Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Rules and such => Topic started by: gargaM0NK on <12-17-10/0142:02>
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First consider the case of Merlin the Magician astrally projecting. He travels over to the runner ranch, and manifests there. Then he wants to cast a spell on some unsuspecting wannabe gangers.
If the spell is learned with a fetish, and the fetish is on Merlin's person, can he cast said spell while manifested?
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Well, I think your answer is "no", because you aren't actually in the physical world at the point of your manifestation.
Manifesting is a psychic effect that allows an astral form to make itself visible and audible on the physical plane through an act of will.
...Unlike the Materialization power of spirits (p. 296), manifesting does not create a physical form, and so the character cannot physically interact with anything, nor can she be harmed by physical attacks.
So you're still an astral form, active on the astral plane, just visible/audible on the physical plane, but not really there.
A magician in the physical world can only cast spells on targets that are in the physical world. Similarly, a magician in astral space can only cast spells on targets that have an astral form *though the auras of things in the physical world can be seen, auras alone cannot be targeted). An astrally perceiving (or otherwise dual-natured) magician can cast spells on a target in either the physical world or in astral space.
Manifesting doesn't make you dual-natured, nor does astral projection (it severs the link between magician body and magician astral form, allowing said astral form to roam away from the body).
EDIT
To answer the implied question: "Can Merlin the Magician cast a limited spell while astrally projecting?"
Yes, if the fetish is touching his physical body when he tries to cast the spell (SR4A, pg. 182). This is the only requirement, though I would consider house-ruling that any fetishes on the mage when he astrally projects appear on his astral form & he needs these astral copies on his astral form to cast the spells. Seems to fit the flavor of astral projection better, given that you sever the connection between mind and body (I know, it's not completely severed, since damage to one affects the other, etc).
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Even shorter answer:
Any magical gear that you've paid the karma to bond to will follow you into the Astral when you project.
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Even shorter answer:
Any magical gear that you've paid the karma to bond to will follow you into the Astral when you project.
You know, I looked for that and didn't find it. Until I started looking again to respond to your post and saw it one sentence after I apparently stopped reading (okay, this is for Foci, not Fetishes, but still more than I saw before):
When activated, foci have an astral form and will accompany an astrally projecting magician to which they are bound.
Granted, they probably clarify the fetish thing in Street Magic, but I'm fairly comfortable on how the basics work that I'm not worried about whether or not fetishes hang around on the astral form.
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Also keep in mind that in the described situation Merlin cannot cast a spell at something that is not astral or dual-natured, and only Mana spells. No popping out of astral and fireballing them into oblivion...
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Can you still "ground" a physical spell (like fireball) through a dual natured being or active foci like you could in previous editions? Where it effects the dual being and then explodes into the surrounding physical area.
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Can you still "ground" a physical spell (like fireball) through a dual natured being or active foci like you could in previous editions? Where it effects the dual being and then explodes into the surrounding physical area.
I do not have my books available to me at the moment, but I remember that little "gem" of a tactic from the old rules. Played in a RPGA "Living Shadowrun" event with a guy that liked to summon watchers and order them to manifest for just that little trick. Thought it was reprehensible from the moment I heard it. Wish I would have been the GM so I could have squashed that idea, legal or not.
I specifically remember looking through the 4th edition rules to see if they had closed that little loophole, and I am happy to say they did.
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Actually, they got rid of it in 3rd edition, too.
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Yeah, but the RPGA version of the 'official' Living Shadowrun campaign was 1st-2nd edition.
So grounding was legal back then.
-k