Tunneling under a ley line

[flatline]

If you tunneled under a ley line, how deep could you go and still absorb PPE from the ley line?

--flatline

[eliakon]

If you tunneled under a ley line, how deep could you go and still absorb PPE from the ley line?

--flatline

As deep as the GM allows.

Seriously. The descriptions of ley lines are vague enough that each GM will have their own interpretations of how they work (which may be different for different games they run!)
The only hard and fast rule I can find is that games that use the RMB rules for magic instead of the RUE rules, you can draw energy from a nexus from up to a mile away (but you have to be ON a ley line). So if your in an RMB game, then you could tunnel a mile under a nexus and still get energy.
RUE has no such range allowance, and thus it would seem that you would have to be 'on' the line for what ever the value of 'on' is for that particular GM.

[grandmaster z0b]

This is especially interesting when it comes to undersea adventures and high altitudes as well. I think Ley lines go along the sea floor as well which could be a lot deeper than digging in some cases.

[Nekira Sudacne]

If you tunneled under a ley line, how deep could you go and still absorb PPE from the ley line?

--flatline

a mile, same as if you were on the surface. nothing says matter interfers with drawing on a ley line.

[Tor]

We should probably take thickness into account though... doesn't it vary between 1/2 mile to mile in radius if you took a circular cross-section from the curvy-cylinder-ish shape a leyline takes?

[Nekira Sudacne]

We should probably take thickness into account though... doesn't it vary between 1/2 mile to mile in radius if you took a circular cross-section from the curvy-cylinder-ish shape a leyline takes?

Kind of? You can be at most 1 mile in any direction from a ley line and draw on it. If the ley line is thinner or zig-zagging away it can make following at a distance akward but not impossible, but a good survey team with time could draw a pretty accurate map of the exact furthest position one could be and still draw on it from any given point.

Or rather: you can always be 1 mile from the ley line and draw, but if the ley line isn't even neither is the radius.

[eliakon]

We should probably take thickness into account though... doesn't it vary between 1/2 mile to mile in radius if you took a circular cross-section from the curvy-cylinder-ish shape a leyline takes?

Kind of? You can be at most 1 mile in any direction from a ley line and draw on it. If the ley line is thinner or zig-zagging away it can make following at a distance akward but not impossible, but a good survey team with time could draw a pretty accurate map of the exact furthest position one could be and still draw on it from any given point.

Or rather: you can always be 1 mile from the ley line and draw, but if the ley line isn't even neither is the radius.

And that "draw from 1 mile away" isn't AFAIK official canon. The only reference I could find for distance was that you could draw from was that RMB allowed you to tap a NEXUS from a mile away.
In RUE you have to "..must be standing in the ley line or at the nexus.."

[Nekira Sudacne]

It's in the http://www.palladiumbooks.com/images/Documents/Cutting_Room_Floor/Left_Out/RUE_Eratta.pdf offical errata for RUE. and in fact I was wrong. it's within TWO miles of a ley line on page 19 of the errata PDF.

[eliakon]

It's in the http://www.palladiumbooks.com/images/Documents/Cutting_Room_Floor/Left_Out/RUE_Eratta.pdf offical errata for RUE. and in fact I was wrong. it's within TWO miles of a ley line on page 19 of the errata PDF.

Ah yeah. That's the 50% range/duration increase.
But to draw PPE (as per the OP request) you still have to actually be on the line.

[Tor]

That's coming up as page 12 (errata for page 186 as mentioned on 11) for me...

Rather than on the exact language for drawing PPE:
*"in" the ley line
*"at" the nexus point

As for the distinction, RMB once used the phrase "at/on a ley line" so they may be interchangeable?

Errata also mentions thinnest are "few hundred" yards/meters wide and that most are a mile (1600m) wide. Dunno if there explicitly are or aren't any thicker than that. Going with the 'most' stat, if the width is perceived as a diameter then we can say most ley lines have a radius (using cylindrical face approach) of 800m.

This means, if we presume that the earth bisects a ley-line and we only see the top half of it, perhaps you could tunnel down 800m from the mid-point of the width and still access it?

Then again, I'm not sure if I'm right to go with this cylindrical theory... I guess they never seemed to have sharp corners in illustrations and the bisection idea is because they don't seem to narrow at the base...

If it were a cylinder resting on top of the ground then you could only touch it on a single 2D line, that's why it merging with the earth so that the cylinder's circle-face diameter is a width directly on the ground seems good.

[Prysus]

It's in the http://www.palladiumbooks.com/images/Documents/Cutting_Room_Floor/Left_Out/RUE_Eratta.pdf offical errata for RUE. and in fact I was wrong. it's within TWO miles of a ley line on page 19 of the errata PDF.

Ah yeah. That's the 50% range/duration increase.
But to draw PPE (as per the OP request) you still have to actually be on the line.

Greetings and Salutations. What the book (with errata says is...

"Practitioners of magic [snip] can stand on or near a ley line and freely draw on its.energy to cast spells as well as enhance their magic."

What this line says is that if you're near, you can draw P.P.E. or enhance magic. But at what range? That's when the next line tells us the effects and range of enhancing magic. Since the previous line mentions both abilities, we can infer 2 miles is also the range which we can draw from.

Of course the next section says you have to be standing on the ley line (which contradicts the part earlier that said "or near"). Take that for what you will. Farewell and safe journeys to all.

[Raze_7]

If you tunneled under a ley line, how deep could you go and still absorb PPE from the ley line?

--flatline

I suppose it depends if there are any magic-blocking compounds in Rifts (none that I know of). For this example, imagine that there is a compound called X, and X prevents the transmission of magic energy. If you tunneled through X, you could only be a short distance away from the ley-line/nexus.

I agree with the "1 mile" rule. You should probably use the range (1 mile) where Psychics get bonuses, which would make them bio-indicators. If your party's psychic (and each party should have at least one) suddenly has double range, you can draw PPE.

[flatline]

If the ley line can be used from underground, then I would expect the ground under long established ley lines to be riddled with tunnels. Some of the older tunnel systems would be quite sophisticated, perhaps even with permanent residents with significant resources stashed.

There's lots of potential here, but I don't think anything like this has been hinted at in any of the books I've read. Has anyone done anything along these lines in their games?

--flatline

[Tor]

What the book (with errata says is...

"Practitioners of magic [snip] can stand on or near a ley line and freely draw on its.energy to cast spells as well as enhance their magic."

What this line says is that if you're near, you can draw P.P.E. or enhance magic. But at what range? That's when the next line tells us the effects and range of enhancing magic. Since the previous line mentions both abilities, we can infer 2 miles is also the range which we can draw from.

Of course the next section says you have to be standing on the ley line (which contradicts the part earlier that said "or near")

A contradiction can be avoided if we view the initial "near a ley line" statement as referring to being near to a nexus point. Although in that case you would be 'near' at least 2 lines so the lack of plural is incriminating...

Another thing is that maybe the initial 'on' is talking about the 3d ley line (being within its thickness) while the later "near" is talking about the 2-dimensional line (no thickness) which would be the centerpoint of the ley-line cylindrical-ish shape (or however it goes).