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We're bringing The Children of Preservation back on development. Check it out! https://dnxgaming.itch.io/the-children-of-preservation

Title says a little bit of it. The premise of this little... game, I guess?.. is to tell us about the type of cosmere magic you'd like to have in your life if you could. I believe this type of thing has been done before, but it's been a couple years so... I thought I'd bring it up again. Now, since a hypothetical can come with a lot of questions, I thought I'd help by defining some variables about the world such a hypothetical would take place in; that way, for example, being a Rosharan and dealing with Odium isn't a requirement for being a Radiant. This hypothetical takes place on a version of Earth where --Earth is a Shardworld being watched over by Adonalsium, which means that: --Earth has access to every form of Investiture we see in the cosmere, including: --Spren including "truespren" "voidspren" and the nightwatcher, Seons and Skaze, Kandra, Aviar, and any other living Investiture I forgot --Plantetary Rythms --Stormlight and Voidlight renew in Lunar Cycles, Stormlight infuses at the Full moon, Voidlight at the New moon. --Sand has the same properties as on Taldain --Soulstamping, Aons, and Dakhor-magic are viable in any continent --Humans each come with a Breath --Atium and Lerasium are not obtainable, but Ettmetal is. --Everything else is pretty much the same. --No Fullborns, Halfborns (Mistborn+Ferring/Feruchemist+Misting) are the limit, sorry, I know they're cool, but we all know they're broken. That said, for me it's a toss up between Full Feruchemist and Windrunner, but I think in the end I'd have to go with Windrunner. The power of flight, the energy of stormlight, the affable, beautiful, intelligent (don't forget fierce) and fierce honorspren for a companion. Feruchemy comes with many conveniences, I love that system, but laughing at gravity is the ability for me. Looking forward to seeing all of your choices!

On my homesite Forum of Lies, besides the usual FM/SE games, we also enjoy a set of other forum games called Miscs. There's currently one in signups called Fortified Tower 3. The Fortified Tower has 12 floors with 3 rooms each. The players have various roles with differing wincons. Most will need to explore the tower to reach the Tycoon living on the top floor and kill him. Others want to protect the Tycoon. And still others may want to make sure everyone dies! Each turn you choose actions such as move, attack, and search. The turns are done on a 24h cycle, so this is an easy-going, long-term game. A limited number of spots are still open. If you are interested, please join the game with us at FoL. Fortified Tower 3 Signups

I've released another major update - see here! Original post: I haven't posted in this subforum before, so I thought I'd mention it here. I've been working on a game/physics demonstration that implements the physics of Allomancy. You can find a longer description (and a lot more pictures and videos) at the full post here: Let me know what you think!

Welcome to Imperial Nomic! This game is a version of Nomic, a game where the players actively change the rules of the game. Players make Proposals of new laws or propose Amendments of old laws. All of the rules (including these rules here in the introduction) can be changed. All of the players are trying to win, but the requirements for winning and the methods for getting there change throughout the game. In this case, the players win when they get 1,000 spheres. What makes Imperial Nomic different from regular Nomic is that in Imperial Nomic the King of Alethkar is the one who approves or rejects all rule changes, so it goes much faster. The King’s power is balanced by the fact that he/she cannot personally make rule changes; only non-King players can do that, although the King can suggest some things that he/she would be likely to approve, and can note in approvals or rejections his/her reasoning. In addition, the King of Alethkar cannot win the game while he/she is the King. The Game will end in three months on Janurary 28th at 5:00 PM if no players have reached 1,000 spheres. If this happens, the player with the most spheres will win. Rules: 0 - Rules about Rules 1 - The Loss & Gain of Spheres 2 - Titles & Affiliation 3 - Posting Rules 4 - Items

Formerly [Insert clever name here] All right, This is a pretty fun forum game. Really easy to play. Every post should contain one word. These words should compound into a cohesive story. Your gonna half to use words like the, and, and or, some of the time. Try to use correct grammar and spelling. Punctuation is allowed. If you want to talk just use a quote, or spoiler box. I'll start: Once

I said it in 2015 and I say it now. "I want my google assistant to respond to Syl! And randomly unprompted throughout the day say quips

