101 Uses For Clock Manipulation.

[drewkitty ~..~]

-Preventing a car from starting by 'frying' the timing mechanism
(maybe by changing the car's comp timer to make the engine not work because the electrical system won't turn on. a Timing chain is not a clock, it is only a mechanical synchronizing device)
-Scanning process logs on a computer system (you can over/under clock a comp's cpu, or adjust the log-in/-out times)
-Insta-winning against anything stabilizes by gyroscopes (no)


not be late to work by manipulating the clocks

[Overlord Rikonius]

Anyone with a pacemaker can be instakilled

[NMI]

open vaults/locks/etc... that are on timers.
make sure coffee starts/stops on time
have everyones watch alarms go off in the middle of church
screw with flight times/ delays at an airport
mess up big ben

[Daniel Stoker]

A friend of mine back in the day tried to convince me that with Computer Operation and Programing he could use the power to control almost any computer since they all have clocks in them... Needless to say I was unconvinced, but he got points for trying there and thinking outside of the box.


Daniel Stoker

[Glistam]

I have a villain in my game that uses Clock Manipulation to keep his mechanical clockwork minions powered indefinately.

[acreRake]

Two characters with this power = Instantaneous communication over unlimited distance.

[Stone Gargoyle]

Preventing bombs from going off can come in very handy, as can preventing that flight from leaving if you are trying to catch it. What is limited about this power comes from lack of imagination when applying it. Besides, it's a minor, so what do you really expect from it, anyway? It is useful in some situations, useless in others, kind of like the guy with Underwater Abilities when he is on board previously mentioned flight.

[Overlord Rikonius]

The thing that bugs Me about CM isn't that it's not useful (since it is), it's that it really doesn't make sense.
Unless you're playing a magic character who's empowered by some sorta time god, then what rationale could there be for a power that's "I can mess with clocks"? If you can tweak the performance of the gears in a swiss watch, why not the gears in a motor? It just seems kinda arbitrary and unrealistic (unless you're the aforementioned magical time god acolyte guy)

[Stone Gargoyle]

The thing that bugs Me about CM isn't that it's not useful (since it is), it's that it really doesn't make sense.
Unless you're playing a magic character who's empowered by some sorta time god, then what rationale could there be for a power that's "I can mess with clocks"? If you can tweak the performance of the gears in a swiss watch, why not the gears in a motor? It just seems kinda arbitrary and unrealistic (unless you're the aforementioned magical time god acolyte guy)

Yeah, that is one way I have used it in the past. And yeah, you would think any mechanism with gears should be able to be effected.

[Tiree]

Controlling the clock on a computer can be very powerful. Especially if the computer was not patched for Y2k, or if you could set it before 1980 (most computer clocks can't go before that year). You could force time-outs, and lockouts. Just think when that Power Suit's computer won't work, because the person had timed out, and needs to re-log back in, or has been locked out and needs to go back to base.

If you sped time up on a computer, you could force auto-patching, auto rebooting, possibly causing a crash when the Operating System is not in synch with the BIOS of the motherboard.

Of course, I have not read the power, or not in a long time.

Overall, I would call this a Nuisance power, with hints of greatness.

[Big Red]

Controlling the clock on a computer can be very powerful. Especially if the computer was not patched for Y2k, or if you could set it before 1980 (most computer clocks can't go before that year). You could force time-outs, and lockouts. Just think when that Power Suit's computer won't work, because the person had timed out, and needs to re-log back in, or has been locked out and needs to go back to base.

If you sped time up on a computer, you could force auto-patching, auto rebooting, possibly causing a crash when the Operating System is not in synch with the BIOS of the motherboard.

Of course, I have not read the power, or not in a long time.

Overall, I would call this a Nuisance power, with hints of greatness.

You could shut down entire networks with this power. Every major corporate computer system runs on centralized timers. It's important for everything to be in sync. How closely in sync depends mostly on the operating system, but they rely on a certain degree of synchronization. Throw that off, and depending on the system, you can either shut down communications, crash applications, corrupt databases (computer A is trying to write to one time, while computer B is writing to another), or instantly shut down vast complexes of mainframes. I recently had to deal with a massive network of several thousand workstations and several hundred servers effectively shutting down because somebody accidently clicked no instead of yes when asked if they wanted to adjust for daylight savings time while rebooting a single timing computer. I think, when written, the uselessness of this power was far greater. In the right hands, I think it could be devastating.

[Stone Gargoyle]

So to have the most fun, you'd want to beg your DM for the networking skill program from N&SS?

