- #1
gibberingmouther
- 120
- 15
I hope this is the right place for this post! It is a concrete question about physics but is a little abstract since it involves fictional "psychic" powers (specifically, telekinesis), which can however work in a mathematically defined way, though there are some fictional elements.
I posted not too long ago a calculus question about the rules for a game world I am almost done designing. So, *that* game world has magic and psychic powers in it, including telekinesis. I realized that a lot of the psychic powers were similar to what you have in Star Wars, including telekinesis and mind influencing abilities. I thought I might do a short section in the main game pdf (this is for a tabletop roleplaying game) on how you could modify the main rule set to have powers for Force adepts, and also a less vague definition of what "the Force" actually is. Also, I thought I could rescue the lightsaber. While plasma guns *do* actually make sense, the way magnetic fields work means that you can't have a traditional lightsaber.
My original (not Star Wars) universe makes more sense for lightsabers actually, because telekinesis in that game universe relies on "ki" particles, which apply a vector field of forces (the telekinesis) where the magnitudes and directions are determined by the ki user's intentions and thoughts. There is some other lore about souls and psychic energy and how all that works in the game world.
The "ki" based version of the lightsaber makes more sense because the ki particles emit photons that have different colors depending on the user's personality at a deep level. So, you could have different colored lightsabers without requiring HUGE differences in the energy required to generate the plasma. You use telekinesis - instead of a magnetic field - to contain the plasma the lightsaber is made out of. For a ki user, you need the particles to be close to where the force vector(s) are, because the cost (the total points you are allowed to spend are based on your power level and are "per turn" in gaming terms) is based on distance as well as the work being done. It's a little hard to define using math. So, then, you could have different colored lightsabers in the game world with ki ... not sure how you could color the lightsaber used by a Force adept though. If anyone can think of how, that would be cool ... lightsabers that all look the same are boring, but we gamers will have to take what we can get!
So, fifth paragraph in, I get to what my question is, exactly. If instead of a magnetic field, you just have a vector field of generic forces that come from "telekinesis", could you still deflect blaster bolts (plasma contained in a magnetic field) and cut things? This vector field acts on masses the same way an electric field acts on charges. This is partly a 3d visualization problem ...
For blaster bolts, they *do* have a magnetic field - will that interact with the plasma contained in the TK (telekinesis) force field and bounce off? I'm guessing probably not but I don't know enough physics. If you cut with the TK force field perpendicular to the thing you're cutting (and, when cutting, you wouldn't have a force field that acts away from the blade like you would if defending against another lightsaber) you'd think you would be fine ... but what about if you cut at an angle? You have to use your TK force field to contain the plasma without interfering with cutting.
And there is also the issue of how you would actually get the blade to be long enough. Is this feasible for future technology? In my other game world I can just add magical crystals and what have you to be found to enable time travel or interstellar travel, but with Star Wars you're not supposed to do that. In a plasma cutter, you have gas being forced through a kind of tube and being exposed to an electric current - no magnetic field needed to contain the short blade. But you can't spar with plasma cutters. Is there any kind of configuration that involves generating plasma from the handle, that can then be contained by the Force adept's TK force field? I guess if you have a stream of plasma as with a plasma cutter you don't need the force field while cutting ... but this isn't going to work because you would need a *lot* of gas somehow stored in that handle to get enough plasma for the blade.
So, in conclusion: is it possible, with telekinesis as I described, to rescue the lightsaber?
EDIT: Reflecting on this some more, I think it's best if the lightsaber is *not* made out of plasma. Instead, I'll keep the lightsaber crystal as part of the design. The lightsaber crystal, rather than being something that can be found in rare locations around the galaxy, is a sort of "Force battery" that has a lot of psychic energy stored in it by the Force adept who made it. The crystal stores information about the length and shape of the blade so that can't be changed during lightsaber combat as that could ruin the fun of it. The blade itself is a force field that is *very hot*. Not sure how it would deflect blaster bolts, though that would be a part of the "psychic blueprint" contained in the lightsaber crystal. Some more details are required to flesh this out but I'll probably figure it out later. And then I'll put it in my game PDF.