It seems like it's a good week for Mistborn fangames. Hello again. It's been a while since my last post about this project of mine, but I've made a lot of progress and I'm finally ready to publish my updates. For those who aren't familiar, I've been making a Mistborn game for fun over the past few years. It's not focused on the events of the books (the fact that the player is a little robot ball might give it away), but it does feature several of the same powers, including Iron, Steel, Pewter, and (Feruchemical) Zinc. The main additions New interludes that explain the powers and setting I eventually want to write a story in New sandbox levels, including a completely reworked Luthadel Challenges (time trials, target shooting…) New control modes for pushing in an Area and in a Bubble Sound and music Surprise, surprise - big changes to the controls I'm comfortable with how the physics work now - I haven't made any major changes since my last post. Here's a summary for how the forces in Pushes and Pulls are calculated: As before, the game is available for free on my GitHub. I'm just about to start my final senior semester, but I was able to get a lot done over the winter break. I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to keep putting into this project going forward. There's not a lot of raw content in this update - it was a lot of creating systems to use as a baseline for the future. I've still got plenty I want to do, and I've still got plenty to learn. Plans for the future Optimization. I still have plenty to learn about optimizing unity games for different hardware. I've got very modern hardware, and at maximum settings and a 2560x1440p resolution, it drops to under 50fps in Luthadel due to a bunch of buildings with small parts. I need to clean those up and organize the LODs better. There's a lot of small things in Unity with material and shader management that can make an improvement, but it's hard to wrap my head around. Story. The interludes set the backdrop, but there's more to what happened at the Metallic Arts Research Lab that I want to explore. I haven't written a lot of fanfic before, and this is a pretty unusual medium. Accessibility and Controls. There's a lot of things that I could change to make the game more accessible, like options for UI scaling or toggling instead of holding buttons for certain actions. The gamepad controls are already kind of messy - I'm thinking about combining "Mark for Pulling" and "Mark for Pushing" into a single "Mark for Pushing/Pulling" option, which would open up a shoulder button/keyboard key for something else. It also would work better for an eventual combat system to have a single "Mark" command. Workflow improvements - I've gotten good at struggling my way through modeling, texturing, and baking lighting for Unity environments, but it's always a pain. I'm hoping something will click and I'll find a way to make building locations easier. I generally prefer to make my own environments instead of using the Unity asset store for consistency reasons (if it's all ugly in the same way, it's not ugly - it's an aesthetic). General polish. Better sound effects, more texture and model diversity, things like that. Have fun, and let me know what you think!

Clue! The Cosmere Mystery Game! Here are the rules: Game 1: The Death of Hoid Hoid has been found dead, and you have been hired to find out who is responsible! Player List: Player Order:

It's quite possible that a thread similar to this one already exists, but as I haven't seen any in precisely this format, here goes. The idea of this thread is as follows: someone posts a baseless theory - the more implausible, the better - and the next people in the thread must defend it as they would any true theory, with evidence and logic. For this to work, the theory has to be something that's possible in the hypothetical. If it's directly contradicted by the text, you obviously can't make a convincing argument for it. Beyond that, however, the limits are endless. You get more points for how well construed your argument is (there isn't actually a formal points system or anything, but you can assign theories points in your head). Good luck! Here's one to start us off: Tindwyl is secretly an aspect of Autonomy.

A small team of modders, myself included, are working to bring the Stormlight Archive to Crusader Kings 3. We've been working hard, though this is a massive undertaking. This post will go over what we currently have and some of what we plan of doing. This is currently what of the map we have actually made. Furthermore, we have some historic characters ingame: These aren't the only ones, but they serve as some good examples. Furthermore, on the character front, we have the dna of multiple characters done: Dalinar's Family: Gavilar's Family: Bridge 4: Heralds: In order: Jezrien, Shalash, Taln, Nale, Ishar, Kalak, Battar, Vedel, Pailiah, Chana An last and not least: Taranvangian Vorinism: Vorinism and the Alethi culture are currently the only ones ingame. That will change. ANYONE WHO WANTS TO JOIN THE PROJECT OR OBSERVE PROGRESS: https://discord.gg/SypeWHa Once on the server, post on general what you can or want to help with on the general channel.

This is based on "The Last Post Wins!!!!!" It follows the same basic idea, but with one major difference: instead of the winner being the last poster, the winner is the ninth poster, not counting this opening post (this is post zero). If you double-post, triple-post, or multi-post in any form, only the first post in the chain counts. Anyone can join, though I won't be participating myself or counting my posts. After the ninth post is posted, I'll add a post with all contributing posts, including the winning posts. After the contest is over, you can continue to use this thread for whatever.

