Water Magic Brainstorming

[Vars]

As the fourth installment in my series of evocation I've decided to focus on the element of water! I'm not totally bulloxed on ideas for this evocation but it isn't the easiest for me by any means, so please feel free to spitball any and all ideas. Once again, please don't go into other elements as there are other threads for those discussions.  Also please don't debate legality of spells, it doesn't matter to me if its black, white, or polka dotted magic. I'm only after ideas so I and other spell slingers don't have to go with the same look each and every time.

Water, is possibly the strongest force on the planet. It crumbles mountains, destroys homes, snuffs fires, drowns the strongest beasts,  and can bring even the mightiest structures on the planet to their' knees. Whether it be a might river smashing its ways over a damn, the riptides of the ocean, or the slow moving destruction that is a glacier water is a force to be reckoned with, respected, and feared.

1. What is a non-combat interesting way to use water magic?

2. What is a single target interesting way to use water magic?

3. What is an area of effect interesting way to use water magic?

4. What is an interesting way to block using water magic?

5. What would be an interesting way to impede someones movement with water magic?

6.Can you think of anything else that would fit the Dresdenverse and be really neat in a game for water magic?

[ryanshowseason2]

1. What is a non-combat interesting way to use water magic?
Detection spells based on puddles, also water expands when it freezes you could use this to crack open many a door or lock, break hinges and generally wrench things open. Water tension spell to walk on water or even better surf without a board.

2. What is a single target interesting way to use water magic?
We are made of a high percentage of water as humans, animals as well. Take your pick in destruction. I imagine you could puppet people around as well. Also concentrated streams of water like pressure washers can pierce flesh under high enough pressures. Also flash freeze water inside a person or just blood in the heart. Acid stream to the face. Squeeze someone like a tube of toothpaste with a cocoon of water.

3. What is an area of effect interesting way to use water magic?
Quickly erode away at building supports to drop a building on people or create an underwater stream to sinkhole people away. Instant stalagmites of ice from below piercing all in an area. Acid rain or mist.

4. What is an interesting way to block using water magic?
Theres that entropy water shield in the books, also icewall sounds good. Water wall aint bad either.

5. What would be an interesting way to impede someones movement with water magic?
Summoning water to quickly erode away at a surface creating a trench, instant ice patch or ice wall.

6.Can you think of anything else that would fit the Dresdenverse and be really neat in a game for water magic?
Hose nozzle as an enchanted item able to focus water into a deadly stream. Also like stone-form water-form to be able to travel across expanses of water near instantaneously.

[DFJunkie]

1. What is a non-combat interesting way to use water magic?

We know that you can use Water to blast things with high-test entropy rays which simply disintegrate them.  You could use a less intense form of entropic field to convert usable energy into useless energy, thus ruining fuel or placing the Exhausted aspect on a person.

2. What is a single target interesting way to use water magic?

Since, according to the inerrant Wikipedia, the element of Water is associated with cold one could use Water to rapidly sap the heat from a target and do anything from inflict debilitating frost bite to freezing the target solid, depending on power level.

A caster could probably use Water to increase his opponent's blood pressure radically.  Not only would that probably be instantly fatal, but depending on the volume of increase it would be really, really intimidating to everyone around.

5. What would be an interesting way to impede someones movement with water magic?

Ice up their joints by freezing the ambient moisture in the atmosphere around the target.  

[Richard_Chilton]

After rereading this email I feel a warning is needed.  I just read a very funny page full of jokes I haven't thought of since junior high.  Somehow seeing those jokes translated in to a very juvenile mindset while answering these questions - but hydromages can be jokers, right?

1. What is a non-combat interesting way to use water magic?
- water gun fights.  Say using it as a 0 strength weapon like a super soaker.  Or as a maneuver  that gives the "you're all wet" tag.


2. What is a single target interesting way to use water magic?
- Okay, I have to think back to high school for this one.  A stream or blob of water (say from the magical equivalent of either a water gun or water balloon) aimed at or just below the target's crotch.  Imagine - a character is at a reception or some other formal event and it suddenly looks as if he peed in his paints.  He can protest "But that man just sent a stream of water at me!" which will make him look mentally incompetent as well as incontinent. 

