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Re: [HoE] Question #2 of the Day - Powerup



Steve Crow wrote:

> Just as a note, isn't this kind of silly?  As I observed, many generators
> (and no doubt more in 2081) require _nuclear_ energy.  But according to the
> miracle description, you can't use this miracle on things that require
> Nuclear energy, even though the Glow itself is powering the miracle.
> Rather, you can only use it on stuff that requires _electricity_.

Nuclear energy is not a new type of energy. Whether you use solar, geothermal,
or nuclear fission/fusion to rotate a turbine, the same kind of juice
(electricity) comes out no matter how you generated it.

For Power Up, I think you only need to satisfy two basic conditions:

1) Does the device require electricity to operate? (We won't get into AC or DC
here... but if its got a battery or an electrical cord, then the answer would be
yes.)

2) Is the device currently not functioning due to a lack of electricity?
(Batteries dead, no outlet, just got hit with EMP, etc.)

If the answer is yes to both, I think you've got a prime candidate for Power Up.
Of course, some complex machines such as cars don't rely entirely on
electricity, so you'll have to go with a best guess.

The real wrench in the gears is PEG has introduced Ghost Rock batteries and
Junker devices that may or may not use electricity... I have no idea of Ghost
Rock Radiation or Spook Juice or whatever constitutes a new kind of
"supernatural energy" and hence Power Up/EMP doesn't work at all, or if it just
supplements your standard electricity. My guess is any device that relies on
electronic components is subject to mucky-muck with EMP, but I'm guessing you
can't activate it with Power Up without hooking it up to an honest-to-gawd GR
battery.

> Besides, a generator or battery typically powers _other_ things - wouldn't
> it just be easy to power up those things, that require electricity, rather
> then the generator/battery (which does not require electricity to generate
> electricity)?

A battery stores electricity, it doesn't do anything with it other than that.
Power Up would have no effect on a battery or other device that only functions
as a power source. My idea of what Power Up does is it works as a power source,
so I don't see why it would make another one "work".

A generator is different. A gas or combustion generator relies on electricity to
activate the spark plug. If this part of the generator is malfunctioning
(battery is dead/gone, spark plug burned out, coil is dead, or whatever) then
Power Up might get it working again, but the generator would still require fuel
(usually gasoline) or something else to combust. Most portable generators like
this have a pullcord like on a lawn mower that replaces a battery/starter coil
arrangement. I'm not sure if Power Up can do things like temporarily replace a
missing spark plug or distributor cap, or mend broken wiring or whatever. You
may have to deal with this on a case-by-case basis, and just tell your Doomsayer
stuff about "the spirits in the machine are angry, they won't cooperate with
you", or "you manage to coax a minor spark spirit to fill in for the missing
spark plug for a bit". I'm hoping the new Shamans book will get into this in
more detail, but I'm not sure how it'll apply to Doomsayer magic.

Other types of generators... well, again, these devices, like batteries, are
designed to provide electricity, not use it. If a particular generator relies on
electronic components to generate electricity, and these components aren't
working, then Power Up may work. But in general I get the idea that Power Up is
supposed to replace these devices, not make them function without fuel.