Desolidification Question

[Gauntlet]

If you were to purchase Desolidification based on density, what would you think would effect it?

[Lord Liaden]

For that Special Effect, I think Gravity would be one justifiable choice. It makes no difference how dispersed matter gets, gravity affects every atom of it equally.

[Ninja-Bear]

I would think cold sfx too. cold seems to slow everything.

[Duke Bushido]

I will throw in the suggestion of electricity: you still have a nervous system, and it does not like electricity at all.

 

And of you are altering nothinf but your density, heat as well as the above-mentioned cold.

 

 

[unclevlad]

Just be careful that you don't give the character TOO great of a defense hole.  Heat and electricity tend to be pretty common attack FX.

 

On that point...would people accept AoE (heat) as the damaging effect?  A heat beam perhaps doesn't intercept enough of the diffuse body to be an issue...?

 

Also, if you have APG, consider Alternate Desolid.  It's "density reduction."  They even present a full-scope Density Manipulation power, which combines DI and alt desolid.

[Sketchpad]

What about density-based powers affecting it? 

[LoneWolf]

My first though was the same as Lord Laiden, but then I started thinking about it and came to a different conclusion.   Normally gravity affects every atom, but this is the comic books and that might not always be the case.  I could see a gravity power that worked by producing targeted localized gravity fields.  Those may not affect every atom.   Then there is the fact that there are a lot of other special effects that can affect every atom.  Most of the effects that affect every atom are usually have some variant of area of effect.  It seems that anything that affects the entire area the character occupies would be able to affect the character.   So, anything with the advantage AoE could affect the character. 

[Gauntlet]

12 hours ago, Sketchpad said:

What about density-based powers affecting it? 

Problem is those are rather rare, a bit too rare to be the only thing affecting desolid.

 

[Lord Liaden]

From the point of view of real science, to reduce the density of matter you'd have to either: disperse it to increase the space between atoms, in which case it becomes a giant wispy version of the original thing; remove atoms from it, which for an organism would mean it no longer has the complexity to continue to function physically or mentally; or change the atoms into another type of atom made up of fewer subatomic particles, meaning a living thing would need a completely different biochemistry.

 

In other words, try to get too scientific with superpowers, and they fall apart. Superpowers routinely violate the laws of science. So all you really need for your SFX is a rationale that sounds reasonable on first read-through, even if it doesn't bear close scrutiny.

[unclevlad]

Oh yeah.  Where does the mass come from, for someone who has Growth or DI that isn't always on?  If the SFX is "I turn into bronze" for my 3 levels of DI, is it ALL of me?  How does my nervous system work, how do I see, hear?  

 

There's lots of em. Sometimes it's even a fun exercise...well, huh, I can toss in *this*...and heck, that suggests "this* is something else I can do.  I have some points for it;...sure!!!

 

Superpowers generally run the laws of physics through about 3 dozen Google translations, fron English to German to Russian to Mandarin to Japanese...at some point coming back to English, for each specific empowered individual.  The translation is...unique.   To each one.  Sure, by and large, there's broad classes and things that tend to be fairly common, but that's about it.  Details usually vary in some ways.

[Ninja-Bear]

@unclevlad, yes I can see Heat being a good Sfx to affect the Desolid.

[Sketchpad]

9 hours ago, Gauntlet said:

Problem is those are rather rare, a bit too rare to be the only thing affecting desolid.

 

Not really anymore rare than say Gravity Control or Momentum Control. It's only as rare as the GM needs it to be.

[LoneWolf]

I have to agree with density powers not being appropriate for a special effect that affects a desolid character.  Most density powers are going not going to be attacks.  They will usually be things like growth, density increase, shrinking and various defensive abilities. Many of the attacks using density powers are going to be those powers UAA. Gravity control usually has more straight up attack powers like blast or TK.  

[Lord Liaden]

I agree in general, but HTH attacks by a character using Density Increase, for example, could reasonably be included among what the Desolid character is vulnerable to, if the SFX of the DI is that the character becomes more "tightly packed."

[Tech]

Gauntlet, as already show, there are plenty of things that could be justified to affect it. I'd say Gravity powers to narrow it down to one.

[DeleteThisAccount]

Magic, specifically being used to adjust density or affect those with an adjusted density.

 

Technology (or a science-based effect, like a mutated person who shoots energy of the right sort to do such a thing) that is specific to adjusted densities.

 

Powers that increase or decrease other people's density as is their special effects, with or without a target already being adjusted in their density (a power might have a damage effect fluffed as being decreasing the density of some parts of a person, but not others, so that things begin to go wrong within their body, like blood just falling out of suddenly intangible veins).

[Christopher R Taylor]

Sonic/vibration and gravity seem like good choices

[Khymeria]

Double KB attacks with the idea that they hit with so much forceful pop that it can still affect the character. Maybe any other character who has Desolid, Growth, or Density Increase for the reasons all stated above in a "SCIENCE" sort of way. A collection of powers/powers with advantages, etc., can serve the same purpose. Might even be some really cool opportunity for the science character who is an expert in physics or whatnot to figure out the weakness.