The Final Empire is OVER!!! WINNERS: @Illwei AND @Experience Welcome to Imperial Nomic! This game is a version of Nomic, a game where the players actively change the rules of the game. Players make Proposals of new laws or propose Amendments of old laws. All of the rules (including these rules here in the introduction) can be changed. All of the players are trying to win, but the requirements for winning and the methods for getting there change throughout the game. In this case, the players win when they get 1,024 Atium. There are various ways to get Atium. What makes Imperial Nomic different from regular Nomic is that in Imperial Nomic the Lord Ruler is the one who approves or rejects all rule changes, so it goes much faster. We also have a Senate with some approving power. The Lord Ruler's power is balanced by the fact that he/she cannot personally make rule changes; only non-Lord Ruler players can do that, although the Lord Ruler can suggest some things that he/she would be likely to approve, and can note in approvals or rejections his/her reasoning. In addition, the Lord Ruler cannot win the game while he/she is Lord Ruler. Basically, if you liked Elend’s legal plotline in Well of Ascension, this game is really going to burn your metals. I will try to keep the area below updated with all of the current laws. I hope this will be fun! 0- Basic Rules 1- The Lord Ruler 2- The Steel Ministry 3- Other Roles and the Senate 4- Judgment 5- House Interactions 6- Posts and Messages 7- The Black Market

I am not sure if this has been done in the forums before, but this will not be as easy as the fun one-liners we post in our quest for the longest threads. I've always enjoyed limiters, where you have to count the number of words or syllables on what you write. I'm hoping that some of you here also enjoy that challenge. Here are the rules: Write a very short story of exactly 50 words, no more, no less. Add a title in bold. I'll start --- Accident He stepped closer to her upon hearing the news. The damage was permanent, the doctors said, and there is nothing that can be done to repair it. He embraced her and touched his lips against her ear. She can feel him whispering, but all is silent in her world now.

All right! This is my totally real 900th post, and I know what I'm doing. Around the Shard, in my regular posts some clues will be sprinkled, I will also edit some of my old posts, but some won't have clues hidden inside them and I'll be doing it to throw you off. It is going to be a slow reveal so if you find a clue, but you've looked extensively and have found nothing after it, contact me and see if I've put something out after it. I will sometimes do things like this, good on you for finding this! Anybody is allowed to participate, but only one person can win. Please do not share your clues with others, unless you are in a team with them. Teaming is allowed, but not encouraged. You ARE NOT allowed to use my profile to see where clues are hidden. The winner will be receiving unlimited bragging rights. The game starts now. And remember, it doesn't matter if you win or lose! Are you kidding? Cause I am. It totally matters if you win or lose. If you lose, you lost the game. And no one wants to become one of the game's losers.

Hey y'all, Wildcard again. I'm practicing my game vfx skills for my portfolio and I thought Spren would be a perfect subject to make if anyone had suggestions if their favorites. It doesn't have to be a spren, but a magic effect like a seon, or the goop in elantris/soul stamp.

So in my family we love the game Codenames, and I got to thinking how fun it would be to play a Brandon Sanderson themed version. And then it occurred to me, why not adapt it to play on the forums? Should be easy enough, so let’s take a crack at it, yeah? As for the nitty gritty: I’ve never played Codenames, what is it? Okay, I get how to play, but how are we going to Sanderson-ize it? Will there be spoilers for any of Brandon's books? Short Answer: Very Possibly. Play at your own risk! Long Answer: the codenames used in each game will not contain any spoilers for any of the books. However, they will be linked to their respective coppermind wiki entries, which can contain spoilers for Brandon's books. Also, I can't guarantee that the clues that the spymasters give and/or the teams' discussions won't contain spoilers. Again, Play at your own risk! I will try to post at the start of each game which of Brandon's books the codenames are drawn from for that game, so you can know if you need to avoid a particular game. How are we going to make this work on the forum? What if I want to take a turn being a Spymaster? EDIT 2/5/2018: I have updated this post with the rules we have settled on after a couple of games. So far everything seems to be working smoothly, and people seem to be enjoying it. So if you'd like to play, just reply to this thread and say so! Also, I have edited the next post to include quick links to the first post of each of the games played so far, and I will continue to keep the list updated as time goes on. Feel free to skim over any previous games if you wish to see how they played out, or jump straight to the first post of the current game. For posterities' sake, this spoiler box contains the rest of the text from the original post:

