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Post by methidakter on Feb 23, 2006 20:55:54 GMT -5
Take this post for what you will. This was just an idea I came up with while GMing. One of the characters is a phase shifter. Occasionally, it is necessary to keep said character out of certain places when it is a plot thing. "Stay in the room and fight the guy! No don't leave through the wall...you have to...aw crap." So I had this labratory/research facility place that had force feilds on some of the rooms. Yes, technically they should be able to pass through a force feild if they are phase shifted. So I made it operate less like force feild and more like energy drain. You can go in, but you lose all red stones when you do. This is usually enough of a deterrent since once you are thru you don't have the energy to do anything for a while.
Anyway. Just an idea I had. I'm sure there are lots of magic spells and other such ways of containing phase shifters. I'm just offering this up for anyone who needs to keep Kitty Pryde from ending the game in 2 minutes.
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Post by mako on Feb 23, 2006 21:14:14 GMT -5
Last time I heard, Vibranium couldn't be phased through due to it's unusual molecular vibration.
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Post by dagonex on Feb 23, 2006 21:21:30 GMT -5
I've found teleporters can be just as painful, especially if they don't take the disadvantage "must have been there before". I learned the hard way that if they just have plain old teleporting without that disadvantage, and you give the team a map, they can just go wherever the heck they feel like.
And don't make the mistake of labeling said map with something like "Supervillain's Private Villa" or "Room Where We Keep the Doomsday Machine". Not that I did that, but you get the idea.
But yes, magic is probably a good way to deal with those who defy normal movement patterns. Or have a psychic mess with their powers; not full-out mind control but nudge them in the wrong direction or something. Or have some sort of beam or special device disable their powers for a time (but don't be so cruel as to take away their powers forever, otherwise the player won't like you).
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Post by methidakter on Feb 23, 2006 21:54:12 GMT -5
I don't necessarily plan on using this soon, but the thought also occured to have a room filled with some sort of knockout gas. Or a room that's vacuum sealed and has no air in it. That could be a nifty little suprise for a teleporter! Just because they see a room on the map, doesn't mean they know what is waiting for them in said room.
Or just say "NO, you figure out what it looks like. No map for you, bad teleporty!"
He he he, any other fun ideas for messing up teleporters and phase shifters? Now we are not out to "punish" said players for having picked these powers in the first place. Just looking for ways to give 'em a little jolt and level the playing field once in a while.
By the by, thanks for the suggestion Cap. Unfortunately, we have choosen a reality where vibranium is still relatively hard to come by. Dagonex and I take turns GMing the same game actually.
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Post by dagonex on Feb 23, 2006 22:16:16 GMT -5
Oh no, methidakter! You've clued them in to our secret ways! Now we are undone! Quick, throw a smoke bomb so we can disappear!
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Post by methidakter on Feb 23, 2006 22:24:49 GMT -5
WOOOOOOOSH! (smoke bomby sound)
HA HA HA! So long suckers!
(methidakter puts lampshade on his head, holds a small pull chain and stands very still)
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Post by mako on Feb 23, 2006 22:44:55 GMT -5
...I just can't resist this. *Yanks on the pull chain.*
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Post by methidakter on Feb 24, 2006 0:28:22 GMT -5
(Somehow, methidakter's head lights up)
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Post by Kaimontfendo on Feb 24, 2006 1:47:21 GMT -5
Actually, I seem to recall that Force Fields can stop Phase Shifters, but that Phase shifters can also sometimes pass through them, if they try hard enough. (This is, of course, based solely on bios I've read of Shadowcat.)
Thusly, I concluded that if a Phase Shifter spends more into their Phase Shift action than the strength of the Force Field, they can pass through. And that's how I'll stop my Phase-Shifting player characters, if I ever need to.
However, the Energy Drain Field is so much more creative, and far more Sinister. ...I'll HAVE to use it sometime, if I really want to deter them from going someplace, while still allowing them the chance to do so. And a room filled with knockout gas... Genius. I have just the perfect villain to use them, too.
