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So there is lots of talk about combat or utility use of magic. What about recreational use? Surly spells can be used in such ways. For example:

Portal Jumping: like sky diving or base jumping only you use a mystic portal at the end putting one end under you and the other end next to it so your go down, then come 'up' against gravity, using it to slow your velocity to allow for a clean landing coming out of the other portal.


What ways have you used magic in a non-combat or utility manner?

Good thread!

I'll get back to it when I have more time.

Levitation a pail of water(or etc..) over/inside a door for an unsuspecting victim.

A PC TW in a game once made a laser-tag type game set for the kids in a city.
the 'guns' were an incredibly weak energy bolt (1d6-6)
the 'sensor' was made with a weak version of Light Target (lit you up for 1 action/3 seconds)
the kits were dirt cheap to make, took almost no PPE to use, and kids can naturally us TW anyway.

That Chi Magic spell for turning broomhandles into people has recreation potential.

same npc's band i mentioned with the burster lead singer in the psionics thread had a bunch of equipment made by the TW keyboard player (don't have the sheets or remember everything but a few things i do)

aside from the bursters "pyrotechnic show" , the mic he had could trigger multiple images (and armor of ithan since they played in some seedy bars most of the TW devices included that)

the mind melters bass had illusinary wall or something i think? or apparition, but nothing that attacked "visual display/props" which might have included ectoplasm (she also would use hypnotic suggestion with the illusion magic backing things up)

this was before (by canon) that non psi or magic users could power TW devices so i don't think the hypirion drummer got anything special (though he might have had 'thunderclap' on bass kick)

rahuman lead, and second guitarist i think was the "stage lighting" shadow meld, globe of daylight , fools gold (gleaming 'disco ball' effect reflecting all the light), blinding flash, and i think metomorph human

the keyboard had several tricks , cloud of smoke, blinding flash, levitation, invisibility simple, fingers of the wind


also beyond the standard effects (many just mimicking what they found on old holo tapes of Rob Zombie, Ramstein, Gwar and other bands with a heavy stage show presence) the TW has a side business she runs selling TW 'bumpers' (price varies by effect) each bumper can be refilled with PPE charged powdered clear quarts crystals (the PPE in the powdered crystal charges the TW bumper effect so even non magic users can use the TW bumper)

when a bumper is freshly charged it will last for about an hour , even if there is powder left after that , the charge has bled out and more needs to be bought (a mage or psionic can charge the left over powder, but she has not shared how to make it, so she is the only source...well the city rats and vagabonds that act as her street level dealers)

effects can be

see the invisible
sense magic
see aura
death trance
levitation
astral projection

for a normal person being able to suddenly sense magic, see auras or astral project for the first time is something most aren't ready for, but something many will want to try again ,partly because a lot of the stage show is presented in ways that can only be sensed beyond the normal 5... and partly because of the mind melter's hypnotic suggestion to buy more since she gets a cut of the take (also band merch like shirts, and video disc's)

13eowulf wrote:So there is lots of talk about combat or utility use of magic. What about recreational use? Surly spells can be used in such ways. For example:

Portal Jumping: like sky diving or base jumping only you use a mystic portal at the end putting one end under you and the other end next to it so your go down, then come 'up' against gravity, using it to slow your velocity to allow for a clean landing coming out of the other portal.


What ways have you used magic in a non-combat or utility manner?

I hate to brake this to you Mate, but not sure it would work. Instead it would increase the speed until you hit terminal velocity.

pblackcrow wrote:

13eowulf wrote:So there is lots of talk about combat or utility use of magic. What about recreational use? Surly spells can be used in such ways. For example:

Portal Jumping: like sky diving or base jumping only you use a mystic portal at the end putting one end under you and the other end next to it so your go down, then come 'up' against gravity, using it to slow your velocity to allow for a clean landing coming out of the other portal.


What ways have you used magic in a non-combat or utility manner?

I hate to brake this to you Mate, but not sure it would work. Instead it would increase the speed until you hit terminal velocity.