The idea is pretty simple, you post a video link for a song along with the song's title and the next person posts a video link for a song that shares one or more words of the song title. And it keeps going in a neverending chain. Fun stuff! Here's an example Weight of Lies (by the Avrett Brothers, thanks for the recommendation @Truthless of Shinovar, they're great) And following that Weightless Again (by the Handsome Family) Just to make this more eclectic homonyms count too (so you could post the video for Waiting For the Bus by the Violent Femmes after Weightless Again)

The rules for this game are really simple. We are telling a story. Every other person says "fortunately..." or "unfortunately..." at the beginning of their addition. I start with something that provides the basis of the story. Here is an example: Person 1: Once upon a time there was a horse. Person 2: Fortunately, the horse was free. Person 3: Unfortunately, he was soon captured. etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It must alternate fortunately/unfortunately! So, I will now start! I decided to make it Cosmere-related, but that will probably change pretty quickly. Once there was a worldhopper named Hoid.

Here is a new and improved version of a game I recently posted, now with a light-lance included! Here's a video of the gameplay. Not very high quality video, but it works. starsight2.mp4

This is a spoken game often played at camps, or at least that's where I learned it. It's one of those where you try to figure out what the rule is as you play. (Looking it up or asking someone who does know is not allowed - and sure, if you do it we may never know, but you'll know and hopefully you'll feel guilty so just don't cheat ) Anyone who does know the rule, don't say it! I am going to bring a puppy through the green glass door.

Heyo! I decided to teach myself how to use Unity over quarantine, and after getting a grasp on the basics started working on a Mistborn video game. I decided to start simple and make a game based on Waxillium Ladrian, mostly because his powers are some of the easiest to translate to a platformer without adding any extra mechanics. Additionally, focusing on a Twinborn keeps the control scheme and HUD simple - no need to switch between metals or show a wide array of metal levels. Overall, I tried to be faithful to the physics as shown in the books, though I did make a few decisions based more on what would be fun to play than existing information on the magic. Here's a quick run-through of the tutorial level I made, showing off the Allomancy and Feruchemy. Update: You can now play the demo online here! Basics: It's a platformer. You can run, jump, and climb up ledges. You can jump through the bottom or drop through the top of yellow platforms, while blue "glass" platforms have to be shattered to pass through. There is a slight amount of simulated air resistance, but it's only really noticeable when moving very quickly or when storing weight. I originally wanted to completely remove control while in midair, forcing the player to rely on Allomancy to move around. However, we're so used to being able to nudge characters in midair that this really detracted from the enjoyment of the game. So, while there's not as much control in midair, the player can still move a bit in either direction. This also makes balancing on anchors with Allomancy a bit easier. The player is damaged when colliding with the ground or other obstacles based on the impulse of the collision. Basically, the lighter you are, the faster you have to be moving before you take damage. Feruchemy: There are three discrete levels of storing/tapping mass that the player has access to. The mass at each level is double the previous, and the rate at which mass is stored/tapped in the metalmind is dependent on linear distance from base mass: Level: | Scale: | Rate: -3 | 0.125 | +0.875 -2 | 0.250 | +0.750 -1 | 0.500 | +0.500 0 | 1.000 | +0.000 +1 | 2.000 | -1.000 +2 | 4.000 | -3.000 +3 | 8.000 | -7.000 Like Wax, the player will usually want to be constantly storing, and briefly switch to tapping when they need some extra oomph. Because of the extra air resistance, and the lower impulse on collisions, someone storing at the max rate can survive falls of an indefinite length. Being lighter also means the player can jump higher, while being heavier makes it easier to break glass panels. When changing mass, momentum is mostly conserved, but the change in velocity is decreased from what it should be to prevent some game breaking jumps and steel-pushes. Allomancy: Allomancy was probably the trickiest part to design, mostly because it's the least consistent. Artemos has talked about those issues in depth here, so I won't repeat what's already been said. My decision was to decouple the force on the metal being pushed and the force on Wax. While this completely breaks Newton's Third Law, it does allow for interactions more in line with the books. The force in either direction follows the equation A * (pm1 * pm2) / (r^2), where A is some constant, pm1/pm2 are the perceived masses of the character and the target, and r is the distance. For the force on the target, its perceived mass and the character's perceived mass are their current mass. This means that, if the character is tapping weight, their pushes are stronger and coins are shot faster. For the character, the target's perceived mass increases when it's well anchored, with the amount anchored depending on the angle between the push and the slope of the object the target is anchored against. Additionally, the character always perceives their own mass as their base mass. This means that if the character is storing weight, they can push themselves further and faster. Next Steps: If you want to poke at the code or play around with the mechanics, you can check out the current build on github. I've certainly enjoyed working on this, but I don't really have any future plans for this specific project, mostly because I want to create games that I can freely share and distribute. If I were to continue, the entire code base would probably need an overhaul, since it was written as I was still learning. I may reuse and reskin some of the Allomancy mechanics as magnet-based superpowers in a future game, because jumping around on coins is legitimately enjoyable. Enjoy!

