Insubstantiality

[jabba]

Can an insubstantial person be seen with IR in pitch blackness.what about picking someone up that is insubstantial with radar , papa-radar, or imaging radar.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by jabba

Can an insubstantial person be seen with IR in pitch blackness.what about picking someone up that is insubstantial with radar , papa-radar, or imaging radar.

IR is no different than visible light (just a different wave length). Insubstantial explistily does not grant invisiblity by itself. as for the various types of RADAR, I would give it the same hand wave normal visibility gets, a weaker signal, but still 'there'

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

IR is no different than visible light (just a different wave length). Insubstantial explistily does not grant invisiblity by itself. as for the various types of RADAR, I would give it the same hand wave normal visibility gets, a weaker signal, but still 'there'

Yes, if light reflects (ie, the object is visible under visible light), radio waves should reflect as well. If an insubstantial flashlight emits light, an insubstantial object would emit IR. However, that leaves me wondering if laser weapons would fully effect insubstantial targets...

Para-radar is a trickier subject, since it isn't based on anything real. I would say not. A particular type of insubstantiality making a target invisible to a particular type of para-radar should be handled as a specialized invisibility on the target or a limitation of the para-radar.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Yes, if light reflects (ie, the object is visible under visible light), radio waves should reflect as well. If an insubstantial flashlight emits light, an insubstantial object would emit IR. However, that leaves me wondering if laser weapons would fully effect insubstantial targets...

No. Laser attacks will pass through the insubstantial target unless it has a limited form of the advantage. Being detectable (in this case) does not imply vulnerability to attacks based on the energy involved in the detection.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by jabba

Can an insubstantial person be seen with IR in pitch blackness.what about picking someone up that is insubstantial with radar , papa-radar, or imaging radar.

Yes, you can see them with all of the above, but they might not show up like a regular person due to special effects; they might be hazy or faint. Of course, Insubstantiality + Invisibility is a favorite combination for spooky things.

[Belial666]

When players argue that if the "ghost" is visible then it should be affected by light-based attacks and effects, I tell them that insubstantiality renders stuff intangible to the real world but the insubstantial thing in question is visible due to its own nature, not because light is reflected on it.

[B9anders]

I think it depends on how you define your insubstantiality. A 'ghost' might not, a 'body of light' might. See the description in Powers for more on this.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by Belial666

When players argue that if the "ghost" is visible then it should be affected by light-based attacks and effects, I tell them that insubstantiality renders stuff intangible to the real world but the insubstantial thing in question is visible due to its own nature, not because light is reflected on it.

What does that even mean? Unless it glows with its own light, nothing is visible that doesn't reflect (or absorb) light.

[vitruvian]

I'd probably have any wavelength of EM radiation work okay, if a bit faintly, but probably not active sonar or motion sensors that work on similar principles. Or, given that the insubstantial aren't automatically Mute or in possession of Silence, would that be assuming too much as well?

[Kromm]

Think of Insubstantiality as bumping the user to another dimension and leaving behind a detectable distortion that communicates sensory impressions but not energy to the user. Like, say, a little plastic battleship on a map that moves telekinetically when the real battleship moves and sends the crew telepathic signals about the room that contains the model and the map: They can see you through the plastic toy, but if you attack the plastic toy with hammers and fire, it won't harm them. It's an inherently aphysical ability, in the same realm as Telekinesis and Telesend; it doesn't particularly have to make sense.