I posted not too long ago a calculus question about the rules for a game world I am almost done designing. So, *that* game world has magic and psychic powers in it, including telekinesis. I realized that a lot of the psychic powers were similar to what you have in Star Wars, including telekinesis and mind influencing abilities. I thought I might do a short section in the main game pdf (this is for a tabletop roleplaying game) on how you could modify the main rule set to have powers for Force adepts, and also a less vague definition of what "the Force" actually is. Also, I thought I could rescue the lightsaber. While plasma guns *do* actually make sense, the way magnetic fields work means that you can't have a traditional lightsaber.
My original (not Star Wars) universe makes more sense for lightsabers actually, because telekinesis in that game universe relies on "ki" particles, which apply a vector field of forces (the telekinesis) where the magnitudes and directions are determined by the ki user's intentions and thoughts. There is some other lore about souls and psychic energy and how all that works in the game world.
The "ki" based version of the lightsaber makes more sense because the ki particles emit photons that have different colors depending on the user's personality at a deep level. So, you could have different colored lightsabers without requiring HUGE differences in the energy required to generate the plasma. You use telekinesis - instead of a magnetic field - to contain the plasma the lightsaber is made out of. For a ki user, you need the particles to be close to where the force vector(s) are, because the cost (the total points you are allowed to spend are based on your power level and are "per turn" in gaming terms) is based on distance as well as the work being done. It's a little hard to define using math. So, then, you could have different colored lightsabers in the game world with ki ... not sure how you could color the lightsaber used by a Force adept though. If anyone can think of how, that would be cool ... lightsabers that all look the same are boring, but we gamers will have to take what we can get!
So, fifth paragraph in, I get to what my question is, exactly. If instead of a magnetic field, you just have a vector field of generic forces that come from "telekinesis", could you still deflect blaster bolts (plasma contained in a magnetic field) and cut things? This vector field acts on masses the same way an electric field acts on charges. This is partly a 3d visualization problem ...
For blaster bolts, they *do* have a magnetic field - will that interact with the plasma contained in the TK (telekinesis) force field and bounce off? I'm guessing probably not but I don't know enough physics. If you cut with the TK force field perpendicular to the thing you're cutting (and, when cutting, you wouldn't have a force field that acts away from the blade like you would if defending against another lightsaber) you'd think you would be fine ... but what about if you cut at an angle? You have to use your TK force field to contain the plasma without interfering with cutting.
And there is also the issue of how you would actually get the blade to be long enough. Is this feasible for future technology? In my other game world I can just add magical crystals and what have you to be found to enable time travel or interstellar travel, but with Star Wars you're not supposed to do that. In a plasma cutter, you have gas being forced through a kind of tube and being exposed to an electric current - no magnetic field needed to contain the short blade. But you can't spar with plasma cutters. Is there any kind of configuration that involves generating plasma from the handle, that can then be contained by the Force adept's TK force field? I guess if you have a stream of plasma as with a plasma cutter you don't need the force field while cutting ... but this isn't going to work because you would need a *lot* of gas somehow stored in that handle to get enough plasma for the blade.
So, in conclusion: is it possible, with telekinesis as I described, to rescue the lightsaber?
EDIT: Reflecting on this some more, I think it's best if the lightsaber is *not* made out of plasma. Instead, I'll keep the lightsaber crystal as part of the design. The lightsaber crystal, rather than being something that can be found in rare locations around the galaxy, is a sort of "Force battery" that has a lot of psychic energy stored in it by the Force adept who made it. The crystal stores information about the length and shape of the blade so that can't be changed during lightsaber combat as that could ruin the fun of it. The blade itself is a force field that is *very hot*. Not sure how it would deflect blaster bolts, though that would be a part of the "psychic blueprint" contained in the lightsaber crystal. Some more details are required to flesh this out but I'll probably figure it out later. And then I'll put it in my game PDF.
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