How common is astral travel gonna be in your campaign?

While scouring through the old mailing list archives, I found a discussion from 2005 discussing astral travel, specifically how common it would be and what spells would accomplish it. So I thought I'd distill the relevant bits of that discussion here for expanded rules on the undercooked astral travel rules presented in Major Arcana.

The first thing you'll need to establish is how common astral travel is expected to be, as that will determine the options for doing so. Is it rare, uncommon, or commonplace? The discussion established the following three options:

Astral travel is rare

This is the style presented in Major Arcana. 

  • The Arcane Technique Shemmut is required to navigate the Astral. 
  • The Initiate Spell Door to Shemmut, a Ritual Magic spell that requires knowledge of Seals, is required to enter the Astral.
  • This approach favors the High Priestess, but as the book notes others can learn it.

Astral travel is uncommon

This style is still restrictive, but less so than the books. 

  • Access requires a Spell. This is limited to one of the three Occult Sciences or not easily accessible.
  • Using a Technique is possible, but not limited to a specific Arcanum.
  • The High Priestess is favored by having easier access to the Spell, the Technique, or just navigates the Astral easier.

Astral travel is common

This style is the easiest.

  • Access requires a Spell. Equivalents may be found in all three Occult Sciences and are easily to acquire or design.
  • No technique is required.
  • The High Priestess is favored simply because they're better at navigating.

Astral magic

The discussion also provided some spells that specifically affected the Astral beyond just entering it.

  • Sense Astral: Lets the caster see astral travelers without the penalty associated with regular Ka-Vision.
  • Passing through the Door to Shemmut: As Door to Shemmut, but without the Threshold prerequisites. High Priestess members pay less ch'awe and don't risk Khaiba or Shouit if forced back to their bodies. Shemmut Technique depends on GM.
  • Shemmut Blockade: Creates a ward that prevents seeing or traveling beyond it, both for astral travelers and anyone peeking into the astral.
  • Passing through the Gate to Shemmut: As Door to Shemmut, but affects a group.
  • Entering the Gate to Shemmut: Lets the travelers bodily enter the astral, which is more dangerous because they can die there. Bodily entering the astral is subject to GM approval.

And for Alchemy (using the revised rules):

  • Traversing the Uat: A substance, work of art, or meditation that allows the target to enter the Astral a la Door to Shemmut.
  • The Ectoplasmic Container/Gather Ectoplasma: A procedure to gather and store ectoplasm.
  • Tulpa: A procedure to sculpt a Tulpa out of ectoplasm, which may be used as an avatar when traveling.
  • Scrying the Aethyrs: A procedure to convert Enochian into text, later to commune with the Aethyrs and learn Summoning without a teacher.
  • Seal of Solomon: effect by varies by circle, wards summoned beings, traps them or forces them to renegotiate.

And some Summoning invocations that simply replicate the Sorcery spells.

  • Summon the Immaterial Door to Shemmut: lets the traveler meditate and astral project.
  • Entering the Horn Gate/Entering the Ivory Gate: enter a dreamscape.
  • The Adamantean Gate to Shemmut: let one or more persons bodily enter the astral.

I like the idea for expanding Astral beyond the brief rules in Major Arcana, although the ideas here may need more refinements. For example, I don't know if the the astral alchemy spells are really appropriate for the revised alchemy's concept, and the invocations should actually invoke something.

I'll see if I can expand it in the future. Hope you enjoyed!

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