In my games, I include skills from N&SS, BTS, ATB, AU, AUGG and most other Palladium sourcebooks, thought I may adjust the percentage base and amount per level to come in line with HU2. If they can find a valid reason to have it, they can get it.

[Overlord Rikonius]

The thing that bugs Me about CM isn't that it's not useful (since it is), it's that it really doesn't make sense.
Unless you're playing a magic character who's empowered by some sorta time god, then what rationale could there be for a power that's "I can mess with clocks"? If you can tweak the performance of the gears in a swiss watch, why not the gears in a motor? It just seems kinda arbitrary and unrealistic (unless you're the aforementioned magical time god acolyte guy)

No more than half the other powers in the game. What's your rationale for Body Weapons? Flight: Wingless? Manipulate Kinetic Energy? Alter Limbs? Any APS Power? Bio-Armor? Bio-Ghost? Cloaking? Any Control power... you know, actually, nearly all of the Major powers are the same sort of head-scratcher.

I see your point, honestly I do, but when the same guy who has Clock Manipulation can shoot fire form his hands and turn intangible at will, and his buddy can transform into living stone on the molecular level while flying through the air with no means of propulsion whatsoever, and they're fighting a guy who can link to machines with his brain and split into half a dozen perfect duplicates... I'm not seeing the ability to control clocks as being all that out of the 'ordinary'.

Body weapons? The guy has shapeshifting limbs. Could be nanotech (T2 arms) like Warblade probably had. Could be bitten on the hand by a radioactive cuttlefish
Flight: Wingless: A limited form of TK, that one can only apply to oneself, or out of oneself as a repellant force. Or some sort of magnetic ability.
Bio Armor? Could be nanotech, some sorta weird complex bone structure thing, or a TK force field.
Control? TK that only resonates on certain substances.

These require a very little bit of suspension of disbelief. Just enough to accept a scifi/fantasy premise. They are also, for the most part, internally consistant with limitations that make sense. The CEF Fire guy can telekinetically manipulate fire, because his TK field resonates with fire. That makes sense. If you accept a superhero premise, then psi and quantum powers, sometimes with odd (but sensical) specializations, are part of that. It goes with the genre.
Being able to manipulate clocks? That doesn't. It could make sense though with some tweaking. If they made an electronic clock manipulation power, that was basically just speed up or slow down electronics (I can screw with your microwave hot pockets, AND put the XBox into slow mo for this tough fight), for instance. Or if they made gear manipulation a stunt for Manipulate Kinetic Energy. Of coruse, these tweaked powers wouldn't really be clock manipulation. They'd be manipulation that can be used on clocks.

Come to think of it, I had a similar issue with Negate Super Abilities, so I came up with these tweaks.

[Glistam]

I see clock manipulation coming from someone who has greater power, but exerts a speciality with it for clocks. So for example, you can have a character with telekenesis, mechano-link, manipulate kinetic energy, control friction, or any host of other powers. But for some reason, most likely mental, his power works best on clocks, giving him a natural ability to exert control over any device designed to measure or indicate the span of time.

Why would he have this fixation? There could be any number of reasons. He could be the son of a watchmaker and always appreciated the inherent beauty in a precision device meant to keep track of time. Perhaps it's a kid who spent too many days in school trying to make the clocks go faster so the school day would end. Or even a bored businessman, spending his days in the office staring at a clock to try and make it move at his will. An old man, upset at the passing of time and years, upon gaining great power tries to "turn back time", only to find his powers mock him by only affecting the clock, and not time itself.

My character I mentioned before has mechano-link and clock manipulation. Even though he was a child prodigy who could instinctively understand any device he touches, he has always had a special affinity to clocks and the order they bring into the world. Clocks control everything in our modern era. They set events into motion and end them just as swiftly. He thinks of them almost as friends. After suffering a series of sequential events that negatively impacted his life due to clocks in different places all being out of synch, he snapped. He realized the bane of our modern world is clocks that are not in sync. He could no onger stand to be in a room where the clocks don't all agree with each other. He set out to fix this issue but found that not only was the job too big for oen man, but people didn't appreciate him breaking into their businesses and residences in order to fix their clocks. Using his gift for mechanical understanding and design, and combining it with his natural affinity for clocks, he designed and created a small army of clockwork automations, who he sends out through the city to do this job for him.

