Hey folks!
So I've created a situation which does not strictly follow any set rules, but makes for an interesting story. Essentially, an object which perpetually projects a 'time stop' sort of preservation spell around it in a bubble. No matter how many thousands or millions of years pass, the bubble remains while all else shifts.
What I am trying to figure out is the science of what would happen to someone if they went and curiously stuck their hand inside this bubble.
My thought thus far is that the hand is frozen in time, which means the blood stops, cells stop, everything. I imagine the rest of the arm would find this a bit distressing, and it would probably be rather painful. Beyond this though, I am not really sure. I'm not too good with biology.
Would blood flowing up the arm quickly clot up and be immediately painful, or would it take time? Are there any other negative repercussions to this I am not considering? What if it were a reverse case? Say, some jerk goblins shove their pal in, who has nothing but his hand still sticking out...
Any possible advice you could give on the matter would be immensely appreciated!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well, in game terms, Time Stop does not stop time. It makes the casters time move at a different pace than the rest, for a few rounds. This means that the time is still moving forward outside the perspective of the caster, but very slow relatively.
There are no bubbles in the game. There are planes and demi-planes, which can have different time speeds. As far as I know, all plane shifts are atomic, meaning you are either on one or the other.
If you are going to create a custom effect, you need to define what is the nature of the time stop. If you are inside, and look out, is it like millions of years passes in a second? Or are you just immortal, experiencing same time speed.
If the first one is the case, it would easily be impossible to penetrate the bubble. As your hand tries to penetrate the bubble from the outside, time slows down, and therefore the speed of the atoms on your fingertips becomes almost zero, and they stop, relative to the outside world. It would feel completely impenetrable, and it would take millions of years to enter.
If trying to leave the bubble, the molecules on your fingertips would speed up to incredibly high speed, relative to inside, and the inertia would rip them from your hand, effectively desintegrating you as you push your hand through.
Hence the need for a barrier, and an instant and indivisible mode of transport.
When talking about time MAGIC, its best to tell reality to shut up and sit down. Don't worry as much about the "realistic effects" as much as you worry about your story. That being said, here is an idea for you.
The "Bubble is an ooze. When an object is forced into the bubble, it immediately starts slowing down until all inertia is stopped. If the object / person is fully encased within the bubble, there is no problem. They are essentially preserved for all eternity within the bubble.
However, the object only has enough inertia to be partially enclosed, the entire person / object is still entirely timed stopped (it spreads along the target's veins / nervous system / etc. However, the ooze must immediately expand until it fully encompasses the creature, thereby protecting the cosmos from such a paradox; an object is either time-stopped or it isn't, after all.
From here, it is possibly to imagine scenarios where a chain reaction could set off (probably using plant roots, rivers, oceans, etc) where if the bubble reaches a point where it all but instantly time-stops the world forever. It could prose an interesting task for the players if they find it first (how do they cancel the anomaly / protect the area from such a thing happening) or if they have to stop a villain / villains from utilizing the the bubble for evil ends (off the top of my head, the qlipploths would be interested in a method to effectively stop souls from being able to be consumed by the Abyss, thereby ensuring the demonic Hordes dwindle out so they can reclaim the Abyss).
Wow, thank you for the really awesome ideas here!
Tandriniel, you raise points I had not even considered. Given its nature, it seems like what they would have is a perfect sphere of impenetrable solid stone (from the small amount of rock that has pushed into the edges of the bubbles barrier).
The nature of the custom 'bubble' is like a full time stop, so a theoretical person inside would experience a simple instant change from their time to the current time were the bubble to 'pop'. Spoilers, the bubble has been there for millions of years, so the very nature and understanding of magic has changed to a point where spells like this are not currently known to exist (or so goes my explanation for why players can't do this themselves).
I am not sure if I will try and be as super 'realistic' as possible or go with something more magical and fluid (like Golden-Esque's suggestion). The idea is for it to present a nearly impossible mystery, solved only with some special or powerful spell of some kind that would revert the bubble back to a normal flow of time. I rather like mysteries, they keep things interesting and curious.
