06-20-2018, 02:21 AM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Savannah, GA
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Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
Two questions, by your leave:
The Unattached Agent in our game has the off the shelf bionic eye with Hyperspectral Vision. As this is a Centran device, there is obviously no mana/magic detection. A few sessions ago he encountered a Perfect Illusion. The player actually felt that he would not be able to detect it, which by RAW is logical. Could he possibly be able to detect it by the difference in light signature, the physics of illusion, or something along those lines. Would a Perfect Illusion be so perfect that it would fool a bionic eye, or a surveillance camera? Also, if someone with Insubstantiality is falling and goes insubstantial, Basic Set says they are not affected by gravity, got it- however, since they can move in this state could they use the momentum to effectively fly? Would they just stop dead and float in the air or slowly come to a stop? How would that work? Thanks. |
06-20-2018, 04:29 AM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
1. Perfect Illusion would most likely fool any non-magical detection, short of walking up and hitting it with a stick.
2. You can only change your velocity by your own move score per second, so, no flying. At least you won't go splat when you reach the ground. |
06-20-2018, 05:45 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
What do you mean by "effectively fly"? An Insubstantial character can move through the air with no means of support, including up over the ground, passing between upper stories of buildings or over chasms. That's "effectively flying" in some sense. However, the character is using their Ground Move (important if they want to buy Enhanced Move to go faster), and they'd use Acrobatics skill rather than Aerobatics. For mechanical purposes, they're "not flying". (They're just Ground Moving with style.)
The idea seems to be trying to be logical about ghosts, at least in some ways. If they always pass through solid matter, yet were affected by gravity, they'd all fall to the center of the earth and be stuck there. They wouldn't be able to go up stairs, because they couldn't push down on the stair to push themselves upward. So, they don't need support from the ground. Insubstantial doesn't include Flight for free, though. It's not even really material, or "on this plane" (whatever your fluff text is), so their earthly environment isn't important to their regular Move. They can just move in any direction in their unobstructed ethereal plane, and that looks like whatever it looks like on Earth, whether that's "going up stairs" if the ghost happens to ascend, ethereally, at the same rate as the stairs, or "flying" if the ghost is moving horizontally at a constant three feet above the floor. Search the forum and you'll find arguments about whether Insubstantial characters can ride in vehicles, particularly ones that are much faster than they are... |
06-20-2018, 06:06 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Oct 2008
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
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Basically if the hyperspectral vision helps depends on your reading of things like artist(illusion) that seems to imply that a illusion is not automatically believable, but instead requiring a skill roll. Personally as a GM I do quick contest of artist(illusion) of the creator vs perception of the observer to see if there are something illogical or wrong that is spotted. I use large modifiers depending on how suitable the illusion is to the situation and how actively the observer is observing. I give +3 for Hyperspectral Vision for the observer side. |
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06-20-2018, 06:13 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Savannah, GA
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
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06-20-2018, 06:30 AM | #6 |
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Savannah, GA
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
Say the character is falling 60 feet and goes insubstantial at 30 feet. If he were to continue to fall and then, for instance, bank to the right in a more horizontal direction he might appear to be "effectively flying."
It seems that he would no longer accelerate toward the ground. So then would he stop, slow down or continue to move at the same rate, or his move rate, which falling at 32 ft per second per second would also make him appear to decelerate? I have to dig up that discussion on Insubstantiality in vehicles. Very interested in that. For Rule of Cool's sake I would allow for an enhancement; one that could be acquired in-game. |
06-20-2018, 06:34 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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06-20-2018, 06:37 AM | #8 | ||
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
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You shouldn't read too much into "not affected by gravity". The intended effect here is more like the insubstantial plane doesn't *have* any gravity. This is just a rather poorly worded way of trying to close one of the (many) logic loopholes in Insubstantiality that come from trying to understand it by physical rather than narrative laws. Its much the same issue as the illusions really. Trying to apply physics to magical effects is a popular idea, but a largely nonsensical one.
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-- MA Lloyd Last edited by malloyd; 06-20-2018 at 06:43 AM. |
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06-20-2018, 07:52 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
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I believe you can try to break hard but have to make handling rolls or lose control (which in this case would involve more falling).
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All about Size Modifier; Unified Hit Location Table A Wiki for my F2F Group A neglected GURPS blog |
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06-20-2018, 08:15 AM | #10 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Hyperspectral Vision vs. Illusion/Insubstantiality and Falling
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I'd use the rules for 3D movement also used for flying (e.g., 1 hex up and one hex over is 1.5 hexes of movement). Quote:
In this case, I'd treat the character as having the speed he's accumulated by falling, carrying over after he goes insubstantial. (It doesn't matter that he can't move down at that speed on his own; even ghosts might able to be pushed by ghostly forces beyond their own movement ability.) He no longer accelerates due to gravity once insubstantial, and can slow down by his (insubstantial) Move. Not that it will matter if he "hits" the ground, as he can pass right through it and pop back up once he's slowed down "underground". (Make sure the character can breathe, though. Insubstantially doesn't by default give you the ability to breathe while inside something.) |
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Tags |
bionics, hyperspectral vision, insubstantiality |
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