ASH's Astral Plane

As much as I agree with Kevin Siembieda on some things (I loved the arrangement and intrigue of the Astral Plane and Dreamstream in Nightspawn World Book 1: Between the Shadow, a very good reference for all those interested in the Astral Plane), him and I disagree with a lot (well, theoretically anyway, though believe me if I ever got a chance to actually talk to the guy things would get ugly).

The Astral Plane is the realm that lies between Spirit and Physical, past the Etheral Plane but before the Mental Plane, it is the middle ground between what is here and what is not, between science and soul. Kevin unfortunately does not treat it as such, he treats it as a mere extension of the Physical Plane, which I find to be somewhat farsical.

For example, Kevin's rules state that a person's S.D.C. on the Astral Plane is equal to their normal S.D.C. times two. What sense does this make? Why would a person's physical body have any relation to their strength on the Astral Plane?

The Astral Body

The Astral Body is somewhat more delicate than the physical body, in certain cases. Your average human being does not have a refined astral form, making it vulnerable to attack. Psychics, sorcerers, and those experienced in astral travel have much stronger astral bodies. Non-psychic non-magic humans have an amount of Spirit Points equal to their M.E. attribute. Latent Psychics, Sorcerers, and P.C.C.s without Astral Projection have an amount of Spirit Points equal to 2x their M.E. attribute, and gain 1d4 additional every even level of experience (2, 4, 6, etc.), while Spirit Shamans, and those with Astral Projection have 3x their M.E. attribute in Spirit Points , and gain 1d6 additional for every level of experience. Spirit Points recover at half the normal rate of which they would recovered Hit Points, unless they are meditating (and I'm talking about people who really know how to meditate, psychics and Sorcerer's and other spiritually knowledgable people), at which point they recover it twice as quickly as Hit Points. When Spirit Points reach zero, the spirit is destroyed and the persons body will instantly drop dead. Remember, psychic powers and some spells have full effect on the astral body. This includes exorcism, which will force the astral traveler to leave the immediate area (200ft/61m radius) and prevents them from returning for 24 hours.
Note: If you haven't noticed, I do not mention the silver cord, that's because I do not have the silver cord in my system, simply put.
Second Note: When mortals are attacked by spirit damage attacks while their Astral Bodies are in their Physical Bodies, they always get a save vs. magic (even if the spell says dodge) at +1 to save. This is because something about the mortal connection between spirit and body results in a strong defense when they are together. This rule does not apply to the supernatural, creatures of magic, etc.

Astral Transference

Magic & Psionics

Because the astral plane lies directly between the etheric and mental planes, it is therefore the halfway between magic and psionics. The energy that creates the plane in this right is very hard to define, making it something of a massive supernatural melting pot, malleable through both mind and magic. When traveling the Astral Plane, magic and psionics work exactly like they should on the physical plane, as the nature of these things do not change, barring that they are not attempted in a domain or kingdom where such things are regulated or controlled differently from the Physical Plane.

Spirit Damage

Now comes the issue of relating Spirit Damage with other magic and psionics. Spirit Damage is just what it sounds like, an attack on that which lives and has a spirit. As such Spirit Damage does not affect the physical plane in anyway, passing through anything that does not have a spirit. However, when spirit damage meets things of magic or psionic in nature, there is an odd conflict. As stated before, astral energy is a combination of magic and psionic, therefore certain conditions must be considered.
If a attack doing Spirit Damage encounters a telekinetic or otherwise force oriented field or barrier, it will pass right through. Despite the nature of the power, it revolves soley around the manipulation of the physical plane and therefore will not obstruct astral and spiritual energy.
If a attack doing spirit damage however encounters something of magical (such as Armour of Ithan, or defensive magic of that nature) or more supernaturally astrally psionic in nature, such as a Psi-Shield, Psi-Sword, Astral Barrier, or Astral Forcefield, then the attack may be blocked.

Supernatural & Magic Monsters

Monsters that are inherently supernatural or magical in nature (Gargoyles, Dragons, Mazoku, creatures summoned or created by magical spells, etc.) basically take spirit damage as if it was normal damage, because their spirit and body are literally one in the same. Note however that things like natural armour rating and the like do not apply to the astral body, meaning that a dragon could be harmed just as easily as a human on the astral plane, it's just a matter of severity.

ASH's New Magic System & Astral Domains

I would like to note that I have not completely thrown P.P.E. out the window. But let's get one thing straight, it's 2 P.P.E. to 1 I.S.P. or M.P., not the other way around! Basically P.P.E. is something that could very well be considered astral energy, as it is neither psychic nor magic, but instead raw power that results from the meeting of mental and etheric energies. Psionics absorb this energy constantly and transform it into I.S.P., and Sorcerers channel the energy and turn it into M.P. P.P.E. is most often applied to powers or natural abilities that are simply supernatural, and not directly related to magic or psionics.
To this affect, Astral Lords still have P.P.E. to create their domains as stated in Nightspawn World Book 1: Between the Shadows.