[Overlord Rikonius]

I see clock manipulation coming from someone who has greater power, but exerts a speciality with it for clocks. So for example, you can have a character with telekenesis, mechano-link, manipulate kinetic energy, control friction, or any host of other powers. But for some reason, most likely mental, his power works best on clocks, giving him a natural ability to exert control over any device designed to measure or indicate the span of time.

Why would he have this fixation? There could be any number of reasons. He could be the son of a watchmaker and always appreciated the inherent beauty in a precision device meant to keep track of time. Perhaps it's a kid who spent too many days in school trying to make the clocks go faster so the school day would end. Or even a bored businessman, spending his days in the office staring at a clock to try and make it move at his will. An old man, upset at the passing of time and years, upon gaining great power tries to "turn back time", only to find his powers mock him by only affecting the clock, and not time itself.

My character I mentioned before has mechano-link and clock manipulation. Even though he was a child prodigy who could instinctively understand any device he touches, he has always had a special affinity to clocks and the order they bring into the world. Clocks control everything in our modern era. They set events into motion and end them just as swiftly. He thinks of them almost as friends. After suffering a series of sequential events that negatively impacted his life due to clocks in different places all being out of synch, he snapped. He realized the bane of our modern world is clocks that are not in sync. He could no onger stand to be in a room where the clocks don't all agree with each other. He set out to fix this issue but found that not only was the job too big for oen man, but people didn't appreciate him breaking into their businesses and residences in order to fix their clocks. Using his gift for mechanical understanding and design, and combining it with his natural affinity for clocks, he designed and created a small army of clockwork automations, who he sends out through the city to do this job for him.

Something like that would be better suited as a crazy hero limitation custom agreed to by GM and player (or custom created by sourcebook writer) than a specific power.

[Glistam]

But it's not a limitation. Clock manipulation lets you do things that you cannot do with TK alone, or with mechano-link. I admit they are not incredibly useful things, but mechano-link would not let me immediately stop the timer on a bomb from counting down - only tell me how it's constructed. With clock manipulation I can freeze the countdown at 1. If I'm less than 6 feet away and stay within that radius.

You know, the more I really think about this power, the less I really want to defend this power.

The initial point of my last post was just to point out some other ways you can justify a character having that power.

[Shorty Lickens]

I once randomly rolled up a character that turned out to be very nice. She was probably the perfect cat burgler, and thats how she was introduced to the group.
She rolled:

Supervision: Ultraviolet, infrared
Supervision: Nightvision
Clock Manipulation
Adhesion
Extraordinary PP

In addition to being a cat burgler, I'm sure she find a number of occupations. The clock manipulation was far more useful than just opening safes and such. It also let her work around security systems and plan entries & escapes.

[Stone Gargoyle]

Look, man, if you don't like a specific power, just don't use it. But don't expect everyone to agree with you on it. Everyone runs games differently and what might work for you might not work for me, and vice versa.

[Glistam]

So yeah, some more uses for Clock Manipulation, some of which will be dependant on the interpretations you have of the power and it's limitations:

23. The villain, during a chase, adjusts all traffic lights he passes so that cross traffic will interfere with the heroes
24. Adjusting an "Atomic Clock" that synchs with other clocks have far-reaching consequences
25. Adjust the timers on time-locks in a public business, trapping people inside (or gaining access after-hours)
26. Adjust the clocks guards rely on in order to force a turnover or a patrol when it's convenient for you (or inconvenient for someone else)
27. Stop or accelerate a timed countdown for a rocket or missile launch (don't know the codes to launch a second rocket or missile? Reset the clocks and timers to before the last launch and have them countdown all over again)
28. Something that relies on a series of events triggered at different times can be made to fail by adjusting the timers during the sequence (An assembly line robot suddenly tries to weld the frame of a car when it is not suppossed to, over and over)
29. Along the lines of what's above, start or stop an entire operation run by a master timer
30. The timing on security camera sweeps can be adjusted or halted
31. A camera that records images based on a timed interval (like an ATM) can be sped up (fill the memory or force a memory dump), slowed down or halted
32. "I can't open the safe past 10pm"
"I've already handled that. Just open it."
33. Early or late school dismissal (a kid with this power could be a nusiance to the school)

[Stone Gargoyle]

Actually it was more directed towards Overlord Rikonius and the OP Saint Paranoia more than you. Your arguements actually make a certain amount of sense. I should have directed the post more specifically. I am sorry if you took what I said personally. It just seems people want the power to do more than it was designed to.

[Glistam]

And some more:

34. Set the clocks for public services (busses, trains, subways) slower so that the operators fall behind without realizing it. Make a lot of people angry.

