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Spells dealing cold damage. effects?
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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6167517" data-attributes="member: 6669384"><p>A good game has three elements: Playability, Credibility, and Realism.</p><p></p><p>And that is the order of importance. A game that isn't playable won't be played.</p><p></p><p>Believability tops Realism because :</p><p></p><p>A) Real physics are hard to emulate in a game setting. Lots of math, probably more than any rule book could contain or any player would ever be able to handle</p><p>B) Real physics stop being believable when you enter some situations.</p><p></p><p>I mean, hey, realism is great, when you can afford it. Most of the time though, you can't.</p><p></p><p>Classic examples: You're in an X-Wing fighter in a stable orbit 30 degrees behind an Imperial courier ship. "Believable" says you fire your thrusters and accelerate towards your target. "Reality" says that if you do that you push yourself into a higher orbit, and fall farther behind the courier. To close the gap you should <em>reduce</em> your orbital velocity by applying retros and slowing down, riding the lower orbit for a bit, then firing main engines to regain the original orbit. </p><p></p><p>There's always a big problem when magic enters the game setting. Call it The Force, Psychic Phenomenon, Super Powers, "Spending blood points", or whatever you like. As soon as you introduce any aspect of play that enables PCs to do things that physics can't explain, "Reality" doesn't just take a back seat, it leaves the bus entirely. </p><p></p><p>How does your typical super-hero pick up and throw a car or truck? There is essentially no place within reach that can handle the strain without tearing away.</p><p></p><p>How does your wizard get electricity to arc anyplace except to the nearest grounded object? How does he generate the billions of volts needed to get it to arc more than a few feet? How does he (or she for that matter) manage to be at one end of that arc without frying?</p><p></p><p>Consider all the implications of spells like <em>Reduce Person</em> or <em>Shrink Item</em>. You are causing mass to simply disappear, a situation that can't occur under the laws of physics. If it was dissipating as energy the yield would be bigger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. </p><p></p><p>Believable is great, and it's nice to pretend that it's somehow akin to physics, but like the game itself, all you're doing is pretending.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 6167517, member: 6669384"] A good game has three elements: Playability, Credibility, and Realism. And that is the order of importance. A game that isn't playable won't be played. Believability tops Realism because : A) Real physics are hard to emulate in a game setting. Lots of math, probably more than any rule book could contain or any player would ever be able to handle B) Real physics stop being believable when you enter some situations. I mean, hey, realism is great, when you can afford it. Most of the time though, you can't. Classic examples: You're in an X-Wing fighter in a stable orbit 30 degrees behind an Imperial courier ship. "Believable" says you fire your thrusters and accelerate towards your target. "Reality" says that if you do that you push yourself into a higher orbit, and fall farther behind the courier. To close the gap you should [I]reduce[/I] your orbital velocity by applying retros and slowing down, riding the lower orbit for a bit, then firing main engines to regain the original orbit. There's always a big problem when magic enters the game setting. Call it The Force, Psychic Phenomenon, Super Powers, "Spending blood points", or whatever you like. As soon as you introduce any aspect of play that enables PCs to do things that physics can't explain, "Reality" doesn't just take a back seat, it leaves the bus entirely. How does your typical super-hero pick up and throw a car or truck? There is essentially no place within reach that can handle the strain without tearing away. How does your wizard get electricity to arc anyplace except to the nearest grounded object? How does he generate the billions of volts needed to get it to arc more than a few feet? How does he (or she for that matter) manage to be at one end of that arc without frying? Consider all the implications of spells like [I]Reduce Person[/I] or [I]Shrink Item[/I]. You are causing mass to simply disappear, a situation that can't occur under the laws of physics. If it was dissipating as energy the yield would be bigger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Believable is great, and it's nice to pretend that it's somehow akin to physics, but like the game itself, all you're doing is pretending. [/QUOTE]
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