So what you are saying is when you come out the other side your speed increases despite the pull of gravity?

relicandcheese wrote:

13eowulf wrote:

pblackcrow wrote:

13eowulf wrote:So there is lots of talk about combat or utility use of magic. What about recreational use? Surly spells can be used in such ways. For example:

Portal Jumping: like sky diving or base jumping only you use a mystic portal at the end putting one end under you and the other end next to it so your go down, then come 'up' against gravity, using it to slow your velocity to allow for a clean landing coming out of the other portal.


What ways have you used magic in a non-combat or utility manner?

I hate to brake this to you Mate, but not sure it would work. Instead it would increase the speed until you hit terminal velocity.

So what you are saying is when you come out the other side your speed increases despite the pull of gravity?

I think i see pblackcrow's point, although I'd probably just let you have it if it's only recreation.

The character would fall 'up' in speed to a point where gravity took over and begins to pull them back down, but air resistance would only them slow by so much, and I'm betting physics would dictate that it couldn't slow down enough for the landing height to be safe. This is assuming the enter and exit portals are are on the same level.

The spell would have to be altered for it to be allowed to be cast in thin air so that when they reached the apex of their flight, the portal could be cast and they would fall lightly into it, and then end their adrenaline-junky trek with a light bump on the other side, maybe even land on their feet.

Would take some careful timing though... wouldn't take much to mis-time it and accidentally fall much farther than aimed for. I know in Rifts, a high level spell like Mystic Portal takes 3 actions to cast, and in PFRPG canon, it would take a full melee (15 secs)! At a falling acceleration of 32'/sec/sec, that's a lot of feet per second to make mistakes on...

Of course there's also Teleportation. Where is this individual getting all this PPE from anyway? (Nevermind, I don't want to know... )

Well.... it is intended as an 'extreme sport'.....

And if the opening and exit are close enough together you can keep looping to slow decent until a safe landing can be reached... if you like things 'safe'

relicandcheese wrote:The spell would have to be altered for it to be allowed to be cast in thin air

What do you mean?

--flatline

relicandcheese wrote:

flatline wrote:

relicandcheese wrote:The spell would have to be altered for it to be allowed to be cast in thin air

What do you mean?

--flatline

I'm assuming the spell being used would be Mystic Portal, and the canon states it must be cast on a solid surface.

Hmm...I thought that was only for the "pass through a wall" scenario. Does it have to be cast on a solid surface if you're using the portal for teleporting?

--flatline

pblackcrow wrote:Portal Jumping: like sky diving or base jumping only you use a mystic portal at the end putting one end under you and the other end next to it so your go down, then come 'up' against gravity, using it to slow your velocity to allow for a clean landing coming out of the other portal.

I hate to brake this to you Mate, but not sure it would work. Instead it would increase the speed until you hit terminal velocity.[/quote]
This could depend on how the direction of your velocity works in regard to how portals are oriented though.

If we visualize a portal as a 2-dimensional circle, presumably only 1 face of that circle is either an entrance or exit, and the other side presumably doesn't do anything... though I'm not utterly certain about that. The exact mechanics and dimensions and 'sides' of portals in a given plane haven't really been focused on, so most of how I visualize a rift or portal comes from illustrations depicting them, which appear more 2-dimensional and 1-functional-sided. What nature the 'back' of Rifts have is kind of a mysterious issue...

So anyway, let's call the active entrance/exit side of a portal side A (or "A sides"), and the inactive side of those port-ends I sides. Of the A-sides, you can refer to them as AN (Active eNtrance) or AX (Active eXit).

As we pass through a portal/rift, our momentum TOWARDS the entrance must translate into momentum AWAY from the exit. Momentum has to translate this way or else you could never walk through a portal and you'd get stuck in it. If toward-entrance momentum became toward-exit momentum, then you would be bounced back into the rift with the same force you entered it with, and be stuck in limbo.

If I am falling towards the earth, and I make a face-up portal with A facing away from the earth and too the sky, I am being accelerated TOWARD the portal's entrance (AN), and the momentum acquired from this gravitational acceleration (much like momentum with walking) would be translated into momentum pushing AWAY from the face which is being used as the portal's exit.

