Just because nobody's done it lately, here's what I see the rules looking like right now. Editing Drakensis' post with what I've seen us agree on since then:
Rule #0: This is a collaborative writing project, which means there's a whole bunch of people adding their ideas to the pot.
a) Offering constructive criticism (why don't you do this?) is good. Saying 'you can't do that' is not constructive.
b) Handwavium is fuelled by imagination*. So are stories.
c) When Rule #0 conflicts with any other rule, Rule #0 trumps the other rule. As Mustrum Ridcully would put it, they're "more of a guideline".
* well, it could be!![[Image: wink.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif)
Rule #1: Handwavium is like Cat. It does not go where you tell it to go. It goes where it wants to go. If you are trying to get A Cool Thing, then you will get A Cool Thing. If you are trying to get A Specific Cool Thing, You will get A Cool Thing which may or may not be what you want but might be what you really need. With that said, there are some general limits to its effects:
a) You may not show the Handwavium a picture of your desired genre vehicle and have it build one for you.
b) The Handwavium does not, in fact, do anything on its own. It must be combined with a template device that has a purpose in order to accomplish anything, and whatever that device is reshaped into will retain the same basic purpose - a car's engine might become a space drive, its air conditioner might become an air recycler, and its chassis a spaceframe, but none of these have changed in their basic purpose. Interpretation of purpose is a tricky thing, however.
c) The Handwavium will probably have quirks. The more Cool Stuff you have, and the Cooler the Stuff is, the more quirky it will be. Some Handwavium is less quirky than other Handwavium but it's almost maliciously unpredictable.
d) You cannot blow up Handwavium for Great Justice. Handwavium cannot be caused to explode, and adding Handwavium to an explosive thing won't do anything except reduce intensity. Handwavium is not fond of things going boom.
e) If Handwavium is like Cat, making weapons is like giving Cat a bath. If you Handwave something with the intent of making it a weapon, you will fail. Nothing that you build will turn out to be a weapon randomly. The only way to get a Handwaved weapon is to take an existing Handwavium device designed for peaceful purposes and use it in ways nature never intended. But if you can think of a way around this, then it's a fair cop. You've beaten the system and Handwavium is not going to change the rules on you, because beating the system is cool and interesting enough to overrule the previous guideline. Of course, that doesn't mean that your trick will work for someone else.
Rule #2: You can get one Biomod, you get only one, and after you get it, you can't get rid of it, barring major reconstructive surgery - and sometimes not even then.
a) Biomods are physical alterations and like other Handwavium changes, don't change appearance much unless a prothesis was used. They are not superpowers (not that there aren't folks trying, mind) but tend to make what you have work better (fingernails becoming climbing claws, for example), but sometimes quirkily.
b) Particularly strong Handwavium fumes over a period of time may be enough to biomod someone, but that's about it, and that only because the lungs are so efficient at absorbing the stuff.
Rule #3: If you have some Handwavium, you can turn it into more Handwavium, but you have to feed it something. The fastest it grows should be about doubling in size every day, but if you want more in a hurry then many Fen will share. What you feed your Handwavium may have effects on it's appearance and upon quirks resulting from use. See 1c, above.
Rule #4: Space combat is more like Napoleanic warfare than modern warfare - you might shoot things at each other but the decisive role usually involves getting up close and personal. This is because:
a) Handwavium hulls are relatively resistant to hard tech weapons. Just about any Handwavium hull will be bulletproof and it's not difficult to make them proof against anti-tank weapons (although not everyone bothers to).
b) See 1d, above.
c) Forcetubes between spacecraft are easy to make (since they're the main means of getting in and out of space stations that lack internal docking) and are easily adapted for boarding actions.
d) Bigger ships tend to be slower than smaller craft, but smaller craft, which control the engagement ranges, have less ability to inflict hurt. But they can 'land' boarders relatively easily.
