I'm hiding, I'm hiding, and no one knows where...
In Awakenings, there is an adept power called "Spell Shroud", which makes an adept much more difficult to detect by spells in astral space. According to the wording of the power, it does not affect either Masking attempts or attempts to read the character's aura, but it does state that it "cloaks" their aura in astral space. This gives me several ideas.
The first is likely the most difficult, but I actually got it from my shapeshifter character. When he's in human form, he masks his aura to appear as a human adept, if not just a normal human. That means he changes the shape of his aura from that of a wolf to that of a human. Perhaps he could, if he concentrated, change the shape of his aura to match that of the grass, or to more closely blend into the tree that he's standing next to. Now, this assumes that a) the adept has a huge degree of control over his aura b) that he is capable of astral perception and c) he is an initiate. Not a viable option for all adepts.
Another option would be to simply allow an adepts Improved stealth dice to apply in astral space. In this case, I would make it so that _only_ the Improved Stealth dice were considered, not his own skill (for example, Bishop has 5 dice in stealth, and 2 dice of Improved Stealth. Versus the Security rigger at the mansion he is breaking into, he rolls 7 dice, but against the Mambo who is astrally perceiving down the corridor, he only rolls his two improved dice). Believe it or not, this has an actual magical background in some traditions. By wrapping your aura tightly around you, you are more difficult to notice in the real world, and don't stand out as much to magical sight. It could be that that is what the Improved Stealth ability does.
A third would be to include a special power to allow the adept to cloak himself against astral perception, much like the Stealth skill helps in real life. I'll have a suggestion for such a power at the end.
Finally, assuming you allow none of the above to work, there are options for anyone seeking to avoid astral detection. One ploy that runners would do well to try is to climb a tree. Unless whoever is searching astrally is actually amongst the branches, your aura will likely be obscured by that of the tree, making you much more difficult to pick out. The same can apply to tall grass (so long as they don't look down on you from above), or nearly any other large aura that you can hide behind. Earlier in the summer, I proposed a ghillie suit impregnated with a form of algae that would mask your aura to an extent. Other options along this line might include one that actually had grasses growing in it. You would still look out of place on the astral plane, but few magicians take the trouble to assense carefully the local shrubbery, so you would have a non-descript vegetable aura, as opposed to a non-descript metahuman aura
(which the sec-mage would be more likely to investigate... remember, you can't gain any successes on a roll if you don't make one, and it takes at least one success to recognize an aura beyond base type).
Now, for those of you who love powers, I have a couple toys for you.
Astral Stealth (or Improved Spell Shroud)
Cost .5 per level
This power cause the adept's aura to blend in with the background, much like ruthenium polymers on the physical plane. Each level of this power gives the adept one die to roll to avoid being noticed in astral space (to generate a TN in an open test for those using SR3, or to cancel out astral perception success for those using previous editions). Note that this power does not require the adept to be astrally active... some adepts do not even know they have the power. It also functions as the power Spell Shroud (pg 119 Awakenings) at the same level.
Enhanced Masking
Cost: 2
This allows the adept to do much more with his aura than simply conceal magical abilities. It allows the adept to alter many fundamental facts about his aura, to appear as almost anything he wishes, from a patch of grass to an immortal dwarf-elf hybrid with the arms of a troll. Various other uses include making the adept appear much more powerful, as another person (who's aura the adept knows), or to aid in normal attempts to Deliberately Mask his aura (effectively doubling his available dice).
To use this power, the adept rolls a number of dice as if he were Deliberately Masking his aura (for the first two editions, that would be twice his initiate grade... it is currently unknown what it will mean in third edition) as his Stealth skill against astral observers (either generating a TN to be noticed, or canceling successes that would otherwise be used against him). No dice, save those from the Karma Pool or the above Astral Stealth power (and the latter only if attempting to hide, rather than enhance his aura), may aid in this test. While using this power is considered an Exclusive action, that seldom bothers followers of the somatic way, affecting more those who attempt to blend it with another (physical magicians).
Of course, this requires an adept capable of Masking (which, in the first two editions, also meant he must be capable of astrally perceiving).
Return to the main page.
Comments?