In any case, thank you all so very much - I am grateful to be more confidently able to describe what happens with this thing to my players, no matter which way I take it. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This is more of a physics problem than a biology problem. Really, something that tops in time likely need some kind of gradient with an event horizon. This sort of thing only happens under very intense gravity. But either way, time would slow the closer you get to this event horizon. Really, time stopping wouldn't cause that much of an issue as the hand would be in the gradient, the blood would flow at it's relative course and normally outside at a normal rate relative to themselves. So essentially, despite being drunk, I think it would be fine.
if everything in the bubble can't move, it would be very cold and solid, you can't put your hand inside and will get nasty frostburn at touch.
If it's just cell degeneration that stops, so you stop aging, (no nuclear disintegration) you probably wouldn't feel much, after a few days your natural skin regeneration might bump into still living matter (as you don't loose dead skin), but really just a minor nuisance.
These two things are what I would call the scientific consequences (I'm not expert).
So just do what feels right, 5d6 nonlethal damage due to blood clotting, leading to a heart attack, and 5d6 frost damage due to the fact that nonmoving matter is cold leading to a lost arm (has to be amputated or you'll die of diseases and worse).
If you wanted to be able to actually get into bubble, I would say that anything entering the bubble would slow down over the course of, say, 6 seconds. Otherwise, you have the case of your fingertips stopping the rest of your fingers from entering, as they were frozen in time the moment they entered the boundary.
If you want it to be permeable you can just look up the psionic power Quintessence. The power lets you create a substance that could coat an object and lock it out of time. The part you want is about what happens if you are not completely covered in it. You simply take one point of damage a round as part of you is falling out of sync with the rest of you and your time stream.
|
I am going to approach this from less of a game physics and more of a magic approach.
Now, you said it is like time stop but I think not. Why? Because time stop is described as speeding the caster up so much that everyone else seems frozen in time. That actually makes things age faster.
What you want is a bubble which slows time down so that everyone outside of it seems frozen. A reverse time stop. Time slows down for things in the area. So much so that thousands of years outside are a few seconds inside. Inside the bubble time seems normal. Your perception is not changed similar to being in a time different plane.
So what happens when you stick your hand into a reverse time stop? The part of your arm inside thinks everything is fine. The part of your arm outside is still pumping blood to the arm but does not seem to be receiving blood back. Maybe there is some swelling and pain if you keep it in position too long.
As you pull your arm out the time stop the blood starts to flow properly into the arm again causing a tingling sensation (pins and needles).
This assumes a border to the effect that is very thin. You could make the border very thick (30 feet) so that you cross from fast time to slow time in steps rather than all at once. So the first square is like being Slowed and the next slows you down even more and so on until you reach the time bubble proper. That obviates the arm reaching bit but make shooting arrows into it interesting.
The real question is if you want them to go in the bubble. If you do then make testing out the barrier fairly painless so that they don't fear it. Then when they come out of the bubble several thousand years have passed. The world has changed. Empires have risen and fallen. The world is ruled by.........goblins. dun dun dunnnnnnnn.
I think Shah is correct in that this is more of a physics question (see: my ignorance at the start), and Diego thank you for the suggestion - I'll definitely be looking into it. I'm always looking for a new read anyway. :)
When I explained it is a full time-stop, I meant more of the general concept of a time-stop, and less of the game's definition of time stop as a spell. True stasis is a much better description I suppose. Everything frozen to the point where it simply outlasts time, rather than suspends time itself.
The story takes place outside of the bubble - the bubble itself is an oddity characters would find. I just need to figure out what sort of spell would allow them to disable something they cannot even recreate. I guess that's when the word 'magic' can be thrown around like the ultimate plot device. :3
However, all this talk about a more magical 'slow time' space is inspiring none-the-less. Imagine taking the leap into such a space while your friends watch...to you, you land on the other side, look around confused, then step back out, only to find they have been dead for hundreds of years!...quest to be sent back in time ensues! Hahaa....
Or, you know, they could just risk their blood flow for a moment by reaching in and pulling you out. Much more likely I guess. >.>
It WOULD make for a fairly diabolical blockade into an evil lair of some kind. The evil boss would have all kinds of time to deal with intruders if it takes them 6 weeks to walk a few yards. Of course if said evil boss guy can control time then you have all kinds of s$%+ to worry about.
Aaaaanyway, thank you again for all the great comments, it's helped immensely. Really. :)
I am going to approach this from less of a game physics and more of a magic approach.
Now, you said it is like time stop but I think not. Why? Because time stop is described as speeding the caster up so much that everyone else seems frozen in time. That actually makes things age faster.
.
Same thing. Its relative, man.
:-D
