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fandomhigh2011-01-31 10:54 am
furious-maximus.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-01-31 10:54 am
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Fighting With Powers [Monday, Fourth Period]
Today the Danger Shop was a giant square room. It was a very boring room. The only thing worth noting about it was that one wall had a single door in it, while the wall across from that door had a dozen doors of its own. As to what the doors were for, well... Max wasn't telling at the moment.
"Sometimes powers help you in a fight directly. That's the case with projectiles, and often true for flight. But there are a number of powers that help you in more subtle or complex ways. Today we'll be discussing some of those powers."
"The ability to manipulate what other people see is quite broad, and equally useful. There are all sorts of powers that fall into this category: everything from invisibility to certain types of shape-shifting. While the details of each ability differ, for the purposes of this class we'll be looking at ways to consider them as similar. Ultimately, in a fight, these abilities are about misleading your opponent with the ultimate goal of surprising them. One of the most obvious ways to do that is to maintain full invisibility and hit them before they even know you're there."
"But it's rarely that easy." Max snorted in amusement. "It's important to remember that few illusions cover all the senses. Being invisible doesn't necessarily mean that you can't be heard or smelled. Or that you're invisible to other senses like magical empathy. So over-reliance on these powers is just as dangerous as over-reliance on any powers."
"That said, they can still be extremely useful, even if you're not using them in the most obvious ways. So in a situation where full invisibility doesn't work, think creatively. Maybe you can make a weapon you're holding invisible so that you seem like less of a threat than you are. Or maybe you can be invisible even though someone has located you via other senses so that you can prevent them from telling how you're standing, what you're carrying, or whether you have armor on. Hopefully you've already learned how much the smallest advantage can matter, so you'll see why this can be invaluable."
Max rolled his shoulders slightly, then shrugged. "And simple invisibility isn't the only way illusions can help you. Maybe you can change your appearance. Look like someone your opponent knows and trusts. Look less dangerous than you are, or more dangerous than you are. You can get your opponent to underestimate you, to overlook you, and to make a mistake in a fight. Or perhaps you can get your opponent to fear you, and run away even though they could take you in a fight. There are a lot of options, and you're all clever enough to come up with more."
"On the flip side," Max shifted gears, looking over the students that couldn't do any of the stuff he was talking about, "there are techniques to combat all of this stuff. You can deal with invisible people trying to sneak up on you by preparing the area around you. Set up trip wires or other simple alarm systems. If you know someone's coming you can get ready to fight them." He snorted suddenly. "Bubble wrap on the floor is pretty effective, too."
"To deal with people pretending to be what they aren't, learn to recognize people by more than how they look. Learn how they move, how they hold themselves. That sort of thing is much harder to fake than even voices and speech patterns. You can assume that someone who looks like someone you know, but moves all wrong is up to no good."
"So, to today's activity. I'm sure you've all guessed that you'll be divided into two groups. If you want to work with your powers this week, you'll be gathering in the room over there," Max pointed to the wall with the single door. "Everyone else will be headed over there," he pointed to the other wall, "where you'll each take your own door. Inside you'll find a box ofmoddable stuff you can use to prepare, and a flag. You've got five minutes to set up."
"After those five minutes, the powered group will come out and each one will pick a door to attempt. You need to get in, get the flag, and get out while whoever is already in there tries to stop you."
"So, divide yourselves up and get to work. I'll let you know when five minutes are up and then you can get started."
"Sometimes powers help you in a fight directly. That's the case with projectiles, and often true for flight. But there are a number of powers that help you in more subtle or complex ways. Today we'll be discussing some of those powers."
"The ability to manipulate what other people see is quite broad, and equally useful. There are all sorts of powers that fall into this category: everything from invisibility to certain types of shape-shifting. While the details of each ability differ, for the purposes of this class we'll be looking at ways to consider them as similar. Ultimately, in a fight, these abilities are about misleading your opponent with the ultimate goal of surprising them. One of the most obvious ways to do that is to maintain full invisibility and hit them before they even know you're there."
"But it's rarely that easy." Max snorted in amusement. "It's important to remember that few illusions cover all the senses. Being invisible doesn't necessarily mean that you can't be heard or smelled. Or that you're invisible to other senses like magical empathy. So over-reliance on these powers is just as dangerous as over-reliance on any powers."
"That said, they can still be extremely useful, even if you're not using them in the most obvious ways. So in a situation where full invisibility doesn't work, think creatively. Maybe you can make a weapon you're holding invisible so that you seem like less of a threat than you are. Or maybe you can be invisible even though someone has located you via other senses so that you can prevent them from telling how you're standing, what you're carrying, or whether you have armor on. Hopefully you've already learned how much the smallest advantage can matter, so you'll see why this can be invaluable."
Max rolled his shoulders slightly, then shrugged. "And simple invisibility isn't the only way illusions can help you. Maybe you can change your appearance. Look like someone your opponent knows and trusts. Look less dangerous than you are, or more dangerous than you are. You can get your opponent to underestimate you, to overlook you, and to make a mistake in a fight. Or perhaps you can get your opponent to fear you, and run away even though they could take you in a fight. There are a lot of options, and you're all clever enough to come up with more."
"On the flip side," Max shifted gears, looking over the students that couldn't do any of the stuff he was talking about, "there are techniques to combat all of this stuff. You can deal with invisible people trying to sneak up on you by preparing the area around you. Set up trip wires or other simple alarm systems. If you know someone's coming you can get ready to fight them." He snorted suddenly. "Bubble wrap on the floor is pretty effective, too."
"To deal with people pretending to be what they aren't, learn to recognize people by more than how they look. Learn how they move, how they hold themselves. That sort of thing is much harder to fake than even voices and speech patterns. You can assume that someone who looks like someone you know, but moves all wrong is up to no good."
"So, to today's activity. I'm sure you've all guessed that you'll be divided into two groups. If you want to work with your powers this week, you'll be gathering in the room over there," Max pointed to the wall with the single door. "Everyone else will be headed over there," he pointed to the other wall, "where you'll each take your own door. Inside you'll find a box of
"After those five minutes, the powered group will come out and each one will pick a door to attempt. You need to get in, get the flag, and get out while whoever is already in there tries to stop you."
"So, divide yourselves up and get to work. I'll let you know when five minutes are up and then you can get started."
Re: The lecture
She stretched before class, mostly just to enjoy wearing normal clothes again.