Did I miss anything that we discussed? Is there anything we haven't discussed that should be there? Most importantly, are these the rules we want?
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Rule #0: This is a collaborative writing project, which means there's a whole bunch of people adding their ideas to the pot.
a) Offering constructive criticism (why don't you do this?) is good. Saying 'you can't do that' is not constructive.
b) Handwavium is fuelled by imagination*. So are stories.
c) When Rule #0 conflicts with any other rule, Rule #0 trumps the other rule. As Mustrum Ridcully would put it, they're "more of a guideline".
* well, it could be!
Rule #1: Handwavium is like Cat. It does not go where you tell it to go. It goes where it wants to go. If you are trying to get A Cool Thing, then you will get A Cool Thing. If you are trying to get A Specific Cool Thing, You will get A Cool Thing which may or may not be what you want but might be what you really need. With that said, there are some general limits to its effects:
a) You may not show the Handwavium a picture of your desired genre vehicle and have it build one for you.
b) The Handwavium does not, in fact, do anything on its own. It must be combined with a template device that has a purpose in order to accomplish anything, and whatever that device is reshaped into will retain the same basic purpose - a car's engine might become a space drive, its air conditioner might become an air recycler, and its chassis a spaceframe, but none of these have changed in their basic purpose. Interpretation of purpose is a tricky thing, however.
c) The Handwavium will probably have quirks. The more Cool Stuff you have, and the Cooler the Stuff is, the more quirky it will be. Some Handwavium is less quirky than other Handwavium but it's almost maliciously unpredictable.
d) You cannot blow up Handwavium for Great Justice. Handwavium cannot be caused to explode, and adding Handwavium to an explosive thing won't do anything except reduce intensity. Handwavium is not fond of things going boom.
e) If Handwavium is like Cat, making weapons is like giving Cat a bath. If you Handwave something with the intent of making it a weapon, you will fail. Nothing that you build will turn out to be a weapon randomly. The only way to get a Handwaved weapon is to take an existing Handwavium device designed for peaceful purposes and use it in ways nature never intended. But if you can think of a way around this, then it's a fair cop. You've beaten the system and Handwavium is not going to change the rules on you, because beating the system is cool and interesting enough to overrule the previous guideline. Of course, that doesn't mean that your trick will work for someone else.
Rule #2: You can get one Biomod, you get only one, and after you get it, you can't get rid of it, barring major reconstructive surgery - and sometimes not even then.
a) Biomods are physical alterations and like other Handwavium changes, don't change appearance much unless a prothesis was used. They are not superpowers (not that there aren't folks trying, mind) but tend to make what you have work better (fingernails becoming climbing claws, for example), but sometimes quirkily.
b) Particularly strong Handwavium fumes over a period of time may be enough to biomod someone, but that's about it, and that only because the lungs are so efficient at absorbing the stuff.
Rule #3: If you have some Handwavium, you can turn it into more Handwavium, but you have to feed it something. The fastest it grows should be about doubling in size every day, but if you want more in a hurry then many Fen will share. What you feed your Handwavium may have effects on it's appearance and upon quirks resulting from use. See 1c, above.
Rule #4: Space combat is more like Napoleanic warfare than modern warfare - you might shoot things at each other but the decisive role usually involves getting up close and personal. This is because:
a) Handwavium hulls are relatively resistant to hard tech weapons. Just about any Handwavium hull will be bulletproof and it's not difficult to make them proof against anti-tank weapons (although not everyone bothers to).
b) See 1d, above.
c) Forcetubes between spacecraft are easy to make (since they're the main means of getting in and out of space stations that lack internal docking) and are easily adapted for boarding actions.
d) Bigger ships tend to be slower than smaller craft, but smaller craft, which control the engagement ranges, have less ability to inflict hurt. But they can 'land' boarders relatively easily.
Did I miss anything that we discussed? Is there anything we haven't discussed that should be there? Most importantly, are these the rules we want?
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012