Hexing and EMP Hardening

[cetra02]

I had the idea that adding EMP hardening to tech might make it more difficult to hex.  Thoughts?

[luminos]

Its a theory.  What you do with it is up to your local group.

[GoldenH]

Depends what you mean by EMP hardening. How do you think people go about EMP hardening?

[Mindflayer94]

I would tend to agree, a hexing (a tleast as derived from Butter's theories), is the result of a wizard's natural generation of a strong electromagnetic pulse, and electromagnetic pulse hardening, is the process of making a computer stronger against an electromagnetic pulse.

[Saedar]

Or maybe Butters' interpretation is a matter of a person trying to apply a logical explanation to a magical situation?

[Jaroslav]

Butter's theory doesn't really explain why internal combustion engines can be hexed. There's no way an emp could take out something like the beetle, but magic can. So I'm going to say that emp hardening wouldn't really be of much use against hexing.

[GruffAndTumble]

Butter's theory doesn't really explain why internal combustion engines can be hexed. There's no way an emp could take out something like the beetle, but magic can. So I'm going to say that emp hardening wouldn't really be of much use against hexing.

This. There is a bunch of technology that can be hexed that is not affected by EMP. People obsess over the EMP concept, but Butters was, first and foremost, guessing without hard evidence when he formulated his theory. Furthermore, when he came up with the concept in Dead Beat, he had only seen hexing affect electrical objects, and so he was already operating from faulty assumptions--something that is makes any scientific inquiry suspect, even if the fact that hexing is magic doesn't!

[Todjaeger]

Actually, there is something mentioned in Turn Coat which suggests that some forms of EMP hardening could provide some protection vs. Hexing.

One of the methods utilized to provide EMP protection is with Faraday cages.  In Turn Coat, Harry had a location setup with a Faraday cage configured to act as a Ward, given that there was basically no Threshold to work with.

Another reason why EMP hardening could potentially help make an item resistant to Hexing is that something which has been hardened to protect against EMP is generally more robust than a normal item of similar function.  For example, an EMP-resistant portable data terminal which can be dropped, stepped on, etc vs. a normal laptop computer.

[GoldenH]

Seeing as how any metal structure (eg a shed) works as a faraday cage, the note was quite superfluous. The cage might act as an anchor of a ward, and block any mundane tracking beacons, without him having to Hex everything (including things that he might not want hexed). But you can very clearly hex things that aren't vulnerable to EMP, so it doesn't work that way. Butter's statement holds more ground as an anology than scientific investigation.

[Todjaeger]

With regards to hexing, there is also the question on what form of hexing one is talking about.

There is the deliberate act of hexing something, either through the use of Supernatural Powers like Evocation or Mana Static, or as a side effect or complication from the use of Supernatural Powers.

It is of course up to the GM's discretion, but it would seem reasonable that something which has been specifically made robustly or protected vs. interference in some way to be somewhat resistant.  In the case of attempts to deliberately hex an item, then a hardened item might have a slightly greater difficulty in being damaged.  The hardened item would likely not function while the hexing attempt is being made, but not nessarily be damaged/destroyed.  A good example would be a Milspec GPS system being hexed would likely suddenly display ones location as being in Helsinki, Finland when under the influence of mojo, but then return to normal operation once no longer being hexed.  In the case of a regular GPS unit, it would likely need replacement.

An area where some discussion and agreement from a GM would definately be needed, would be to setup a hardened/Faraday caged (and properly grounded) area where a wizard could store/use items which they did not want to get burned out.  Common household items like hot water heaters and/or refrigerators come to mind here...

Incidentally, the Wizard screwing with technology thing is not restricted to electronic items, though them do seem the some sensitive.  The novels routinely show Dresden's poor VW Bug breaking down, as well as less complicated devices like automatic weapons like submachine guns.  In fact, one of the novels (which one currently escapes me) has a discussion between Harry and Murphy about firearms.  Harry was explaining to Murphy that he preferred using a revolver since a (semi) automatic pistol could jam.

Ultimately though, it is entirely up to ones group, how they want to handle it.

[Nomad]

*I had some musings about a relatively similar concept on a different subject:

I think all we can actually agree on is the fact that around wizards (and actively power using supernaturals) things that can go wrong, go wrong. (The rest of the stuff borderlines theory to wag. The speculations of in-universe characters and ours.)

However I think we can also agree on the fact that things go wrong in the right way, ie a combustion engine will have combustion chamber troubles or starter plugs can go bad but if it has a weaker component, that usually goes bad first (like the electronics in modern engines).

If the hexing follows the real world pattern (path of least resistance so to speak) then I do think would be feasible to build an Emp hardened (rugged) electronics unit with other normal precations (voltage regulator, ups, extra grounding). Especially if you build an unshielded / easyly replacable part to capture the "bad mojo" and go bad.

You can't stop a determined hex attack but you can make every other part resistant and "fake" the system being destroyed. Could be handy one of these days.

[CMEast]

I created a character that relied on steampunk technology to avoid getting hexed. Basically he had a custom stunt that added +4 to the value of his home-made items when they're deliberately hexed.

For emp protection you could either take a similar stunt, or just take an aspect you can use to protect your equipment. It shouldn't be possible to get complete hex protection, it's a key part of the dresden story and one of the few negatives that help to balance mortal magic users.

[cetra02]

I created a character that relied on steampunk technology to avoid getting hexed. Basically he had a custom stunt that added +4 to the value of his home-made items when they're deliberately hexed.

For emp protection you could either take a similar stunt, or just take an aspect you can use to protect your equipment. It shouldn't be possible to get complete hex protection, it's a key part of the dresden story and one of the few negatives that help to balance mortal magic users.

Really we were thinking of ways to make things harder to deliberately Hex, say adding one or two to the difficulty.

[CMEast]

Really we were thinking of ways to make things harder to deliberately Hex, say adding one or two to the difficulty.

Exactly! My character was a pure mortal entirely designed around it with numerous aspects, skills and stunts devoted to it and even he wasn't entirely immune.
It shouldn't be something a character can do without investing either refresh, skills or aspects to justify it. A high enough skill in resources or contacts could justify that sort of hex protection, as could a relevant aspect.

[ahunting]

I would think if you choose to take advantage of the crafting rules, and started Crafting things with many shifts of durability you could cook up something that was very resistant to hexing, particularly if you were using something with fairly old and accepted design.  In white knight they discuss that with the light fixtures I think, and those hung in there for rather a lot spell casting.

At the very least you could put a viable mechanic to it. IE The disrupting effect must have X number of shifts before the item will go out, given the nebulous nature of hexing it would be helpful.