Astral Projection

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by phiwum

Interesting way to carve things, Shostak.

So, if you'd seen a cave mouth previously, though you'd never been inside, you could visit it again and enter the cave. Unless, say, someone had laid branches across the mouth of the cave to cover the entrance. Or perhaps a flimsy curtain?

If there were sufficient branches to block a physical person, then yes, I’d argue that would block an astral traveller. Maybe even gauze would, too. (Maybe this explains the popularity of those blasted bead curtains my neo-hippy college housemate loved to install?) If it doesn’t work like this, how does one determine the limits of outdoor travel in the neighborhood example? Or, what if one physically visited a tavern, but never sat at a particular table. Could they only astrally visit a table they’ve frequented and just gaze at the other from a distance?

But it's a bit ad hoc, I think, to say that I could move through a desk (thereby occupying space that I hadn't seen, though there was matter blocking the space), but I can't move through a door into previously unseen space. Or could I not pause at the desk and move my astral head inside to have a look around?

It would have been a lot easier if SJ had not written that there are no physical obstructions on the Astral Plane. But if you don’t put some limits on it, the spell is far too useful for exploration and intelligence work.

I can see how this gives the projector more mobility and options while still limiting scouting somewhat. I'm having trouble coming up with a good rationale for these restrictions though.

Consider the following: I visit a house that I've never entered (nor seen the interior). The door stands open, but a magical Shadow is placed over the hex so I still can't see through the Shadow and into the house. Can I pass through the Shadow? If so, how is it different than passing through the closed door?

A magical shadow should not stop an astral traveller. Heck it wouldn’t stop anyone in the physical plane because it is not a barrier; it only limits sight, not movement. If a glass door separated an unvisited room from a visited one, the fact that an astral traveller could see through it wouldn’t allow them to pass through it.