Thought I recently had about immortality and dimensional destruction(assuming that's possible). What happens to whatever immortals are in a dimension when it's destroyed? Speculation: They get fused into a cosmic horror
Sounds about right to me.
Mana aspecting has psychological side effects on people. At the same time though, they're living printing presses, if their civilization has adopted a given standard of mana for currency, taxes, etc, and they have that aspect of mana. The Geometers might adopt knowledge mana as their currency standard in hopes of creating more geniuses and insightful in their society. Another civilization may want more nice people so they adopt benevolent mana as their currency standard.
Currency standards have a tangible effect on the minds of the people who may seek to become that aspect for easy money. Currency regulations could be considered a form of social engineering in this world.
Extending on this line of thought, if people in universe realize this and get mad about it, a potential compromise might be governments adopting multiple aspect currency standards(3 to 5 accepted aspects for example) to minimize the social engineering element to it.
Currency standards also lead to the possibility of aspect farms. Large areas of land engineered to have a specific aspect like a ginormous printing press.
The mana at a given location in the basin is a variable quantity. The closer one is to the edge of the basin, the higher total mana there can be but the odds are greater of chaotic mana or your mana supply being influenced by other groups. The closer one is to the center of the basin, the less total mana there can be but fewer people can influence your environmental mana.
Crude model of mana flow, every letter is an aspect of mana being added at a given location, does not account for mana users in the path:
Center of Basin => A => A+B => A+B+C => … => Edge of Basin
A realistic model of mana flow at a given area is probably more trouble than its worth from a GM/Worldbuilding standpoint though.
Mana is more plentiful on average near the Rim, but the average is not a great measure, because there are a lot of Null Zones and a lot of ley lines. Between people using it up, countries aspecting it, and geomancy redirecting it, it's not particularly beneficial to be at the Rim.
Given the potential cruelties of the interregnum, assuming a perception of it where that was what led to the formation of the Soulpact, I had the realization that some non-demon immortals could be as karmically stained(Metaphorically not referring to Karma as an in setting thing) as actual demons.
May be a bit late for this, but I figured out a way to fluff physical enhancement for Oneiromancy. Personal Dream World inversion on a small scale. Like a Nasuverse Reality Marble only limited to the area your body occupies. Applying dream logic to the body, enforcing your dreamworld's physical laws on the real world. There's probably too many knock-on implications for something like that though.
I was reading dungeonomics and realized this article may have useful insights, like encrypting and decrypting ciphertext with a known key being a potential use of Servitors.
I started wondering, how practical is it to shield the generators for 1 threefold gate of retribution with the field from another threefold gate of retribution?
My current thought is that you can't cross the barriers. You could have one entirely inside another, but you couldn't overlap them to shield the generators.
Fair enough thanks.
I see you're interested in making a Nova Commonwealth spin-off project. Is it like… different rules to accommodate the different focus(Magitech research as opposed to the Archive's Adventure Archaeology default?). Did you hit some kind of idea motherlode when it comes to Nova material?
The rules are very similar, though obviously much-reduced due to the tiny page count (32 half-sized pages at the moment, 40 tops). There are a few things that shift the focus:
- Rituals are now the central focus of the game. Every session you're trying to get something that will help you complete some kind of major R&D-type ritual.
- Instead of two shared CVs for your civilization, you have one shared CV for your research group that keeps you all working together.
- Complications that you take for Twists are now either explicitly Bad Luck or Magical Backfire (the "Worst Enemy" rule from SsA), which keeps the game more on-message.
Part of the reason I picked Nova was because I came up with an immediate game concept for them (magical research teams), and their central concept is close enough to Sorcerously Advanced's central concepts that I didn't feel like I was misrepresenting the game. I'd love to do other little spinoff games at some point - the Soulpact could be a good setup, or a civil war in Diadem, and the Sovereigns have tons of potential - but all of them were farther from the main game.
