WiretrippaHere’s one for anyone with the time to take and run with.
I had the idea last night for a school of magic based around the use of cellular phones. The minor blast could be ultra-subtle, a distraction such as everyone’s phone in a five metre radius going off, whilst the major blast could be something more severe, like one of those ‘turn your phone off in the gas station or if it rings the whole place will go up’ things.
Other minor things could be siphoning battery power from a phone to power whatever the hel you want, being able to call people you don’t know, etc etc.
I’m totaly stuck on ideas reagrding charges and taboo, hence I’m letting this one into the public domain. Anyone who wants to take the baton and develop this has my blessing.
Sir CabhánTaboo: You must have it with you and switched at all times
How does that sound?
Sir Cabhán.
Mr UnluckyJust one comment; the cellphone/gas station thing.
I do, among other things, safety and security training for a chain of fuel stations and convinience stores. So far, out of the fifteen years in which cellphones and the stations and stores in my region were involved, no explosions correlated to cellphones. That’s approximately eight to twelve cellphones per hour, between 1 PM and 1 AM each day, twice that on weekends, for fifteen years.
If it was going to be an explosive problem, it’d have happened at some point. So far, no proof; multiple sources available at most fuel company homepages will detail this. It’s a sick, twisted urban legend, gone horribly out of control.
Nicodemus C PowerFor a blast, you could have the target hear every cellphone conversation in the world. The combined noise could burst your eardrums or something (not sure if that’s worth minor or sig damage), as well as completely deafening the target.
Other spell ideas, you could maybe listen in on other people’s conversations. Or cause someone else to get a crossed line next time they use their phone, such that they get connected to whichever current conversation will disturb them most. (Your boss talking to his boss about his intention to fire you. Or your bf talking to his bf. Whatever) Maybe you could upgrade your phone to have an everlasting battery, although that would possibly be illegal because it helps you avoid taboo.
Sir CabhánFunnily enough, Nokia Phones all come with a warning not to use mobile phones in fuel stations within their manuals.
Maybe they’re just erring on the
Sir Cabhan.
Mr UnluckyNo; the unfortunate part of it is that in a fuel refinery in the South China Sea, it was found that an exec doing a PR tour for his company was chatting on his cellphone when he suddenly caught fire.
Turns out, he’d walked through the entire complex without a resin on his boots (brand new, steel-cleated). The resin keeps static from building up, and causing sparks.
By the time that the cause of the fire was discovered, it’d become widespread, and the cellphone companies did, indeed, elect to err on the side of caution.
Said exec was fired for incompetence.
PeterAmthorA few spell ideas:
I know that number – You know the number of any cell phone that you can lay eyes on.
Extra Antenna – Gives you a better signal or even a signal when you shouldn’t have one.
Trace that line – Can tell where someone on the other end of the call is. The number of charges depends on wether or not they are in your local, roaming or extended calling areas.
Just a few quick ideas.
ShawnA possible taboo – You can’t ever lack cell phone coverage. Got a long distance trip? Avoid planes – they make you turn off your phone. Car trip might work, but you’d better get those coverage maps to avoid “dead zones”… and the middle of North Dakota is a bitch. Also, you should hope that you never have to go too far into a big building or basement – the signal can’t always reach in there.
Sure, this could suck, but hey – nobody said being an adept was easy. Besides, it produces the correct obsessive confirmation that “I’ve got signal, right?”
Next question: what was the “Can you hear me now?” guy up to? Mapping the mystic ley lines of the cell phone network?
Insect KingPerhaps if you stepped back and made it a magic school based around 24/7 social connectivity and information feeds, fine. It would include cellphones and landlines and the internet.
The paradox is that the geek cannot seek a social environment outside of his electronica (or face-to-face/real life interactions).
The taboo does not include professional relationships as the geek would have within and without his network.
He charges up by communicating with the world.
This could easily be a variant of the Infomancy school or the Operating Oracle, a medium that communicates with the dead and prophecises through electronica.
Cheers,
Chris.
carstenHi,
just a comment to this cellphone-filling-stattion-thing. Even if it *is * bullshit, I think it could still be used as an idea in UA. As it is an urban legend that has become so widespread that even phone companies warn you in their manuals and every filling station I know has warning signs, it would IMHO fit perfectly into the concept of magic in UA. Maybe it’s not realistic, but, well, we’re talking *magic*. See what I mean?
Cheers,
Carsten
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