Re: Dirty Spellcaster Tricks

Bryan Derksen wrote:
tussock wrote:
Bryan Derksen wrote:

There's no way it could be convinced to go back to its origin no
matter how conductive the path.

You might have heard of alternating current.

Lightning is direct current so I'm not sure how this is relevant.

The way you solve all difficult problems is to _reverse the
polarity_. It works for Star Treck.

That means that "realistic" DND lightning would arc from the caster's
fingertip to wherever the easiest way to get into the ground was.

Uh, if you think of the lightning as being a charge in the Wizard's
finger, it's never going anywhere but strait up his arm, and down
through his own body into the ground. If he's got insulated shoes, he's
just invented the shocking grasp spell again.

I don't think we're disagreeing here either.

I'm disagreeing that Lightning bolt is formed by a massive charge in
the Wizard's finger. As you note, it can't work that way.


[...] Consider that people electricuted in their own home often spark
to surrounding powerpoints, electronic equipment, and other conductive
things, rather than simply "the ground".

Powerpoints (and the electronics connected to them) _are_ "the ground",
or at least the easiest route for electricity to take to reach it. It's
what the third prong is for.

Heh. Fair enough. Bloody reserved words. 8]

<snip>
But there's little point in pondering what might realistically happen if
you've already determined how magic's going to make it work regardless.

I'm more interested in /how/ magic might make it work, what shape the
electric fields would have to take and so on. Thinking too hard about
fantasy is good excercise for your nerdity.

That too. Improved Evasion for those standing in a Faraday cage.

Or give the cage a really high energy resistance and the bolt doesn't
make it through at all.

Probably right. External fields propogate right past, but the field
inside the shell is cancelled. Until you're carrying enough current to
burn you, it's all good.

I wonder how well chain mail or plate mail would do at channeling an
electric current safely around the wearer. I recall seeing a documentary
many years ago about guys who worked on high-tension power cable towers
while they cables were still 'live' and they wore a conductive chainmail
suit while they were up there to protect against leakage. Easier to hit
(which is actually mentioned in the rules for Shocking Grasp) but harder
to damage.

A quick read says you're supposed to tune the cage grill size to the
expected frequencies of any alternating current or EM effect, and not
have holes larger than the wavelenth. Can't find anything on DC, other
than that it does work.

--
tussock

I'm like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gunna get.
.

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