35. Set the clocks for public services (busses, trains, subways) faster so that the operators get ahead of schedule without realizing it. Make a lot of people angry.

[Stone Gargoyle]

Actually it was more directed towards Overlord Rikonius and the OP Saint Paranoia more than you. Your arguements actually make a certain amount of sense. I should have directed the post more specifically. I am sorry if you took what I said personally. It just seems people want the power to do more than it was designed to.

What I do? I made this topic to brainstorm about how to use the power effectively. I dont consider it the most useless power, an accusation which prompted me to start this thread. I just dont think it particularly makes alot of sense in how it functions, but there are very few powers I dont allow.

Well, I am not trying to attack anyone, but it seems like everyone thinks powers have to make sense to be playable. They don't. They just have to have the eways they work written in game terms, not why thery should or would work. Rule Number One for me: Powers don't need to make sense to be playable. They don't always in comics either.

[rbm10101]

I have looked and looked and I am not able to find any information on range for this power

has there been any errata posted for clock manipulation?

Cause a computers clock to downgrade the cpu speed to about 3 mhz
sorry mr power armor guy your armor cant seem to do the easiest of task quickly
most every aspect of the power armor would slow down to nothing

or overclock it so high that the computer simply overheats or cant run because overclocked cpu need additional power

[Severus Snape]

I know this is a really old thread, but I have to put my 2 cents in on this.

Clock Manipulation, IN THE RIGHT HANDS, can be the most devastating and disruptive minor power. Don't believe me? Ok, try this on for size:

Almost every facet of everyday life is dependent upon computers. Cell phones, televisions, gaming systems, vehicles, electronic billboards - almost everything. And what do all computers have? A CPU. With a clock. Anybody know what happens when you over/under clock a CPU timer too much? I do. You shut the computer down. If you overclock it too much, it not only shuts down but fries itself and becomes useless.

So now you're asking "Ok, we can shut down a computer. Now what?" Think about the first statement I made - that almost every facet of everyday life is dependent on computers. So here are some of the fun things you can do with this power:

1. Is the villain driving a get-a-way car? Fry the car's CPU and the car will eventually roll to a stop.
2. Want to break into a bank or jewelry store? Easily done as the alarm system is no longer functioning.
3. Inside that bank but need to get into the vault? Assuming the vault computer is separate from the alarm computer, you can speed up the clock itself so the vault opens at the appropriate time.
4. How about totally screwing up air traffic controllers?
5. Or shutting down the nation's national defense grid?
6. I like the idea of messing with traffic lights.
7. For the sports fan: favorite team up by 3 with 2 minutes to go? Do you really think the opposing team needs all 2 of those minutes?
8. Being assaulted by some robots? Or what about guys with bionics? Maybe those in power armor? Clock manipulation can mess up the timing of those computers too. Causing them to not function.
9. Bombs can definitely be stopped. But they can be sped up to detonate quicker too.

These are just some examples. Some cheesy and for the casual minor hero, while others are downright destructive. And you may be saying "Thank god I don't game with Snape!". And you should - if I had this power the game would be interesting. But for those of you who don't, I can give you some advice on this one. There is a way around this power. An Asynchronous Circuit. All GMs should read this little article and incorporate it into their games. I do. Just to make sure those pesky heros don't use it in the ways I've described above.

[Iczer]

I'm looking at the power now and I find No range listed. Very Odd.

I would argue that you would need to accurately identify a clock to manipulate it, which puts a lot of uses listed above out of reach for this power, otherwise you have a scenario where people simply reach out from their beds of a morning and reset all the vault timers in the entire state, one by one.


If you are lookign for a use for the power, might I suggest slapping a timer control to every device you own, and then disabling the timer (IE only the owner can alter the time state). It woudl take a little Jiggery but would be doable.

Batts

[rbm10101]

so which of the palladium writers wants to tackle the missing info on this one?

[rbm10101]

I'm looking at the power now and I find No range listed. Very Odd.

I would argue that you would need to accurately identify a clock to manipulate it, which puts a lot of uses listed above out of reach for this power, otherwise you have a scenario where people simply reach out from their beds of a morning and reset all the vault timers in the entire state, one by one.


If you are lookign for a use for the power, might I suggest slapping a timer control to every device you own, and then disabling the timer (IE only the owner can alter the time state). It woudl take a little Jiggery but would be doable.

