> My problem with battle magic spells is: how are the offensive ones aimed?
> Presumably it's a point and shoot type thing, but how do you ensure your
> disruption hits the broo fifty metres away rather than the Storm Bull
> maniac who is freziedly trying to chop it to bits?
I've always held that part of the teaching of spirit magic involves the teaching of some limited Shamanic skills. Whilst gathering and drawing upon your own Power to cast the spell, your senses are enhanced, and you become, to a limited extent, aware of your Power aura and those of other beings within a certain distance (linking in the range thread as well, here). Aiming is part of spell casting, but when aiming at a specific living creature, its aura can be selected and held, even if it is struggling with another. This sense is added to the conventional five for the period of the spell casting, but fades almost immediately (1SR) after the completion of the spell.
Here are my thoughts on spirit magic casting. You "push" outwards with your aura, seeking to join it to the other, and looking for a point of weakness in the conjunction through which to "push" the spell's effects. The sensation is somewhat like being inside a soap bubble, trying to push a knitting needle through a prepared part of your bubble into another. If the recipient resists, the 'skin' of their aura hardens (to the limit of their Pow/MP), and the two auras skid over each other. If they accept the spell, or are powerless to resist, the passage is easy.
This has a few consequences: if the opponent is considerably more or less powerful than the caster, it is obvious to the caster when the first spell is cast, although the categories are "broadly similar", "much weaker" or "much stronger" - not quantified and rather more diffuse than the capabilities of the true Shaman, of course.
Jon
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