3. What is an area of effect interesting way to use water magic?
- Instant wet T-Shirt contest - spraying the group. 

5. What would be an interesting way to impede someones movement with water magic?
- a maneuver that gives the sticky tag "water filled shoe".  Ever try to run or even walk any distance in wet shoes? It can get painful.
- imprison their feet in ice.  Say one block of ice for each foot - allowing comically slow movement.


6.Can you think of anything else that would fit the Dresdenverse and be really neat in a game for water magic?
Changing the colour of water in a water fountain, drinking fountain, pool, or other place where people can see it.  I think that it could be done with evocation - call it reshaping the water in such a way that it reflects a different colour.  And it wouldn't have to stay that way long for it to be effective.
"You say there's no pollution here? Then why is that water glowing green? Okay, it stopped, but we all saw it."
"OMG - the water in the drinking fountain purple!"
"You've heard that they put something in the pool to turn pee red? Hey, look at that cloud of red water!"

Richard

[Haru]

As a magic element, I really like water, I think besides spirit it is the most versatile of them. Besides actual water and cold effects, the power to convert and disrupt energy is something you can do a lot with.

1. What is a non-combat interesting way to use water magic?

• This one should probably be a thaumaturgic ritual: at a crime scene, do a ritual to collect all the water out of the air into a bowl. Once that is done, add some color (for example ink) to the water and pour it out on a piece of paper. Now the waters "memory" might be able to give you a very vague idea of what happened.
• A little Alera: take a bowl of water and use your magic to move it at will and shift your perception into it. You might not be able to affect a lot of things (other than making them wet), but you might be able to improve your tactile perception for very small details.
• Breaking any lock (or anything for that matter) should be trivial, you can just corrode the materials away. Even if it doesn't break right away, you should at least be able to make it easier to destroy with a good kick.
• Come to think of it, there is a lot you can do with humidity. Collecting the water in the air around you to shape it and then freeze it in place can make for some very nice effects for pretty much everything you need. A flight of stairs to quickly get up a roof for example. Of course it is going to be very fragile, but it might still be enough.
• Like a fata morgana mentioned below, you could use water in the air to bend light so you can get it anywhere. Think of a line of mist following you down a dark stairwell and working as an optic fibre.

2. What is a single target interesting way to use water magic?

• An energy-conversion-field: Imprisoning someone in a bubble that transforms kinetic energy into heat energy. The target will not be able to move, or only move very slowly. Used as a grapple, you can convert the heat directly into stress.
• Simply an entropy-bolt, compromised corrosive energy that is bound to do some very nasty damage on impact.
• Or alternatively an ice-bolt, there is not really much to say about that.

3. What is an area of effect interesting way to use water magic?

• Fog to block sight. Not very fancy, but it will get the job done, and it should be easy enough to invoke some watery aspect to increase the effect.
• A fog might also muffle sound, if you design it to do so.
• Not only fog, but a mindfog would probably also fall into this category, disrupting coherent thought. Not legal though, as we know.
• It might be possible to build up pressure using water magic, like in weather patterns.

4. What is an interesting way to block using water magic?

• Besides disrupting somethings molecular structure like carlos' entropy shield, you could just disrupt it's kinetic energy, stopping it midflight.
• You could stop bullets from generating any heat energy and in return stop them from being fired.
• Increase the humidity in the air and have a sort of fata morgana effect, so nobody knows exactly, where you are and have a hard time hitting you.
• An armor of ice might also be something you could use, although that would probably not be very practical. An Ice shield might work better. Not necessary a block of ice, but a cloud that entraps things in a thick coat of ice, when they pass.

5. What would be an interesting way to impede someones movement with water magic?

• Freezing has been mentioned, and under single target I already introduced the idea of directly disrupting kinetic energy.
• Depending on the environment you can make quicksand, bend a hardwood floor, so it is incredibly hard to get over it, maybe the boards even start grabbing people and trapping them. Or cover the floor in acid. Anyone crossing that area would really have to be careful where to step, thus slowing them down.
• Soapwater or a magical likeness is going to give people a hard time walking.

6.Can you think of anything else that would fit the Dresdenverse and be really neat in a game for water magic?

• How about a Bob type familiar, only instead of a spirit of air and intellect, it would be a spirit of water and emotion. He could live in a fish bowl with a castle and a plastic fish in it, that he sometimes plays with.

[Vars]

just moving the thread back to the main thread page for more insight from others. will post my answers soon...