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Post by methidakter on Feb 24, 2006 2:15:40 GMT -5
Hey, maybe the room is unbearably hot, or cold. Are phase shifters still affected by tempuratures while phase shifting? I dunno. I guess they are. Anybody know? Otherwise that could be kinda fun.
Any D&D people with ideas out there? One time I was this thief that had his hand almost melted off because he reached into what he thought was a room with a treasure chest inside, and had his hand partially digested by this transparent, gelatinous blob monster that took up the entire room.
There's another trap for teleporters and phase shifters. Blob monster. Stupid hand. Stupid Monster. Stupid Chris. What? Oh yeah...IDEAS!
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Post by Neros on Feb 24, 2006 2:28:12 GMT -5
The super duper villain has a radar/satalitedish/machine/THING!! that prevents any signals to get into the compound or from scanning the area at all. This could have some sideeffects on a teleporters abilities since he travels through the air like a signal... In some ways
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Post by mako on Feb 24, 2006 11:27:47 GMT -5
How about using force fields that replicate the slightly out of synch molecular nature of vibranium? Or just place phase-shifted force fields around the walls. A lot easier to come by with the same effect, no phasing. Line a wall with it, and it's the same effect as a vibranium wall. Non-phase shifted players would interact with the wall like normal. Phase-shifted ones would interact with the force field, thus being nerfed.
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Post by methidakter on Feb 24, 2006 12:22:06 GMT -5
Oh, that's cool. Never would have thought of that.
So, phase shifted characters have the option of phase shifting other people and objects and such. So it stands to reason that if you phase shift something, it still holds some sort of physical tangability, but only to people that are phase shifted, it passes through everyone else.
Hmmmm. Phase shifted fire?
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Post by piratespice on Feb 24, 2006 14:14:41 GMT -5
One of the big problems is that phase shifting doesn't necessarily work the same for all phase shifters. Some reduce their density, others shift partially into another dimension, others simply become ghostlike and immaterial.
But I'm certianly in favor of standardizing the rules for phase shifting, and I've always maintained that force fields will block a phased character, up to the stones in the force field. Honestly, I'd like to see phased characters be vulnerable to energy as a whole. As it stands, phase shifting is just too powerful in any roleplaying game, regardless of system effects (its the narrative power of the ability, not the particular game mechanics, that make it so unbalancing).
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Post by Kaimontfendo on Feb 27, 2006 17:13:06 GMT -5
Hmm... On one hand, Phase-Shifters should be invulnerable to energy, because there's nothing solid for the energy to actually hit. On another hand, they're still somehow visible(or at least Shadowcat is, anyway), so apparently light can hit them to reflect off. Hmm... This is rather bothersome.
I agree with Pirate Spice that rules for Phase Shifting need vast improvement. The "disrupt electrical systems" part of Phase Shifting bothers me considerably, because I can't count the number of times I've seen a player Phase and jump through a robot or Powered Armor Character. (I got my revenge for it once, though.) But since disrupting electrical systems can certainly be a drawback, I think it should have the same cost either way, but you have to specify if it applies to your character when buying the power.
You could Phase by passing your particles through the empty space between molecular bonds. Or by shifting your mass into another demension and/or reality. Or by ...well, who on earth knows how Magical Phasing works?!
And each of those possibilities has its own benefits and drawbacks. Which reminds me, I hadn't heard about that vibranium limitation before. Can anyone point me to a source for that?
Similarly, Teleportation can function a few different ways. Nightcrawler travels through some other demension, so he wouldn't be bothered by any sort of "signal jammer" because he's traveling through a demension the jamming signal never enters. ...I think. Comic book physics are weird. You could probably stop such teleporters with a device that prevents interdemensional travel, although a spell would likely be easier. The transporters on Star Trek funtion by converting matter to energy, sending that energy at ridiculously high speed, then re-assembling the orginal matter. Something like this could certainly be disrupted by a signal jammer, and would likely interfere with your ability to re-assemble, which could leave you stuck as a being of energy and/or dead. And then of course, there's good ol' spacewarps, which are probably also unaffected by jamming signals. I suppose an alarm could be rigged to scan for such spacewarping, but that would likely have it's own limitations.
Oy. That's been a lot more typing than most of my posts so far.
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