Okay so this was in a introductory post by, @rosamarine and ppl suggested we move it here as a game so yay! So it's basically would you rather, but Sanderson stuff. One person will post a would you rather, and the next replier will post their choice and why, with another question. It'll be good guys. Okay, I'll start: Would you rather be a roommates with a kandra or a Returned?

Hi everyone! I have a suggestion - let's practice worldbuilding, with on-the-fly suggestions and feedback. This can be a little like "Whose-Line-is-it-Anyway?" improv mixed with a general critique, as well as a chance to show off your process. How this is proposed to work: You can do up to three things in this thread: You can propose world building ideas and list an example of them in existing fiction You can use ideas suggested in the thread to world build You can give feedback on what someone else has world built, remembering to be descriptive rather than proscriptive, and focusing on the good while not neglecting the bad You may do any combination of the above in a single post The first few posts - and any subsequent ones later - should be the world building ideas, preferably listing an example of how it was done before SO THAT WHAT IS BUILT USING IT IS NOT A COPY. For example, if the idea proposed is "mythological creatures that have been genetically engineered", then an example listed would be "The Dragon Riders of Pern", so that if someone uses that suggestion they know to try to push the world building in a different direction to Pern's After a few posts have been made with world building suggestions subsequent posts can then include people selecting from among those suggested and doing some basic work with those ideas, again trying to push them in a different direction than the source Ideas proposed can be worn out cliches, terrible ideas, etc., or your favourite tropes from your favourite series. They are seeds to be used by anyone who chooses to use them. The way they are used is up to whoever decides to use them After world building someone may then critique the setting, which can be subsequently revised afterwards So, with that said, here are a few world building suggestions: Space faring civilisation of explorers (Star Trek) Mythological creatures that have been genetically engineered (The Dragon Riders of Pern) Single undesirable planet the source of something the civilisation needs (Dune) Gender specific magic (The Wheel of Time) Knights from a religious order trained by mystics from another religion (The Elenium) Organisation that is tracking down and containing mysterious artefacts (Warehouse 13) Hope you have fun!

