JetBlackJoe wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:24 am
I was referring primarily to my ability to spot his baddies lurking in ambush around the corner on my astral radar, before they get the jump on us.
Remember that non-living object also have an astral imprint and they are NOT transparent: if you cannot visually see someone because he is hiding behind a wall then you won't be able to see his imprint either because it is hidden by the imprint of the wall.
JetBlackJoe wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:24 am
Bonus question: Do undead creatures have an astral imprint that you can see with Astral Sense? We agreed on yes, but there was some doubt.
Anything and everything has a astral imprint, thus so will undead creatures Living creatures (and magical things) imprints have much more vivid than non-living objects but EVERYTHING has an imprint. It is, however, open to debate whether an undead creature would be seen astrally as an 'empty' object or a vivid living thing.
As for Divine Aura itself, I've found that when trying to figure out the 'intent' of a rule, mechanic, spell or talents it helps to take into account the history of the Earthdawn game itself. Back when it was created, Earthdawn was intended to be the 'past' of their other popular game Shadowrun and therefore a lot of things in Earthdawn were intended to reflect similar mechanics in Shadowrun. Therefore when a rule seems unclear it might be a good idea to look at its 'original version' to get a better understanding of what was the intent of the developers when it was created.
I do believe that Divine Aura is basically just the Earthdawn equivalent of Shadowrun Assensing. Assensing is indeed only allowing to get a general sense of the health and feeling of the target, not 'reading his mind' or stuff like it (some stuff, of course, does not apply at all to Earthdawn although all the 'cyberware detection' stuff could easily apply to blood charms):
1
The general state of the subject’s health (healthy, injured, ill, etc.).
The subject’s general emotional state or impression (happy, sad, angry, etc.).
Whether the subject is mundane or Awakened.
2
The presence and location of cyberware implants.
The class of a magical subject (fire elemental, manipulation spell, power focus, curse ritual, and so on).
If you have seen the subject’s aura before, you may recognize it, regardless of physical disguises or
alterations
3
The presence and location of alphaware cyber implants.
Whether the subject’s Essence and Magic are higher, lower, or equal to your own.
Whether the subject’s Force is higher, lower, or equal to your Magic.
A general diagnosis for any maladies (diseases or toxins) the subject suffers.
Any astral signatures present on the subject.
4
The presence and location of bioware implants and betaware cyber implants.
The exact Essence, Magic, and Force of the subject.
The general cause of any astral signature (combat spell, alchemical combat spell, air spirit, and so on).
5+
The presence and location of deltaware implants, gene treatments, and nanotech.
An accurate diagnosis of any disease or toxins which afflict the subject.
The fact that a subject is a technomancer.