So I had a research itch/been watching science youtube recently. I looked up the speed of Lightning and the Force of an Avalanche for War 5. If you're talking about the speed of a return stroke, then War 5 Physical Prowess gets you the ability to move at 100,000 km/s, 100,000,000 m/s, or 223,694,000 miles per hour per wikipedia(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning#cite_note-35). That seems unreasonably large.(Bolded for emphasis/due to concerns about how important my other points are compared to this one)
190 lb human*4.44822162(Pound to newton conversion ratio) = 845.16 Newtons
845.16 Newtons/9.8 m/s^2 = 86.2 kilograms
Kinetic Energy = .5MV^2 = .5*86.2 kg*(100,000,000 m/s)^2 = 4.31*10^17 Joules(The closest analogues to this in Wikipedia orders of Magnitude are the energy of 2 Tsar Bombas, approximate energy needed to accelerate one ton to one-tenth of the speed of light, and the yearly energy consumption of Norway in 2008, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(energy))
Assuming the necessary secondary powers to survive moving at that speed bundled in physical prowess, a War 5 character with physical prowess could tank a Tsar Bomba.
Here's where it gets weird though. I found energy calculations for a sample avalanche too. I know it's not quite force in physics terms but I'm going somewhere with this. http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/webproj/212_spring_2015/Matti_Silta/3973508855535952f83e38/energy.html
≅53955 kJ , or about 5.4*10^7 Joules
5.4*10^7 joules = .5*86.2 kg*v^2
1252900.23202 m/s = v^2
1119.33 m/s= v
If you use the kinetic energy comparison between the avalanche and the lightning speed, then there's roughly 10 orders of magnitude between a war 5 character's physical prowess movement ability and their ability to hit people.
The speed one gets with the kinetic energy of that avalanche is somewhat more reasonable though. Just the ability to withstand tank/artillery shells supposedly(1×10^7 J is the "Kinetic energy of the armor-piercing round fired by the assault guns of the ISU-152 tank" per the orders of magnitude page)
This is where I check out possible kinetic energy of self 4 flight and muse about necessary secondary powers. Faster than a Falcon, if we use the 242 mph diving speed of a sample Peregrine Falcon(https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/falling-with-the-falcon-7491768/?c=y&page=1) and the old hundreds of miles per hour from the alpha, this suggests somewhere between 500(Halfway to the point speed stops being measurable in hundreds) and 800 mph(Slighly over Mach 1) as reasonable speeds to play with.
Here are some videos I found that talk about necessary secondary powers for speedsters and flyers. Physical Prowess or Mental Acuity may be one of them if extreme realism is sought, there could be a gap in flight controllability based on the difference between self, speed of flight, and the higher of mystery/trickery, or maybe war? The videos also talk about stuff like the bends, birdstrikes, safe altitudes etc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP-2hMNnhgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEDZQaEIts
Here are the calculations for Kinetic Energy in self 4 flight:
500 mph = 223.52 meters per second
800 mph = 357.632 meters per second
KE = .5*86.2*223.52^2 = 2.15*10^6 Joules
KE = .5*86.2*357.632^2 = 5.5*10^6 Joules(A bit over the energy released by the explosion of 1 gram of TNT, 4.2×10^6 J per the orders of magnitude page)
It's an open question whether or not you can get the necessary secondary powers to fly well with industry/telekinesis. I don't think you can get any durability enhancements from industry.
Semi-tangentially, I'm not sure if these calculations mean cities need distillation reinforced roads to deal with speedsters or not.
Also flyers may need eye protection depending upon the circumstances.
Edit: In hindsight I'm not sure what my basis is for thinking about being able to move with kinetic energy X means surviving a blow of kinetic energy X.
I tried analyzing how easy it is to get 5 permanent or 500 temporary servitors, utilizing large ritual teams to determine how easy a city can free itself of the need for physical labor with industry servitors and assuming the industry requirement for a ritual of this scope is 4.
