The Cover rules apply to spells. It's pretty simple to say that without the Astral Sense spell, Full Cover applies. With the Astral Sense spell, Full Cover does not apply within the range of the spell if you have beaten their Mystic Defense. I would still grant the target a Partial Cover bonus of +2 Mystic Defense to both the initial Astral sensing Test, and also the the Spellcasting test.. if that makes sense. If you beat that difficulty, then the spell veers around the obstacle. Use it as a gauge for the narration. Did the spell miss by 1 or 2? Too bad, you hit the tree with your Lighting Bolt. Note how the Astral Targeting spell is setup to counter this and give a +2 bonus to the spellcaster,and how Astral Shield gives a +2 Mystic Defense bonus to the target (and any additional *astrally sensed* targets added at +1 to the difficulty each). That might as well be "astral cover"
I really applaud the direction Morgan and Josh have taken the metaphysical side of the game.
I agree that the Astral Sense spell is a good way to show how the Wizard is different from this fellow spellcasting Adepts.
[ED4] Astral Sense and Astral Targeting
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Re: [ED4] Astral Sense and Astral Targeting
I would like to confirm how many actions it takes to Astrally Sense someone.
If you see someone in the real world, you can use Astral Sight upon them.
Do you need to beat the local MD for corruption, and the targets personal MD in the same roll?
Or do you have to roll once for local MD, and a second time (a round later) to "focus in" on their personal MD?
On the other hand, say that there was a spirit only visible in Astral Space.
Would it require two rolls to sense, because you can't see the spirit to target it specifically with the first roll?
If you see someone in the real world, you can use Astral Sight upon them.
Do you need to beat the local MD for corruption, and the targets personal MD in the same roll?
Or do you have to roll once for local MD, and a second time (a round later) to "focus in" on their personal MD?
On the other hand, say that there was a spirit only visible in Astral Space.
Would it require two rolls to sense, because you can't see the spirit to target it specifically with the first roll?
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Re: [ED4] Astral Sense and Astral Targeting
We probably have different images of the spellcasting process, no big deal. I tend to use parsimony when interpreting Earthdawn rules, and saying cover applies if you can use a nearby object "for protection" is the simplest way to go. I also tend to imagine the spellcasting process like this:
The magician begins to gather the Mana (free floating astral energies) needed to craft the spell pattern (simple action for 0 thread spells, otherwise Threadweaving). Then, the magician - through force of will (the Spellcasting roll) - "ionizes" a channel of astral space between him/herself and the target. The spell-pattern flies down this ionized channel dumping Mana (astral energy) into the physical plane as the spell effect.
A good analogy is the Navy's lightning gun: http://www.gizmag.com/laser-induced-pla ... nel/23117/
This "ionization" path does want to take the path of least resistance (a straight line), but (in my Barsaive) the magician can force it to arc around cover objects at +2 target's Mystic defense. While the Astral Sense spell does allow the caster to know exact positioning within it's radius for any astrally sensed target, I still consider that your are drawing the arc from your pattern to the target pattern, so the difficulty of forcing your astral path to arc over cover gives the same +2 to target's Mystic Defense. The difference being that full-cover is now only partial cover for astrally sensed targets.
The best thing to keep in mind is that the Earthdawn metaphysics are tied so well to the rules that different rule interpretations can have effects on how your group interprets in-game metaphysics. I tend to start with the simplest interpretation of the rules first, as I know they are already tied to the metaphysics. Keep it consistent and it will be fine.
Still interested in the procedure Dougansf asked about...
The magician begins to gather the Mana (free floating astral energies) needed to craft the spell pattern (simple action for 0 thread spells, otherwise Threadweaving). Then, the magician - through force of will (the Spellcasting roll) - "ionizes" a channel of astral space between him/herself and the target. The spell-pattern flies down this ionized channel dumping Mana (astral energy) into the physical plane as the spell effect.
A good analogy is the Navy's lightning gun: http://www.gizmag.com/laser-induced-pla ... nel/23117/
This "ionization" path does want to take the path of least resistance (a straight line), but (in my Barsaive) the magician can force it to arc around cover objects at +2 target's Mystic defense. While the Astral Sense spell does allow the caster to know exact positioning within it's radius for any astrally sensed target, I still consider that your are drawing the arc from your pattern to the target pattern, so the difficulty of forcing your astral path to arc over cover gives the same +2 to target's Mystic Defense. The difference being that full-cover is now only partial cover for astrally sensed targets.
The best thing to keep in mind is that the Earthdawn metaphysics are tied so well to the rules that different rule interpretations can have effects on how your group interprets in-game metaphysics. I tend to start with the simplest interpretation of the rules first, as I know they are already tied to the metaphysics. Keep it consistent and it will be fine.
Still interested in the procedure Dougansf asked about...
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