1e approached astral.

That's no longer the case (now you can astrally fly through vines and other living organisms like plankton in the sea etc, although you still cant see through them).