If the corresponding portal I make elsewhere (be it another dimension or within the same planet) has the Active side facing UP, then the momentum which was pulling me towards the ground is in the direction AWAY from the ground of the new location (even if we were rifting between 2 spots in the same planet) and as such, you would begin flying into the air, and begin to be slowed down by the gravity of the exit's plane.

This would still be dangerous, of course, because you'll still fly a certain distance into the air until you reach neutral momentum, and then fall to the ground. But it won't be AS bad.

Basically, if I fall 10 feet into a ground-portal on Earth 1, and 'up-fall' out of a portal on Earth 2, I'm going to fly 10 feet into the air in the new realm, so I'll still be taking 10feet fall of damage.

The real trick to avoiding damage would not be a 180 in direction, but rather, to change a vertical portal into a horizantal one. That way, if you were falling down at 100mph, instead you exit travelling 100mph sideways. This is still potentially dangerous, but less so, probably just have to make a roll with impact, maybe some crash damage if you are pointed at a wall or something.

If what I read
Without air resistance, falling from 10 ft means you hit the ground at http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=124248 is true:

falling from 10 ft means you hit the ground at 17 mph, and falling from 30 ft means you hit the ground at 30 mph.
30 ft. = 29.67 mph
10 ft. = 17.24 mph

Then all we really need is rules for deceleration. Presumably, for example, if you are travelling at a falling speed equal to or less than your running speed, then you should be able to safely slow down under your own power. Faster than that, and there should be a high chance of tripping and taking crash damage. Heck even at equal/less I'd still put some chance, because you're suddenly at that speed and have to adapt to it instantly rather than reaching it under your own power and reflexes.

relicandcheese wrote:The character would fall 'up' in speed to a point where gravity took over and begins to pull them back down, but air resistance would only them slow by so much, and I'm betting physics would dictate that it couldn't slow down enough for the landing height to be safe.

The spell would have to be altered for it to be allowed to be cast in thin air so that when they reached the apex of their flight, the portal could be cast and they would fall lightly into it, and then end their adrenaline-junky trek with a light bump on the other side, maybe even land on their feet.

Dude... I didn't even think about the deceleration in both directions due to air resistance. That and top-portalling could both nullify massive velocities through a series of chain-rifting (we'd definitely need more than 1 rift to do it, and hard to time, true) but it's plausible.

Hmm, better to just make an Ecstasy spell that works like the Agony spell, but causes pleasure instead of pain. Get an herbalist to make potions of it.
Magic drug.

Zombie Gnome Boxing Matches.
Animated Hand Racing (also called The "Thing Race")
Talking Skull comedy act, staring Joseph the dead Coalition Officer and his catch phrase "Die D-BEE!"

Force Fields as slides (like in a park). Actually used this in game many times, it was Psi-based, but no reason it can't work for magic.

Animate/Control Dead, puppet show (Manipulate objects/TK can also work with real puppets, but this requires actual skeletons to use)

Carpet of Adhession, could prank by moving furniture to the ceiling or wall (though duration might be an issue)

Create Zombie/Mummy/Golem, no reason they have to be used for combat. Lots of uses.

Multiple Image, one person line dancing show.

Giant, get rid of someones clothes real fast (hopefully they don't mind) if you get my drift

Ricocet Strike (and similar) to pull off fancy shooting games (darts, coin/ball, etc)

Fly, ride in that unconventional broom or carpet to get around.

Ignite Fire, start campfires or torches

Metamorphosis, Reduce Self, Second Sight, are good for spying in their own ways

Summon Fog, Summon & Control Storm/Rain, can help set the mood, delay that special someone from leaving, and water the crops if its been dry

Super Human Speed/Strength, in games (may help to allow one to play Juicer Sports)

Water to Wine.

Wind Rush, wind powered vehicle (or at least to get it going), more useful for TW

Spellsports!

There are, of course, a few spells together which would be great for "scuba diving"

Ricochet Strike Dodgeball
Deflect would be good for cricket/baseball type games
Spells like Manipulate Objects, Fingers of the Wind, and Telekinesis would be good for hockey and soccer type games.
Flying Polo
And lots of spells would work for spell marksmanship contests

I could bring up Quidditch, but...

