Emailing a Fireball

[Jkeown]

I tried MegaRange and Trigger on this spell to represent the act of attaching a Fireball to an email.  Open the mail, get the Fireball. Is this enough? MegaRange certainly brings a target close enough, and if they leave the area, the spell fizzles.  The question is, can someone be targeted in this fashion? I almost think not, but I do not know what else I'd use to represent this kind of targeting.  A further limitation from the original work includes the requirement of including the spell name in the email subject line, though it could be hidden in a larger phrase - "Save Big on Fireball 1500XE Video Adaptors from NerdTek!!" The mail would detect as magical.

 

Fireball Email:  Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6+1, Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Trigger can expire (72 hours); Opening the Email; +1/4), MegaRange (1m = 100 km; +1 1/2) (55 Active Points); OAF (Email-capable electronics; -1), Expires 72 Hours from Send (-1), Requires A Roll (Computer Programming roll; -1/2) Real Cost: 16

 

Inspired by "Emailing Spells" in d20 Modern by WotC.

[Chris Goodwin]

I think you want some sort of Indirect as well, maybe.  

[IndianaJoe3]

Targeting is definitely a problem. No Range Penalty seems mandatory. Maybe LOS as well?

[Old Man]

I would pay all the money to have this capability in real life.

 

All.  Of.  The.  Money.

[Markdoc]

OK, let's look at the requirements. 1. You want a trigger (spell goes off) and 2. you need a way to deliver it wherever the victim is. The first part's easy - just add Trigger: I think you have that covered

The second part ... well you want to be able to hit them indoors, or in a bunker, or on the street ... anywhere. That means indirect, for sure, and at the +1/2 level.

You also want to be able to hit them even at extreme range (like on the other side of the globe). Even with megarange you still have to be able to see or hit them, somehow.

 

So I'd cheat. Instead of going for very long range ....I'd go for very big area effect. Since I'm not the kind of man who just wants to watch the world burn, I'd add accurate. That gives you Area affect radius (+1) accurate (+1/4) Megascale (+2 planetary).

 

That way, you cast the spell, and everybody on the planet is in your area of effect. If the target triggers the spell - POW! - no matter where he or she is.

 

cheers, Mark

[IndianaJoe3]

I would pay all the money to have this capability in real life.

 

All.  Of.  The.  Money.

 

Your sig has rarely been more appropriate.

[Old Man]

Check your inbox.

[Chris Goodwin]

That gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "flame war".

[Kraven Kor]

Check your inbox.

 

It's a trick!  Get an...  well, I don't think the Ax is going to cut it, really...

[Lucius]

It's a trick!  Get an...  well, I don't think the Ax is going to cut it, really...

 

If you can't cut it with an ax, what will you cut it with?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary sets the spam filter to block fireballs

[Kraven Kor]

I don't like the Megascale Area of Effect solution.

 

The first question to ask...  what is an Email?  Is it Telepathy: Transmit Only?  HRRP?  Mind Link with limitations?

 

Here is how I would build it - Delayed Effect (it goes off when they read email), AoE Explosion, Trigger (opening / reading the email it is attached to), No Range Modifier (character need only hit the hex the computer used to open the email is in; so "no range modifier" seems to work while implying less than Megascale / Megarange would), and then a Custom -1/4 "No Range (From Point of Receipt)" which means the fireball is centered on the computer used to open the email, and cannot be launched from said computer to a target point nearby.

 

You've Got FIREMAIL:  Blast 6d6, Delayed Effect (+1/4), Area Of Effect (16m Radius Explosion; +1/4), Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset (Trigger never resets), Trigger can expire (it has a time limit), Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; +1/4), No Range Modifier (+1/2) (67 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Minute, Only to Activate, -3/4), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2), IAF (Focus (Computer with Internet Access); -1/2), No Range (from point of receipt) (-1/4)

[Markdoc]

The problem with "no range modifier" is that you still have to be able to hit the hex you are aiming at. The major trouble is, you don't know where that hex is going to be. And you can't actually see it, necessitating some additional sense power.

 

The victim could open his email at home in Iowa - or on plane 10,000 metres above Germany. He could do it 5 minutes from now or he could do it 2 days from now. You could assume that the trigger goes off when the mail is read, and that you then perform your triggering action and target his location, but then you are in houserule territory (it would want to be a clearly defined houserule, as trigger doesn't currently work that way, and frankly we wouldn't want it to, in most cases, because it opens up some rather abusive builds. As the rules currently stand, you have to define where the power goes off when you set your trigger. See second to last last paragraph 6E1, page 351) The fact that you don't know what area you are going to have to target is the major reason for the area effect approach. That way you don't need to know in advance where they are going to be: they are already in the target zone, when you set the trigger.

