"How to do something" questions are typical for most practical discussions. They are perfectly fine, until:
OP can actually do this and check if that does solve his/her problem
OP can see how many people do the same thing and what long-term results do they have
We can compare our results and co...
@Green Saturday, actually. I came three days early to start cross country practice. Orientation starts for everyone tomorrow, and classes begin Monday.
@HDE226868 Chat history, sadly. It was a sandbox question but certain helpful people answered it here.
@HDE226868 And about the cast, we're doing a WB video/podcast. @James is hosting the first episode. We're still looking for a host for the second and third episode (I'll fill in if we can't find a host for one of 'em).
@HDE226868 It started with a sandbox question that quickly spiraled (into or out of control, I can't tell) about how a mage might power a spell. The sandbox question offered the power source as chemical bonds...but yours truly, upped the ante and asked why not use the nuclear strong force to power the spell?
@NexTerren This was power a distance ratio? Instead of using inverse square use something that attentuates more slowly?
Nothing says that rate needs to be the same for all Foci. Maybe there's a gifted craftsman that can make Foci with d^-1.2 while common craftsmen make Foci with d^-1.9
@NexTerren Well, a marathon runner burns between 100 and 200 calories per miles for several hours. Someone who burns that much energy is going to be very wiped out at the end of their run.
Father went as long as 100 miles a few times, but let's say 30 miles is a reasonable maximum distance before being wiped, so that's 30*150 = 4500 kcalories.
We also haven't talked about how fast that energy is extracted or how it's extracted. If the spell just removes the fat/sugar molecules then it doesn't really matter. However, if the spell burns the fat/sugar as the fuel for the spell then we are limited by how much energy the human body can dissapate without internal cooking.
@NexTerren Assuming no other fuel sources, that's about 1.25 lbs of fat.
@NexTerren The second is far more interesting as it imposes costs that humans relate too. If you perform a huge spell, you come out hot, sweaty and breathing hard. Humans will intuitively understand that spell as hard.
What if we thought about the Foci as amplifiers for reactions that happen in the human body? Heat is easy. Electricity is easy too. Thus, one set of Foci are capable of 1:100 amplification. If the mage spends 100 calories, they get 10,000 calories of thermal output.
I love google. It's 70millivolts across a neuronal membrane.
So, maybe a mage could spend a few thousand neurons worth of electricity to make small lightning bolts.
But it really depends on how OP the author wants to make these spells.
"How to do something" questions are typical for most practical discussions. They are perfectly fine, until:
OP can actually do this and check if that does solve his/her problem
OP can see how many people do the same thing and what long-term results do they have
We can compare our results and co...
The Factory Floor
The Factory Floor