Gnomes really do make the perfect zombies and similar when considering that so many animated dead spells and rituals and powers use uniform stats that don't fluctuate based on the size of the corpse.

I can't help but mention mage's maze. Kind of old school, who else digs it?

technowizard funhouse?

pblackcrow wrote:

13eowulf wrote:So there is lots of talk about combat or utility use of magic. What about recreational use? Surly spells can be used in such ways. For example:

Portal Jumping: like sky diving or base jumping only you use a mystic portal at the end putting one end under you and the other end next to it so your go down, then come 'up' against gravity, using it to slow your velocity to allow for a clean landing coming out of the other portal.


What ways have you used magic in a non-combat or utility manner?

I hate to brake this to you Mate, but not sure it would work. Instead it would increase the speed until you hit terminal velocity.

The easiest way I can explain how this would work is to watch this

What would happen is that his downward falling velocity is redirected up (via teleporting mystic portal function) from ground level, same as a trampoline would do but with no impact at all to the character and from any height. That is assuming you can make it into the opening of the mystic portal which might be pretty tricky depending on how far you are falling and how coordinated of a jumper you are.

Tor wrote:This could depend on how the direction of your velocity works in regard to how portals are oriented though.

If we visualize a portal as a 2-dimensional circle, presumably only 1 face of that circle is either an entrance or exit, and the other side presumably doesn't do anything... though I'm not utterly certain about that. The exact mechanics and dimensions and 'sides' of portals in a given plane haven't really been focused on, so most of how I visualize a rift or portal comes from illustrations depicting them, which appear more 2-dimensional and 1-functional-sided. What nature the 'back' of Rifts have is kind of a mysterious issue...

So anyway, let's call the active entrance/exit side of a portal side A (or "A sides"), and the inactive side of those port-ends I sides. Of the A-sides, you can refer to them as AN (Active eNtrance) or AX (Active eXit).

As we pass through a portal/rift, our momentum TOWARDS the entrance must translate into momentum AWAY from the exit. Momentum has to translate this way or else you could never walk through a portal and you'd get stuck in it. If toward-entrance momentum became toward-exit momentum, then you would be bounced back into the rift with the same force you entered it with, and be stuck in limbo.

If I am falling towards the earth, and I make a face-up portal with A facing away from the earth and too the sky, I am being accelerated TOWARD the portal's entrance (AN), and the momentum acquired from this gravitational acceleration (much like momentum with walking) would be translated into momentum pushing AWAY from the face which is being used as the portal's exit.

If the corresponding portal I make elsewhere (be it another dimension or within the same planet) has the Active side facing UP, then the momentum which was pulling me towards the ground is in the direction AWAY from the ground of the new location (even if we were rifting between 2 spots in the same planet) and as such, you would begin flying into the air, and begin to be slowed down by the gravity of the exit's plane.

This would still be dangerous, of course, because you'll still fly a certain distance into the air until you reach neutral momentum, and then fall to the ground. But it won't be AS bad.

Basically, if I fall 10 feet into a ground-portal on Earth 1, and 'up-fall' out of a portal on Earth 2, I'm going to fly 10 feet into the air in the new realm, so I'll still be taking 10feet fall of damage.

The real trick to avoiding damage would not be a 180 in direction, but rather, to change a vertical portal into a horizantal one. That way, if you were falling down at 100mph, instead you exit travelling 100mph sideways. This is still potentially dangerous, but less so, probably just have to make a roll with impact, maybe some crash damage if you are pointed at a wall or something.

If what I read
Without air resistance, falling from 10 ft means you hit the ground at http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=124248 is true:

falling from 10 ft means you hit the ground at 17 mph, and falling from 30 ft means you hit the ground at 30 mph.
30 ft. = 29.67 mph
10 ft. = 17.24 mph

Then all we really need is rules for deceleration. Presumably, for example, if you are travelling at a falling speed equal to or less than your running speed, then you should be able to safely slow down under your own power. Faster than that, and there should be a high chance of tripping and taking crash damage. Heck even at equal/less I'd still put some chance, because you're suddenly at that speed and have to adapt to it instantly rather than reaching it under your own power and reflexes.


