Sirrocco
01-03-2007, 03:02 AM
I have noticed a fair number of folks breaking the local laws of physics recently, and I figured there ought to be a reference page to lay out clearly what people Can and Cannot Do, for what is reasonable and not reasonable. Primarily this is intended as a reference for character generation. The following Are True, and have been accepted as such for Quite Some Time. Grrr....
- Rule #1: You may not show the Handwavium a picture of your desired genre vehicle and have it build one for you. Not at all, not even a little, not under any circumstances. It don't work like that.
- Rule #2: expansion to Rule #1: the handwavium does not, in fact, build *anything*. It does not reshape *anything*. The way handwavium works is that you take an existing hardtech device, slap some handwavium on it, and the function of the device changes. If the item is broken, cracked, or flawed, those breaks *may* be fixed (though this tends to have a somewhat higher quirk cost.) There are some rare strains of the stuff that have interesting psuedochemical effects. Those can change chemical structure, but pretty much leave shape alone. Otherwise, what you get out is a goopier version of what you put in, with perhaps some interesting coloration. Short form - if you want a handwaved device - *any* handwaved device, then you have to *start with a device*.
- Rule #3: You cannot blow up handwavium for Great Justice. Handwavium cannot be caused to explode, and adding handwavium to an explosive thing won't do anything except reduce intensity. Handwavium is not fond of things going boom.
- Rule #4: Copilot of Rule #3: The handwavium does not like to be weaponized. It is not easy to weaponize. If you handwave something with the intent of making it a weapon, you will fail. Nothing that you build will turn out to be a weapon randomly. The only way to get a handwaved weapon is to take an existing handwavium device designed for peaceful purposes and use it in ways nature never intended.
- Rule #5: Force on force, handwavium against hardtech, the handwavium will win almost every time. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between, and will cause a great many people to suddenly become concerned. This includes things like piercing handwavium-reinforced hulls.
- Rule #6: Biomods: You get one, you get only one, and after you get it, you can't get rid of it, barring major reconstructive surgery - and sometimes not even then.
- Rule #7: Biomods always have at least some advantages. They also always have at least some disadvantages. From an objective standpoint, these things should be reasonably balanced. The character reaction, obviously, will vary dramatically depending on how cool the benefits are and how annoying the drawbacks from the character's perspective.
- Rule #8: Handwavium is like Cat. It does not go where you tell it to go. It goes where it wants to go. If you are trying to get A Cool Thing, then you will get A Cool Thing. If you are trying to get A Specific Cool Thing? You will get A Cool Thing. There are caveats to this. It is possible to influence the handwavium, to give it a direction, by dint of lots and lots of care and effort. Symbolic power also helps, in large quantities. Read "Surfing with the Alien" for a good example of "Lots of care and effort." Also, the more "normal" your need, the easier it is to get the handwavium to give you something that will serve. Just about anyone can get a functional speed drive. Each of them will have their own quirks and strangenesses, but with a bit of time and effort, some sort of an appropriate egine structure, and handwavium in appropriate types and quantities, anyone can get one. If you need an AI, then slapping some handwavium into a computer will often get you one, given time. It won't give you any control over what the personality of the AI *is*, mind. If it's some Cool Thing that no one else has, though, like a tractor beam - well, if you've got one, its because you lucked into it by mistake. This applies to biomods as well, except that there is no such thing as a generic biomod. Biomods are *always* a crapshoot.
Rule #9: Biomods are physical alterations. If you can't explain it with ordinary physics, you can't do it with a biomod. These are strange physical alterations, not superpowers (not that there aren't folks *trying*, mind.)
Rule #10: Handwavium conserves mass. It also conserves energy. There's some strange sort of energy (perhaps associated with the gravitic control?) out there that some handwavium can tap as power generation, but we aren't technically breaking the laws of thermodynamics.
Rule #11: If you have some handwavium, you can turn it into more handwavium, but you have to feed it something. The something will vary depending on the handwavium in question. It does not grow catastrophically either - the fastest it grows should be about doubling in size every day (for a benchmark) and that's if you feed it a whole lot and it's one of the fast versions.
Rule #12: The handwavium will have quirks, and the quirks will not be yours to declare. Everything handwvium has quirks. If you handwave your toaster, it will develop quirks. If you handwave you sister, she will develop quirks. If you handwave your car, you *know* it will develop quirks. The more Cool Stuff you have, and the Cooler the Stuff is, the more Quirk it will have. Quirks are by their nature bizarre and often annoying. If an effect is a net positive, then it's not a quirk, it's a feature. If an effect is just a little oddity, then it's technically a quirk, but it's really not worth much at all in terms of balancing out Cool Stuff.
Rule #13: Handwaved things get handwaved seperately. Painting your vehicle is great - it'll give it structural integrity and a functional atmospheric seal. It will turn it into a spaceframe, and generally the only quirks will be visual. That is *all* it will do. If you want handwaved items inside, apply the goop yourself. If you want a handwaved engine, then handwave it. Particularly Strong handwavium fumes over a period of time *may* be enough to biomod someone, but that's about it, and that only because the lungs are so efficient at absorbing the stuff.
Rule #14: The Bigger they Are, the Slower they Crawl. Small ships are speedy. Large ships are not. Being faster than other ships of your weight class is a Cool Thing, and should be treated as such (including quirks).
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This is not a thread for discussing particulars of who is and is not within the laws. That goes on elsewhere. This is a thread for discussing what the laws *are*, and is intended as a reference. If you disagree with any of the things I have posted above, then feel free to argue the point, but this is my best interpretation. Also, I know that this is not nearly all of the rules. Please do chime in with the ones I'm missing that we have agreed on, and feel free to propose additional rules for discussion. Do distinguish between them, though.