 

As minor asides, you neither need, nor want, delayed effect, since that is only for games where characters can only have a limited number of powers active at any one time. You are also going to need both megarange and indirect to be able to reach your target unless you only email people physically close to you.

 

Last of all, I'd also drop "Character does not control activation of personal Trigger", since that's for powers you cannot yourself control: if you have it here, it means you fireball some, any or all of the people you email: you don't get to decide who or when. Last of all, you can save some points by dropping the zero phase action on trigger. Since you  have to write and send the email you are going to be using a phase or two: so it gains you nothing significant.

 

If I understand what you might have been going for - a power where you personally attack the victim immediately they open the mail, rather than setting a trigger that they then set off, you could do so with a detect power allowing you to identify when and where the mail had been opened. You could then attack that site. You could use a zero phase or even a free action trigger to do that, but it gains you very little: you still have to have a phase (6E1, page 350) meaning it would not work if you were asleep, or unconscious, had just acted, etc). If you are going that route, all you really need is a detect and a power with indirect and megarange.

 

cheers, Mark

[Lucius]

You are also going to need both megarange and indirect to be able to reach your target unless you only email people physically close to you.

 

cheers, Mark

 

A quibble: if you have Megascaled Area to cover the planet, you can go NO Range since you're already in the target area.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Feeding the palindromedary Quibbles and Bits

[Markdoc]

A quibble: if you have Megascaled Area to cover the planet, you can go NO Range since you're already in the target area.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Feeding the palindromedary Quibbles and Bits

Which was why it wasn't in my build

I was referring to the build above mine - sorry if that was unclear!

 

Cheers, Mark

[Ragitsu]

How about Explosive Runes sent in an e-mail?

[Lawnmower Boy]

Don't click on that link!

 

Now. Where did I put that tube of Bactine?

[Christopher]

How about Explosive Runes sent in an e-mail?

V from Oder of the Stick used ER in similar cases. Many simialr cases:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0092.html

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0317.html

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0318.html

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0323.html

 

The main problem compared to the spell is that the Internet (or a mail) would not be considered a proper place to hold to magic in most magic systems (even in Shadowrun all magic is bound to the physical world). If you can put it on a mail, you could put it on a webpapge. A textfile. A XML RSS feed. Even a configuration File.

Also, what happens if that file get's indrectly read? What if the "explosive XML" is read by my browers RSS reader? Would I get the fireball when I view the RSS or when the browser deciedes to load it? (wich may be several minutes or hours before, maybe when I am not even on teh computer).

What if some other Programm "reads" the mail? Would it explode your mailserver if it would run a spamfilter or content inspecting firewall over it? What if you had a scanner that scans your outgoing mail - would your spell backfire?

 

And that are jsut some of the many ways how a programmer could abuse such a power. Administators might have even more ways: Just tag all the Files that are accessed by windows during login and you could easily kill any foe simply due to combined explosive force.

[Christopher]

Just an extreme case of how such approaches could be abused by innovative players. Using Force Choke as example:

http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=1153

[superferret]

If "emailing spells" becomes common, then someone will find a way to counter it, just like in the current "malware vs anti malware" war.
I believe Robert Bloch did something like this in a short story.
Could this be done with text messages, tweets, or other instant message systems?
How about mind control by email?

[Fireg0lem]

I actually think this should be two powers:

 

Some kind of attack - Triggered, LOS, Indirect

 

Detect People Opening This Email - Sense, Targeting, MegaRange, Character Has No Conscious Awareness of Sense (I'd peg this at -1).

 

The limitation on the Detect means that you only "detect" the email being opened for the purpose of the trigger - the character doesn't know that it happened or where they are, but for the purposes of the Triggered power they do know.

 

I think any attempt to get around targeting requirements without using some kind of Detect is going to involve some extreme kludging. 

[Christopher]

Detect People Opening This Email - Sense, Targeting, MegaRange, Character Has No Conscious Awareness of Sense (I'd peg this at -1).

 

The limitation on the Detect means that you only "detect" the email being opened for the purpose of the trigger - the character doesn't know that it happened or where they are, but for the purposes of the Triggered power they do know.

Trigger notes a modifiers for senses taht "only work for triggers".

 

For a similar thread I came up with a different solution: Transdimensional.

The basic premise is that the Email is a Object in the Dimension Cyberspace and as such could carry triggers along (the same way you can place a trigger on a piece of paper):

http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/88455-a-cursed-email/?do=findComment&comment=2340177

[Fireg0lem]

I'd completely forgotten about the "Only for triggers" under Trigger - good to remember that one.