No Charge Matter: Understanding Ki Blasts in Games

[gibberingmouther]

Usually, if I understand this correctly, matter will have either a positive charge from the nucleus "sticking out' or a negative charge from the electrons.

What would happen if I had a chunk of matter that had no charge and I tried to touch it and interact with it? I guess there are neutrons (and other particles) in nature that have no charge.

I want to figure this out for my game world. Should ki blasts have a weak negative charge so they can move through the atmosphere like regular matter would, or am I better off leaving them with no charge? A charge would interfere with the "heat aura" of the ki blast but if it was relatively weak it wouldn't be a huge issue.

This is a little too deep into physics for my current understanding.

 

[DaveC426913]

Usually, if I understand this correctly, matter will have either a positive charge from the nucleus "sticking out' or a negative charge from the electrons.

Noble gasses have their electron shells filled and so will tend to be neutral. They also tend not to form molecules.

 

[gibberingmouther]

Noble gasses have their electron shells filled and so will tend to be neutral. They also tend not to form molecules.

Okay, I thought about it and I think it will be fine if the energy blasts are charge-less. When you smash neutrons into each other they apparently fuse together, but neutrons and protons on the other hand do not. For my energy blasts then, since they are a separate kind of matter from regular matter, I think it's fine if, like neutrons and protons, they just kind of bump up against regular matter.

 

[Vanadium 50]

When you smash neutrons into each other they apparently fuse together, but neutrons and protons on the other hand do not.

No, it's the other way.

But why are you worried about this? Since "ki" is a product of your imagination, it can behave any way you imagine.

 

[DaveC426913]

I think you are asking for a world of hurt.

Your players will go where you lead them.

If you open the door to physics, you are inviting your players to walk through that door as well. Be prepared for your players to stop you and say "Well actually, that's not the way subatomic particles behave. Since these are made of X, then I should be able to do Y, and save the day right here and now."

There's a darned good reason why we use fictional mechanics in games.

 

[Klystron]

Consider the alternate spelling "chi". Chi, sometimes represented by a swirling yin/yang symbol, appears in Taro cards as the "Dancing Hermaphrodite", a combination of female and male principles yin and yang; in Art by mandalas and "dream catcher" weaving. Chi displays attributes of harmony, balance, and symmetry. Examine the yin/yang symbol. The swirling light color contains a dot of darkness; the dark 'swoosh' encloses a light colored dot.

Ki as presented in martial arts preserves this balance and harmony. The warrior internalizes ki with mind and body balance. A quiet focused mind; a balanced body prepared to "bend away" or sway from the path of an enemy's strike. When the prepared warrior realizes it is time to strike, their inner ki, in reality the sum of long training and study and preparation, seems to flow with the nervous system impulses that receive inputs from the environment -- vision, touch, hearing -- focuses on the momentum of the strike, and initiates action.

A warrior's ki represents hard work; long, even life-long study and preparation; expressed to others not as a willingness to harm or destroy but as humility and quiet humor. Ki projects in willingness to help others and protect the weak. A true sifu studies medicine and physiology not to hurt others but to assist. The first principles of akido and judo teach balance and how to fall correctly minimizing injury by "maximizing contact area". As the student-warrior masters this principle -- minimizing injury by maximizing contact area -- the inverse becomes clear. Focusing similar force on a smaller area -- a fist, a knife or sword blade, "sweet spot" of a baseball or cricket bat, high-energy beam -- increases injury probability.

 

[gibberingmouther]

I think you are asking for a world of hurt.

Your players will go where you lead them.

If you open the door to physics, you are inviting your players to walk through that door as well. Be prepared for your players to stop you and say "Well actually, that's not the way subatomic particles behave. Since these are made of X, then I should be able to do Y, and save the day right here and now."

There's a darned good reason why we use fictional mechanics in games.

At some point it comes down to "because magic". I just wanted to have as much internal logic as I could provide. Magic is just the ability to take control of the "dream". Divine beings, who are the sources of magic, have bigger minds than mortals which let them imagine things in a lot more detail and resolution.

When a deity does magic, it's because their minds, in addition to being capable of "bigger" thoughts as I described above, have more weight when it comes to controlling the dream world. A regular mortal could almost never pull a Neo and do even small acts of reality warping on the dream world because their minds are made of a less powerful form of psychic energy (the "weight" of a mortal mind compared to a divine mind). It gets more complicated from here!

I think you're correct that the level of fun a game provides isn't necessarily connected to how "believable" the mechanics are. Some of my favorite video games had very unbelievable mechanics, like item storage that wasn't reflected in the character's avatar having anything to hold all the items. Or the entire ruleset, pretty much, for Dungeons and Dragons, which was one of my favorite rpg systems.

I just finished writing the part of my PDF that isn't concerned with the GURPS rules or the numerical parts of the game world logic. Mainly it's just drawing graphs from here and adding on to the basic GURPS rules.

 

[DaveC426913]

I just wanted to have as much internal logic as I could provide.

Agree. I'm like that too.
Internal logic is great. It allows you to set the rules.

External logic has its problems though.You want to be careful of making it so reality-based that your players start hoisting you on your own petard.

 

[Klystron]

[snip]

I think you're correct that the level of fun a game provides isn't necessarily connected to how "believable" the mechanics are. Some of my favorite video games had very unbelievable mechanics, like item storage that wasn't reflected in the character's avatar having anything to hold all the items. Or the entire ruleset, pretty much, for Dungeons and Dragons, which was one of my favorite rpg systems.
[snip]

Not a heavy gamer myself but helped compile and manage one of the first D&D programs written in Muddle for VAX computers "Mines of Moria" (or something similar). I remember being frustrated by the internal direction rules as players move through the maze. Player continues North long enough and suddenly comes from another direction, etc. Unphysical but very popular and fun game play.

As for dreams, doesn't each dreamer ultimately rule their dream scape (ignoring psychic forces)? Thanks.

 

[Lren Zvsm]

No, it's the other way.

But why are you worried about this? Since "ki" is a product of your imagination, it can behave any way you imagine.

I couldn't agree more. Both fantasy and science fiction writers have many tricks for aiding the reader's suspension of disbelief--e.g. making the power of a spell diminish at predictable rates over distance and time; making the use of magic have some cost to the mage, etc. It's great the the OP is learning about science, but he should also pay attention to what science fiction writers have to say about making their premises seem convincing through the appropriate patter.