Maybe I'm not understanding how this is supposed to work, but when casting Noumena at night in full cloud cover I'm not getting any starlight aura regeneration at all. I know I'm not casting with enough mana to get the regen during the day yet, but it should work on clouds yes? The messaging seems to indicate it should set me to hindering at least. It's now full night and have had the spell up since sunset and still haven't gained any aura. Normally I'm able to reach full aura by now.

> prep noum 13

That will disrupt less than a quarter of your current attunement.

You raise an arm skyward, chanting the equation of the Noumena spell.

> conc aura
You close your eyes and take a measure of your aura.
The smallest hint of starlight flickers within your aura.
Local conditions prohibit your aura from growing.
Roundtime: 4 sec.
>
You feel fully prepared to cast your spell.
>
You gesture.
The spell imbues you with an artificial sense of revelation. The world around you seems somehow both more and less real at the same time, trapped behind an unbreachable wall of perception.
The clouds are no match for your revelation. Though they may hinder you, they do not extinguish the stars.

>
Learned: Utility, Lunar Magic, Attunement

> conc aura

You close your eyes and take a measure of your aura.
The smallest hint of starlight flickers within your aura.
Local conditions prohibit your aura from growing.
Roundtime: 4 sec.
R>

> time
It has been 434 years, 377 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer.
It is the 10th month of Nissa the Maiden in the year of the Silver Unicorn.
It is currently winter and it is night.
You have a feeling it's near the Anlas of Anduwen.
>
> weather
You glance up at the sky.
Snow is falling steadily.

That doesn't sound right. A minimum prep PG pierces a tiny bit through full cloud cover just fine. You don't need to cast it with higher mana to do so, and the only result of that is to achieve a larger amount of piercing. See the log below. It's not total cloud cover, but there are objects that are completely covered which get partially revealed and when it's full cover it's the same thing but for every object. There isn't going to be full cloud for at least 2 hours according to predict weather so I can't provide a better log at this time, unfortunately.

As for Noumena and cloud cover, even the slightest break in the clouds lets me starlight aura naturally, albeit at a slower rate than if there were fewer clouds. Casting even a minimum prep Noumena should be breaking through a tiny bit of the cover, especially given the messaging, and allow at least a trickle of regeneration. Otherwise, what's the point of it being a level 2 intro spell? It literally has no other effect but to ease the cloud restriction until you can cast it with enough mana to be able to also ease the daylight restriction.

> rel pg
The world around you returns to its mundane appearance.
> obs sky
You scan the sky from horizon to horizon.
The sky is nearly filled with cold, grey clouds.

The following heavenly bodies are visible:
The midday sun is unobscured by clouds.
Nearly half of the planet Estrilda has been obscured by clouds above.
A rather large cloud has covered nearly a third of the planet Durgaulda.
Clouds obscure the sky where the planet Yoakena should appear.
A rather large cloud has covered nearly a third of the planet Penhetia.
Nearly half of the planet Szeldia has been obscured by clouds above.
Katamba is below the horizon.
Xibar is unobscured by clouds.
Clouds obscure the sky where Yavash should appear.
Roundtime: 5 sec.
R>
Pulsed: Scholarship

prep pg
Since you're not feeding enough power into the spell pattern to make it coherent, you quickly work your way to the minimum required.
That won't affect your current attunement very much.

Turning your focus solemnly inward, you allow the configuration of the Piercing Gaze spell to spread across your skin as a shadowy design of fractals and geometric abstractions.
> cast

You gesture.
The center of your vision loses its color. Adjusting your sight, you notice that objects you focus on become grey and gain a murky transparency.

> obs sky
You scan the sky from horizon to horizon.
The sky is nearly filled with cold, grey clouds.
Some of the clouds fade away under your enhanced vision.

The following heavenly bodies are visible:
The midday sun is unobscured by clouds.
A rather large cloud has covered nearly a third of the planet Estrilda.
A cloud has obscured parts of the planet Durgaulda.
All but the smallest bit of the planet Yoakena is obscured by clouds.
You focus your enhanced sight, through some of the cloud cover, upon the planet Penhetia.
A cloud has obscured parts of the planet Penhetia.
A rather large cloud has covered nearly a third of the planet Szeldia.
Katamba is below the horizon.
Xibar is unobscured by clouds.
All but the smallest bit of Yavash is obscured by clouds.
Roundtime: 5 sec.

Shortly after release Noumena was changed so that that a min prep would not allow starlight regen in bad weather, but would allow you to draw starlight from the stars assuming it was night and you were outside. I don't know offhand how much mana is required to allow night time regen through bad weather.

From http://forums.play.net/forums/DragonRealms/The%20Traders/Game%20Master%20and%20Official%20Announcements/view/322
>>1) At minimum cast, Noumena now allows you to cast using starlight regardless of weather conditions. You must still meet all other conditions (night time, view of heavens) to do so.

>>2) The ability to regain aura during inclemental weather requires is no longer granted at min prep. It now requires more Potency to start.

---

“I’m sorry that your mystical, godlike powers do not instantly work as you would like them to.”