- Rule #1: You may not show the Handwavium a picture of your desired genre vehicle and have it build one for you. Not at all, not even a little, not under any circumstances. It don't work like that.
- Rule #2: expansion to Rule #1: the handwavium does not, in fact, build *anything*. It does not reshape *anything*. The way handwavium works is that you take an existing hardtech device, slap some handwavium on it, and the function of the device changes. If the item is broken, cracked, or flawed, those breaks *may* be fixed (though this tends to have a somewhat higher quirk cost.) There are some rare strains of the stuff that have interesting psuedochemical effects. Those can change chemical structure, but pretty much leave shape alone. Otherwise, what you get out is a goopier version of what you put in, with perhaps some interesting coloration. Short form - if you want a handwaved device - *any* handwaved device, then you have to *start with a device*.
- Rule #3: You cannot blow up handwavium for Great Justice. Handwavium cannot be caused to explode, and adding handwavium to an explosive thing won't do anything except reduce intensity. Handwavium is not fond of things going boom.
- Rule #4: Copilot of Rule #3: The handwavium does not like to be weaponized. It is not easy to weaponize. If you handwave something with the intent of making it a weapon, you will fail. Nothing that you build will turn out to be a weapon randomly. The only way to get a handwaved weapon is to take an existing handwavium device designed for peaceful purposes and use it in ways nature never intended.
- Rule #5: Force on force, handwavium against hardtech, the handwavium will win almost every time. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between, and will cause a great many people to suddenly become concerned. This includes things like piercing handwavium-reinforced hulls.
- Rule #6: Biomods: You get one, you get only one, and after you get it, you can't get rid of it, barring major reconstructive surgery - and sometimes not even then.
- Rule #7: Biomods always have at least some advantages. They also always have at least some disadvantages. From an objective standpoint, these things should be reasonably balanced. The character reaction, obviously, will vary dramatically depending on how cool the benefits are and how annoying the drawbacks from the character's perspective.
- Rule #8: Handwavium is like Cat. It does not go where you tell it to go. It goes where it wants to go. If you are trying to get A Cool Thing, then you will get A Cool Thing. If you are trying to get A Specific Cool Thing? You will get A Cool Thing. There are caveats to this. It is possible to influence the handwavium, to give it a direction, by dint of lots and lots of care and effort. Symbolic power also helps, in large quantities. Read "Surfing with the Alien" for a good example of "Lots of care and effort." Also, the more "normal" your need, the easier it is to get the handwavium to give you something that will serve. Just about anyone can get a functional speed drive. Each of them will have their own quirks and strangenesses, but with a bit of time and effort, some sort of an appropriate egine structure, and handwavium in appropriate types and quantities, anyone can get one. If you need an AI, then slapping some handwavium into a computer will often get you one, given time. It won't give you any control over what the personality of the AI *is*, mind. If it's some Cool Thing that no one else has, though, like a tractor beam - well, if you've got one, its because you lucked into it by mistake. This applies to biomods as well, except that there is no such thing as a generic biomod. Biomods are *always* a crapshoot.
Rule #9: Biomods are physical alterations. If you can't explain it with ordinary physics, you can't do it with a biomod. These are strange physical alterations, not superpowers (not that there aren't folks *trying*, mind.)
Rule #10: Handwavium conserves mass. It also conserves energy. There's some strange sort of energy (perhaps associated with the gravitic control?) out there that some handwavium can tap as power generation, but we aren't technically breaking the laws of thermodynamics.
Rule #11: If you have some handwavium, you can turn it into more handwavium, but you have to feed it something. The something will vary depending on the handwavium in question. It does not grow catastrophically either - the fastest it grows should be about doubling in size every day (for a benchmark) and that's if you feed it a whole lot and it's one of the fast versions.
Rule #12: The handwavium will have quirks, and the quirks will not be yours to declare. Everything handwvium has quirks. If you handwave your toaster, it will develop quirks. If you handwave you sister, she will develop quirks. If you handwave your car, you *know* it will develop quirks. The more Cool Stuff you have, and the Cooler the Stuff is, the more Quirk it will have. Quirks are by their nature bizarre and often annoying. If an effect is a net positive, then it's not a quirk, it's a feature. If an effect is just a little oddity, then it's technically a quirk, but it's really not worth much at all in terms of balancing out Cool Stuff.
Rule #13: Handwaved things get handwaved seperately. Painting your vehicle is great - it'll give it structural integrity and a functional atmospheric seal. It will turn it into a spaceframe, and generally the only quirks will be visual. That is *all* it will do. If you want handwaved items inside, apply the goop yourself. If you want a handwaved engine, then handwave it. Particularly Strong handwavium fumes over a period of time *may* be enough to biomod someone, but that's about it, and that only because the lungs are so efficient at absorbing the stuff.
Rule #14: The Bigger they Are, the Slower they Crawl. Small ships are speedy. Large ships are not. Being faster than other ships of your weight class is a Cool Thing, and should be treated as such (including quirks).
----------
This is not a thread for discussing particulars of who is and is not within the laws. That goes on elsewhere. This is a thread for discussing what the laws *are*, and is intended as a reference. If you disagree with any of the things I have posted above, then feel free to argue the point, but this is my best interpretation. Also, I know that this is not nearly all of the rules. Please do chime in with the ones I'm missing that we have agreed on, and feel free to propose additional rules for discussion. Do distinguish between them, though.