Superhero Power: Electrical Control

[Diamond Cross]

Yeah, most supers don't have the know-how and fine control necessary to do that sort of thing.

But it has come up in comics -- Magneto has done electromagnetic things to brains, various telekinetics have grabbed various internal organs, and I think some electrical hero or villain effectively stunned or dazed someone by messing with their brain. I may be thinking of superhero RPGs on that last one, though.

Well, I'd like to think that's actually where ethics come in.

Magneto did actually use his power to basically paralyze the X-Men by controlling the iron in their body, in one issue, but I can't remember the issue.

A hero might do something like that, but a villain, especially a psychopathic one, would have no qualms about shutting the brain down and using his power to torture.

 

[Umbran]

A note (mostly for those who are trying to make sure players don't go farther than you want with powers): While the brain runs on "electrical impulses" that doesn't mean the power works on the nervous system.

When we talk about electricity, in terms of wires and modern electronics, we are talking about electrons moving along the length of a conductor, driven by a potential (an electric field). The electrons move continuously in one direction for Direct Current (DC), and go back and forth over a short distance for Alternating Current (AC).

This is *not* how your neurons do things. To oversimplify - imagine the neuron to be a pipe. The neuron transmits an electrical signal by moving ions (charged atoms) not along the length of the pipe, but through the wall of the pipe. Ions pop out in one place, which causes more to pop out next to them a little way down the pipe, then next to those a little farther down. Each ion moves only a small distance across the cell membrane, and back again, and that produces a wave of ionization to travel along the length of the neuron.

Also, the electrons in the first case are extremely light. The charged ions are a hundred thousand times more massive than electrons.

So, you can imagine it this way - normal electricity is like filling a sports stadium with Capuchin monkeys, and having them run around the rim of the stadium. The electricity in neurons is like filling a stadium with elephants, and having them do "the wave". Not really the same thing at all.

 

[Sunseeker]

Almost any power has this sort of possibility. From fire-based powers being able to boil a person from the inside-out to earth-related powers being able to condense the minerals in your body into a mass solid enough to give you a heart attack.

One of the major reasons this rarely happens is it tends to lead to god-moding. The hero, or the villain, with this level of power control can basically win ALL the time. And that's no fun for anyone(except them I suppose).

Not to mention, when the battles are won with such small things, you don't have awesome action scenes with shirts being torn off, huge punches or lightning bolts being thrown or blood-splatter and city-wide devastation.

So yeah, it's a cool idea, but at the end of the day it really doesn't sell. When they do put these sorts of things in, the person in posession of the power generally has MAJOR weaknesses. In electricity's case, water, or it's very exhausing, or they have to be incredibly close and so on. Because otherwise as I said above, it's god-moding and that's boring.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A note (mostly for those who are trying to make sure players don't go farther than you want with powers): While the brain runs on "electrical impulses" that doesn't mean the power works on the nervous system.

When we talk about electricity, in terms of wires and modern electronics, we are talking about electrons moving along the length of a conductor, driven by a potential (an electric field). The electrons move continuously in one direction for Direct Current (DC), and go back and forth over a short distance for Alternating Current (AC).

This is *not* how your neurons do things. To oversimplify - imagine the neuron to be a pipe. The neuron transmits an electrical signal by moving ions (charged atoms) not along the length of the pipe, but through the wall of the pipe. Ions pop out in one place, which causes more to pop out next to them a little way down the pipe, then next to those a little farther down. Each ion moves only a small distance across the cell membrane, and back again, and that produces a wave of ionization to travel along the length of the neuron.

Also, the electrons in the first case are extremely light. The charged ions are a hundred thousand times more massive than electrons.

So, you can imagine it this way - normal electricity is like filling a sports stadium with Capuchin monkeys, and having them run around the rim of the stadium. The electricity in neurons is like filling a stadium with elephants, and having them do "the wave". Not really the same thing at all.

Which is why things that can seriously mess up electronic devices- strong magnetic fields, EMPs, etc.,- don't do likewise to organic creatures.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Magneto did actually use his power to basically paralyze the X-Men by controlling the iron in their body, in one issue, but I can't remember the issue..

Don't forget Magneto Killed Jean Grey by giving her a massive stroke via EMP pulse centralized on her brain.

 

[Nifft]

Don't forget Magneto Killed Jean Grey by giving her a massive stroke via EMP pulse centralized on her brain.

Jean Grey is dead again? Sheesh.

This is *not* how your neurons do things. To oversimplify - imagine the neuron to be a pipe. The neuron transmits an electrical signal by moving ions (charged atoms) not along the length of the pipe, but through the wall of the pipe. Ions pop out in one place, which causes more to pop out next to them a little way down the pipe, then next to those a little farther down. Each ion moves only a small distance across the cell membrane, and back again, and that produces a wave of ionization to travel along the length of the neuron.

Yeah. Electricity manipulation is pretty useless for fine control of neurons.

If you are afraid of neuron control, you have to worry about Captain Calcium.

"Ha-ha, ha-ha! Eat flaming ionic long-term potentiation!"

"He's unforgettable!", -- N

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

OTOH, you could work on a Fear Cage effect...

FEAR CAGE: A term used to describe a confined area such as a walk in closet, hallway or basement with very high EMF readings. The combination of being close and confined with in an area of strong EMF often brings out extremely great feelings of uneasiness, anxiety, paranoia and/or uncontrollable fear. When this occurs the best thing is to quickly and calmly leave the area and go to a more open area with lower EMF.

Someone with a high degree of electromagnetic control might be able to make people uneasy in his presence...plenty of role-play potential there!

 

[Umbran]

Don't forget Magneto Killed Jean Grey by giving her a massive stroke via EMP pulse centralized on her brain.

Yeah, but... he's Magneto. The single most powerful (and experienced) mortal to wield such power. That is not an argument that such power should be available in general.

FEAR CAGE: A term used to describe a confined area such as a walk in closet, hallway or basement with very high EMF readings.

Eh. Maybe if I were running Ghost Hunters, the RPG.

 

[kinem]

Just about any superpower theme - "control of X" or not - can be turned into something ultra-powerful. That's why it's important to keep track of power level; for a RPG, level/CR.

Examples?

control of water: At low level, you can splash people when water's nearby. At epic level, controlling the water in people's blood turns them into puppets.

super hearing: At low level, you're good at knowing when someone is sneaking up on you. At epic level, you can detect lies, have blindsight, can tell what was said in a distant place or time, and gain massive insight bonuses to attack and defense.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Don't forget Magneto Killed Jean Grey by giving her a massive stroke via EMP pulse centralized on her brain.

Oh please. Who hasn't killed Jean Grey? I'm pretty sure Charlie Brown did it in his X-Men crossover. ;-)

Killing Jean is like beating up Wolverine, or killing Flynn the Bard from the Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising; it shows you are to be taken seriously but it doesn't mean you're a major threat.