From: whitley@acsu.buffalo.edu (John Whitley)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: SRII: Quickening, Anchoring, etc.
Keywords: quckening, astral, spell locks
Date: 26 Jan 93 23:29:56 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo, Computer Science


There seems to be some ambiguity concerning the exact astral status of
quickening.  I'll include my views/solutions to the problems. I'd
really appreciate opinions from some of the Shadowrun gurus and from
official sources as well.

1) Can spells be grounded through a quickened spell?

     No.  The Grimoire II states that Quickening gives the spell
     its own, permenant, connection to the astral plane.  In
     addition, the astral combat sections state that spells
     ignore other spells in astral space.  (Exception: Mana
     barrier).  The spell lock analogy doesn't hold since in
     that case the focus is being attacked, not the locked
     spell.


2) Do quickened spells leave an astral trail to the caster?

     No.  Once again, the quickened spell has its own circuit to
     the astral plane, independent of the spellcaster.  Also
     recall, quickening a spell of significant force represents
     a proportionally significant investment of karma.  In
     addition, this issue is moot if the caster quckens a spell
     on her person.  Also, nowhere in the Grimoire does it
     mention anything about Quickened spells having an astral
     trail, but it explicitly mentions a trail for spell locks,
     foci, and even prepared anchor items/sites.  Further, in
     the quickening example, and in some of the source material,
     initiates are found quickening spells on places/victims
     with impunity.  This would make a little more sense if
     these spells lacked astral trails.  (As I recall a toxic
     quickened Turn-to-Goo on some guards...)


3) A spell lock may be concealed by an initiate as per the rules in
   the Grimoire II; does this conceal the locked spell, as well?

     This is a stickler, and here's some examples to illustrate why:

     Yes?: What if a non-personal, area-effect, barrier spell is
     locked?  A spell barrier?  It seems inconsistent with the
     nature of the astral plane in Shadowrun to have a barrier
     effect (or any spell) in place which is not astrally
     apparent.

     No?:  So what's the astral image of the locked spell?
     In this case I'd have to assume that the spell just cannot
     be attacked unless the lock itself is visible, just so that
     there's a point to concealing the lock in the first place.


4) Can quickened spells be concealed in any way?

     ????  If quickened spells have astral links to the caster, then 
     this link can certainly be concealed via an astral quest.


5) The Anchoring abilities Delay Link and Temporal Link seem to be
   extremely limited.  Which target numbers does enchanting for effect	
   (under Anchoring in Grim. II) reduce?  Effect?  Drain? Both?


6) Can a temporal link be used as a sort of "poor initiate's
   spell lock"?

     Sure.  But remember, this creates a real physical tie to an
     astral entity, and thus is subject to spell grounding just
     like a spell lock.
     

7) What about using anchoring with quickening?

     ????  If allowed, naturally the caster would have to
     survive the link-modified drain twice, but is this just too
     powerful?  Recall, that this would be a relatively
     strenuous process for a mage, and would necessarily leave
     an astral trail due to the anchor point.  Also it should	
     probably have a base karma cost equal to the force of the
     spell plus the number of links.  Possibilities for this
     combination follow:

     Permanent Warding: Detect Individual quickened and
     deactivation linked to quickened Mana Barrier.  Note that
     to protect any significant area would require
     enourmous amounts of karma.

     Letter Bomb: Detect Individual, No range (touch required)
     quickened and activation linked to Death Touch.


8) Anchoring and spell locks?

     ?????  The Grimoire II hints that quickening and anchoring
     may not be compatible, but neglects spell locks enitrely.


Have at it,
John Whitley
-- whitley@cs.buffalo.edu