Astral Blocker (Brought to you by Ares), An idea for Manatech Options

[Stormdrake]

I took the idea of biofiber and made it a spray on. The image of runners spraying the inside of a car just cracks me up for some reason.

Astral Blocker

Astral Blocker is a new aerosol spray on biofiber. This amazing product is brought to you by Ares, keeping you safe from the dangers of the Awakened world. The spray on biofiber is dormant while in the can but once exposed to oxygen bursts into life. It is dual natured, existing on the astral and physical planes simultaneously. As long as the biofiber is kept alive, it functions as a barrier against astral forms. Astral Blocker can be applied to any surface needing temporary security from astral surveillance or intrusion. The biofiber in Astral Blocker has a variable life expectancy dependent on the strength of the batch. Users can extend the life of Astral Blocker by providing it with special nutrients that the user can buy at any outlet that carries Ares products.

Astral Blocker
Availability:(Force x 3)R
Duration: 1 hour x rating
Area:3 sq. m
Cost:Force x 500¥


The biofiber has a Force rating like any other astral barrier and functions in the same manner (see Astral Barriers, p.185, SR4). Destroying the astral barrier kills the biofiber. Biofiber is notoriously sensitive and is damaged by contact with pollutants as if it had a Severe Allergy (see p.81, SR4). It is available in a maximum Force rating of 5.

[Shrike30]

Reminds me of FAB-in-a-CAN. I'm all for it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[KarmaInferno]

Mix with Freeze Foam and hose down those pesky mages.



-karma

[sabs]

can I get a flash bang grenade that has that with it as well?



'

[Shrike30]

That and pepper spray, you're in for a good time.

[Mordinvan]

I took the idea of biofiber and made it a spray on. The image of runners spraying the inside of a car just cracks me up for some reason.

I have no idea what you are making this out of that you're expecting it to live through that kind of treatment. Biofiber is very senative to damage, and being forced through an aerosol nozzle would likely not be conducive to growth. You would likely be able to get away with using FAB, but I don't see you being able to do this with any variant of the biofiber plant.

[Shrike30]

It could be suspended in a saline or nutrient solution, which would likely explain the short lifespan... who knows, maybe you have to keep it refrigerated until you use it. As long as the individual cells aren't disrupted/killed, the barrier should be okay, but as he said, it'd be sensitive to lots of things.

[Summerstorm]

Well... good idea... but the price is totally insane. This really is the thing of having "this ONE can of emergency ward" And you can only spray 3 sq meters? That means everything bigger than big suitcase is hard to do. Also anything with access to the astral can build up an ward for nothing. Just needs some time.

But yeah i guess: If you have to hide NOW (against some spirit using searching against you, or ritual magic or something) spray it into a wardrobe and hide.

Wait... does it count as a ward againt powers? Hm... i think not, or? Hm... what is it good for then? If it is just a barrier... everything can punch it way through.

[rofltehcat]

I was thinking about something like this but the fact that bio fiber is so fragile is a real problem imo. I was also thinking about putting it into some sort of stiff special coat or milspec armor, a bit like a medieval coat of plates. In there they would surely cease to function properly after being hit (maybe have to take damage for it to penetrate to the biofiber packs).
Or biofiber in a riot shield?

Also, what about putting this in gas/smoke/splash grenades? Having this active for a few minutes only but at a cheaper price in those grenades would probably be much more useful for fighting mages. Also a variant of this spray that dies after 5 minutes already but is cheaper could be interesting for sneaking up on mages and slipping through magical defenses unnoticed.

This post has been edited by rofltehcat: Aug 5 2010, 10:17 AM

[sabs]

What about anaerobic awakened bacteria in a suspension. You have it explode outwards and you create a sort of flash on the astral plane. A big cloud of magically alive 'stuff' if it was between you and the mage, he'd certainly lose LOS.

[Blade]

It already exists, it's called Petite Brume and it costs far too much to be used routinely when fighting mages.

[Mordinvan]

What about anaerobic awakened bacteria in a suspension. You have it explode outwards and you create a sort of flash on the astral plane. A big cloud of magically alive 'stuff' if it was between you and the mage, he'd certainly lose LOS.

Also... anaerobic bacteria? so you expose it to air and kill it in seconds. Not really a great idea. An yes, they already have something like this which works likes an astral smoke grenade, and its far too expensive to actually use.

[sabs]

anaerobic bacteria does not die when exposed to air.

if only it was that simple.

[Shrike30]

I was thinking about something like this but the fact that bio fiber is so fragile is a real problem imo. I was also thinking about putting it into some sort of stiff special coat or milspec armor, a bit like a medieval coat of plates. In there they would surely cease to function properly after being hit (maybe have to take damage for it to penetrate to the biofiber packs).

I've got a variant on that theme. Basically counts as cover against incoming magic attacks, with the degree of cover determined by the coverage of the suit. They're kind of bulky and hot, but worth it if you expect a magic threat. You don't lose a lot of impact armor compared to a comparable (albeit less bulky) armored item, but it lowers the ballistic rating some.

[Mordinvan]

anaerobic bacteria does not die when exposed to air.

if only it was that simple.

Since most anaerobic bacteria never evolved mechanisms to cope with having oxygen present in their cells, exposure to atmospheric oxygen tends to be rapidly fatal.

[Stormdrake]

I was thinking of this as more the consistency of shaving cream. It would have the biofiber and nutrients to keep it alive for a short period in one sticky compound. If the concoction was developed to last no more than a few hours rather than a week it should accomplish what it was designed for.

I may be off on my measurements but 3 sq meters would mean that you could cover a pretty decent piece of wall.

[Mordinvan]

I was thinking of this as more the consistency of shaving cream. It would have the biofiber and nutrients to keep it alive for a short period in one sticky compound. If the concoction was developed to last no more than a few hours rather than a week it should accomplish what it was designed for.

I may be off on my measurements but 3 sq meters would mean that you could cover a pretty decent piece of wall.

wouldn't even do a closet. Its a piece of 'average' wall (2 m) that is 1.5 m across. Not a barrier to anything that can move astrally, as they'll all simply fly 'around' it.

[sabs]

Since most anaerobic bacteria never evolved mechanisms to cope with having oxygen present in their cells, exposure to atmospheric oxygen tends to be rapidly fatal.

* obligate anaerobes, which cannot use oxygen for growth and are even harmed by it;
* aerotolerant organisms, which cannot use oxygen for growth, but tolerate the presence of it; and
* facultative anaerobes, which can grow without oxygen but can utilize oxygen if it is present.


so of all the different types of anaerobic only 1/3 are harmed by oxygen.

Even Botulism which is an obligate anaerobe can survive long enough to exposure to air to cause serious issues when it's on food. If it was as simple as aerating botulism to get rid of it. We would.

[Shrike30]

may be off on my measurements but 3 sq meters would mean that you could cover a pretty decent piece of wall.

It sounds like you mean three meters square? (nine square meters) That's about 10 feet on a side, whereas the other is somewhere around 5 feet on a side.

You might want to include something along the lines of layering it on thick... if i've got a shoebox with something in it I don't want spotted on the astral, spraying it full of foamed biofiber might be a good way to go, and might net a higher barrier rating than a similar amount of stuff sprayed over a large area.