Use a 43 person project team(Baseline for 4 point teamwork bonus plus necessary backers for Nature 4 ritual)
Industry 4 Major Ritual(5 Year base timeframe).
They have a how to guide, that brings the base time to 2 years.
1 point of reserve brings the base time to 1 year.
Time to completion of 5 Permanent or 500 temporary servitors by project leader stats(However many steps the project leader's skills get, then divide result by 4 for teamwork bonus)
Industry 4 Theurge 2: 1 year/4 = 3 Months
Industry 5 Theurge 2: 6 months / 4 = 1.5 Months(46 days approx)
Industry 5 Theurge 3: 3 months / 4 = .75 Months (23 days approx)
Industry 5 Theurge 4: 1 Month /4 = .25 Months(8 days approx)
Industry 5 Theurge 5: 2 Weeks / 4 = 3.5 Days
Edit: Trying with Great Work here, still assuming industry 4
Use a 43 person project team(Baseline for 4 point teamwork bonus plus necessary backers for Nature 4 ritual)
Industry 4 Great Work(50 Year Base timeframe)
How to guide reduces timeframe to 20 years
Point of reserve reduces timeframe to 10 years
Time to completion of Town's worth of Permanent or Infrastructure 1 worth of temporary servitors by project leader stats(However many steps the project leader's skills get, then divide result by 4 for teamwork bonus)
Industry 4 Theurge 2: 10 years/4 = 2.5 Years
Industry 5 Theurge 2: 5 years / 4 = 1.25 Years
Industry 5 Theurge 3: 2 years / 4 = 6 Months
Industry 5 Theurge 4: 1 Year /4 = 3 Months
Industry 5 Theurge 5: 6 Months / 4 = 1.5 Months
It takes… not too long for a city to get a decent amount of permanent public servitors. If you assume 86 people with 2 reasonably skilled engineers, that's what, 1000 laborbots in 2.5 years?
Edit2: Going off Wikipedia's definition of town population from 1000 to 10,000 people(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_hierarchy), it's more like 2000 laborbots in 2.5 years.
For the sake of completion I'm checking how easy it is for someone to get a single permanent servitorbot for themselves
Industry 2 Minor Ritual(3 Month base timeframe)
How to guide reduces timeframe to 1 month
Reserve point reduces timeframe to 2 weeks
Assuming a maximum possible teamwork modifier of 2 because they have their family helping
Time to completion of 1 Servitor by project leader stats:
Industry 2 Theurge 2: 2 weeks/2 = 1 week
Industry 3 Theurge 2: 1 week/2 = 3.5 Days
Industry 4 Theurge 2: 3 Days/2 = 1.5 Days
Industry 5 Theurge 2: 1 Day/2 = 12 Hours
Industry 5 Theurge 3: 12 hours/2 = 6 Hours
Industry 5 Theurge 4: 6 hours/2 = 3 Hours
Industry 5 Theurge 5: 3 hours/2 = 1.5 Hours
I thought I'd do a craft ritual. Uploading to a Universal Repository
Communion 3 Craft Ritual(Base Time 12 Hours, Scanning Relic used as Technological Support)
Repository How To Guide brings time down to 6 hours
Assume no reserve usage, this reclusive Worldbuilder Scholar wants to be able to argue with people on the repos without exhausting themselves
2 Mystery Servitors with Scholar Ratings for Assistance Divides the time in half(I don't know if this would actually work)
Communion 3 Scholar 2: 6 hours/2 = 3 Hours
Communion 4 Scholar 2: 3 hours/2 = 1.5 Hours
Communion 5 Scholar 2: 1 hours/2 = 30 Minutes
Communion 5 Scholar 3: 30 Minutes/2 = 15 Minutes
Communion 5 Scholar 4: 10 Minutes/2 = 5 Minutes
Communion 5 Scholar 5: 5 Minutes/2 = 2 Minutes 30 Seconds
Thanks for mathing this - that was on my to-do list. The numbers seem fairly reasonable to me, which is good.