Batts

I would say that any object within line of sight which contains a clock would be within the characters power; but only the timepiece portion of it. For example the bomb ,digital or analog, time piece is locating inside the bomb. The character would link with it and instantly know the following: purpose of the time piece, how the time piece works, who designed the time piece ( mad hatter the villian that is bombing the city or such and such factory in china or such and such worker at such and such factory in china) who designed ithe time piece ( engineer smith at time inc ) , scheduled preprogrammed times ( the different settings the time piece can be set - like the delay or fuse of the bomb in this example ) the complete schematic of the time piece inside the bomb but not the bomb itself.

If the character with clock manipulation can not see the device that is holding the time piece and or the time piece itself then no information is garnered or control allowed ( examp;le would be a time controlled safe would obviously have the time piece hidden inside of it but since the safe can be seen the timepiece inside it is under his control). This way the character isnt controlling every time piece in a huge area like the entire state example and is not driven inssane by the constant flow of information into his head from every time piece in the state.

The clock of a computer is located inside the computer and thus cant be seen but the power states them as an example.

Any thoughts on this ?

What do the Palladium staff that frequent these boards think. Only reason I ask is I have not been able to find anything on this in errata and just wanted a writers point of view.

[rbm10101]

So none on the boards have any thoughts on range for this power?

in other words BUMP!

[AlanGunhouse]

I had a friend who was talking about creating a "Super Zeroes" one shot. I personally cut the minor power list into halves for something I am working on...roughly speaking...with the less generally useful or potent powers being called "Special Effects". The major powers I also cut in two parts, but only a few made it onto the "Superior Powers" list.

Now, as to the question of uses for Clock Manipulation...well you could certainly make it so it looks like you work more hours than you really do by adjusting the time clock. You could make a clock run backwards I think...which could be useful if you wanted to pretend to have had a close encounter. You could use a clock as part of a lot of other devices...for example a combination lock that has three or four clocks that have to be set to different times to open.

[rbm10101]

Preventing bombs from going off can come in very handy

Making a bomb go off early also has its charms...

again though at what range
since none is listed I do not have a clue

[AlanGunhouse]

So none on the boards have any thoughts on range for this power?

in other words BUMP!

It may be assumed that a power that has no listed range has a range of either touch or of line of sight, whichever is more sensible.

[Severus Snape]

I'd go with line of sight to 100 feet as that seems to be the standard by which all ranges are based off of. Well, at least in my experience with powers, anyhow.

[Stone Gargoyle]

100 feet per level or just a basic 100 feet total?

[Severus Snape]

100 feet per level or just a basic 100 feet total?

I'd go with 100 feet base, +50 feet per level.

Clock Manipulation and cars. In a modern Electronic Fuel Injected engine, the gasoline feed is controlled by a computer that enables it to send the correct amount of fuel to the correct cylinder at the correct time. This also applies to the distributor cap, which controls when a charge is sent to which spark plug. Creative use of this power, along with the Auto Mechanics skill, could conceivably allow a character to blow out an engine by sending spark and fuel/air mix to all cylinders simultaneously.

Technically, you don't even have to go after the CPU clock to do this. The description of the power allows you to mess with counters, timers, and any other type of "timekeeping" device. Sounds to me like you can alter the timing. Too far away from top dead center and the spark happens too soon. Too close, and the spark happens too late. Either way, you cause major damage to the engine and the car comes to a rolling stop.

[Iczer]

I would argue that 'needs precision timing to function' is not synonymous with 'time keeping device'.

also, having the word 'clock' in an objects description, does not make it a clock.

and also, .......

I just changed the time on my computer clock. Having failed to crash my computer, I'd argue that some definitions of this power are being too broadly defined.

Batts.

[Severus Snape]

Changing the time on your computer clock is not the same as over-clocking, speeding up or slowing down of the computer clock itself. You won't necessarily crash your computer by changing the time. You can crash your computer by forcing the cpu to perform more cycles per second due to overclocking. Big difference between changing the time and forcing the machine to run at a higher clock rate/more clock cycles per second.

And that's what I'm talking about - overclocking a computer with this power. Speeding up the number of clock cycles per second to the point where the computer fails.

Although I do agree with you that the definition is a little broad and allows for a lot of different interpretations. But, this is HU, so we'll all just have to roll with it until Kev, Wayne, Alex, or a free-lancer re-does the power.

[AlanGunhouse]

I was just thinking, if you have a power like Explosive Spheres, that you can set to go off at a later time...this could be used to have several items go off at the same time, where a normal person might forget how long they have left.