Dude... I didn't even think about the deceleration in both directions due to air resistance. That and top-portalling could both nullify massive velocities through a series of chain-rifting (we'd definitely need more than 1 rift to do it, and hard to time, true) but it's plausible.

Man you are all WAY over thinking this. See my previous post, watch the video.
THAT is how it would work.

Even if the portal has a little resistance (just like the trampoline would turn some momentum into heat in the fabric and springs and he loses a little due to air friction) its all very minimal and at least over short distances would not impact your ability to fall from and return to the same wall. The only issue MIGHT be that the portal spits you out like a mirror so you go away from the wall that you jumped from. This could be overcome by a spell caster rotating the portal while leaving it sit on the same plane. Just throw a rock in to check first and recast it with one portal reversed if needed.

Easy peasy people, its (magical) physics not rocket science!

Not sure what you mean by the portal having resistance, that's something else to consider I guess but I don't really recall any mention of slowing.

I bring up air resistance because even though it seems negligible at lower velocities, it's a critical factor the faster you go. That's the whole reason terminal velocities exist, because drag-force matches gravity's acceleration and makes the velocity static.

We ignore it in trampolines, but people do tire after using them a while, and if we're talking about portal-looping to attain huge speeds, drag would come into play more and more, the more it was exploited.

F[sub]D[/sub] = ½pv²C[sub]D[/sub]A

I don't get much of it, but basically the force of drag involves a component of the relative velocity squared, so the faster you're going, the more drag force there will be decelerating you.

Tor wrote:Not sure what you mean by the portal having resistance, that's something else to consider I guess but I don't really recall any mention of slowing.

I bring up air resistance because even though it seems negligible at lower velocities, it's a critical factor the faster you go. That's the whole reason terminal velocities exist, because drag-force matches gravity's acceleration and makes the velocity static.

We ignore it in trampolines, but people do tire after using them a while, and if we're talking about portal-looping to attain huge speeds, drag would come into play more and more, the more it was exploited.

F[sub]D[/sub] = ½pv²C[sub]D[/sub]A

I don't get much of it, but basically the force of drag involves a component of the relative velocity squared, so the faster you're going, the more drag force there will be decelerating you.

Yep thats pretty much it.
In simple terms you cannot accelerate using this trampoline type set up. You drop down you shoot back up and you are constantly losing a bit of momentum to air friction (even at slow speeds you will lose a bit)

Now if you have 2 portals that are set up that when you fall through the bottom one you come out of the top one still falling down and into the bottom one (in a loop) then you will quickly hit your terminal velocity. Which depending on body position, clothing, and body shape (really round people would fall faster since they have more mass to surface area) is about 180-220ish MPH.

Terminal velocity exists because gravity can only accelerate an object at 9.8m/s per second and eventually air friction (drag) balances out. Portals set up like this in a vacuum, but still in even a mild gravity, could eventually get things going insanely fast. Think on the moon. 1/6th of a G but no air to slow you down so you keep accelerating down to the bottom portal then falling from the top one and gaining a little more speed on each loop with nothing at all to slow you.

Just so you know a simplification of the drag equation as I was taught it is that for any given object at a given speed X that has Y PSI of drag when you double X you square Y Pretty simple but for example:
@30 MPH the object has 3 PSI of drag (note I just pulled 3 PSI out of my arse because it squares easily)
@60 MPH the object has 9 PSI of drag
@120 MPH the object has 81 PSI of drag
@240 MPH the object has 6561 PSI of drag

This is why, in order to go very fast, cars must either have insane horsepower (to overpower drag) or very small frontal cross sections (to minimize the drag that acts against their acceleration). In a vacuum a minivan could hit any speed a Bugatti Veyron could. The Veyron would do it much faster because of its ability to overcome its resting inertia with massive HP and torque, but in the end its drag from air friction that eventually balances out its insane 1000+ HP. Take that drag away and (with the right gears) the boxy underpowered minivan could (eventually) hit those same speeds, and higher.