Edit 3: Here's a quick look into my most recent progress - labels over targets, a more detailed HUD, and several physics tweaks. I'll edit what I can from the original post, but there's a lot of physics discussion in the replies that I highly suggest you read. Jofwu and I've discussed other possible relationships between Force and Distance, and there's a bit of a strange one that he came up with a while ago: Allomantic Force ∝ e ^ -d/D where d = distance and D = 16 When the target is right next to the Allomancer, e ^ -d/D approaches 1 and the AF approaches its maximum. When the target approaches an infinite distance away from the Allomancer, e ^ -d/D approaches 0 and the AF approaches 0. This strategy looks very similar to the linear relationship but avoids its icky discontinuity at the max range of the push. I like it a lot. For comparison, you can see all three Force-Distance relationships together here. Edit 2: Following Jofwu's footsteps, I had a conversation with /u/Phantine on reddit and am reconsidering how distance affects the Allomantic Force. I was originally confident in an inverse square relationship between Allomantic Force and the distance between the Allomancer and target, but through testing, a *linear* relationship has better handling and feels more reminiscent of Allomancers' movements in the books. I've added both as options in the game: The Allomantic Force is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance between the Allomancer and the target When the target is right next to the Allomancer, the Allomantic Force approaches infinity. When the target approaches an infinite distance away from the Allomancy, the Allomantic Force approaches 0. The Allomantic Force decreases linearly with the distance between the Allomancer and the target. When the target is right next to the Allomancer, the Allomantic Force is at its maximum. When the target is at the max range (arbitrarily at 50 meters), the Allomantic Force is 0. I've also added the option to control the strength of your push through two control schemes: The player sets the *percentage* of the maximum possible force they can push with, or The player sets a *constant force* to try to push at, if possible. Edit 1: If you want to play the current build of the game, you can find it here on my GitHub. Aside from that, I've looked back at [8], @digitalbusker's post and see I misunderstood it a bit. I've re-read it and realized that I agree with it much more than I thought I did originally. In one paragraph, they said, This sounds just like the Allomantic Normal Force idea I used in the game. If you push on a target and the target can't move, the target pushes back on you as if there were a long, tangible line between you and the target. In this way, the ANF does work somewhat like an elastic collision. I did some more testing in the game and anything that involved directly manipulating velocities of the target or Allomancer worked poorly. I feel like sticking to forces rather than energy is the right way to go. Table of Contents I: Introduction I-a: My intent I-b: Current game progress & Videos I-c: Referenced forum posts I-d: Definitions II: Force, mass, and acceleration of a push III: Anchors and the pole analogy IV: Math V: Summary & Final points Part I: Introduction Over the summer I’ve been rereading Mistborn and have been thinking about the mechanics of Allomancy. I decided to have a go at recreating the physics of Ironpulling and Steelpushing in the Unity physics/game engine. I don’t intend on actually creating a game to sell (that’d be a bit illegal), so this is mostly an endeavor for personal fun. What follows is my current progress on the game as well as my current thoughts on the math and physics of Pushing and Pulling. Part I-a: My intent My goal is to take what Brandon describes in his books and do my best to create a working model of them in the Unity engine. My purpose in posting this here is to record my thoughts so I can be internally consistent, encourage discussion, and improve the game’s mechanics with your suggestions and criticisms. I don’t expect to perfectly recreate Allomancy as Brandon describes it in the books because there are some things with little connection to real-world physics (such as Feruchemical weight). I’ll try to give the pros and cons for all my decisions. If you disagree, tell me! I’ve been in my own personal bubble while making this, so I’d love some external input. Part I-b: Current game progress & Videos So far, I’ve implemented most of the physics and fundamentals of Ironpulling and Steelpushing. Here are some short videos: The setting: The sandbox I use for testing is based on Luthadel. There are metal poles stuck in haphazardly-placed buildings, and a few windows with metal frames/latches. At the intersection are metal objects of various masses, including coins, ingots, and 16-ton steel blocks. Blue metal lines: When the player (the grey sphere) begins passively burning metal, they see blue metal lines pointing towards nearby metal sources. The wider the line, the heavier the metal, and the brighter the line, the closer the target. Basic pushing/pulling: The player can “target” a metal. They can then push or pull on that metal. They can increase or decrease the strength of the push, as indicated by the wheel near the bottom. They can target multiple metals simultaneously (as indicated by the bright blue number beneath the wheel). Pull targets vs. Push targets: The player has separate targets for pulling (indicated by blue) and pushing (indicated by red). When the player pushes or pulls with specified push targets and pull targets, the player only pushes on the push targets and only pulls on the pull targets. If the player only has pull targets or only has push targets, they can push and pull on any target. Pushing/pulling with coins: The player can throw, drop, and pick up coins. The number in the lower right corner indicates the number of coins in the player’s pouch. Flying around Luthadel: It’s a bit tricky, but the player can fly between buildings by pulling on metal latches and pushing on coins. Some things are still a bit buggy, namely the camera, coin physics, and width of the white part of the blue/red line pointing at a target while pushing. Part I-c: Referenced forum posts Many of the ideas used in the calculations come from the work previous Sharders have done on making sense of Brandon’s magics. Here are some that I used, which I recommend to anyone interested in the physics of Allomancy: When I use specific ideas from these threads, I’ll mark it with a [#]. Other threads I found interesting: Part I-d: Definitions Key statements are italicized. Key terms are written in bold for their first appearance. Push – unless I specify otherwise, I’ll simply say “push” instead of “push/pull” to refer to the math of both steel and iron. It’s a lot easier to read while still means the same thing. All physics and rules of a pull are the same as a push, just in the opposite direction. Target – the metal that an Allomancer is currently pushing on. Coins are often a target. Distance – the distance between an Allomancer and their target. Anchor/anchored – a target is an anchor if it does not move. A lamppost, a coin stuck on the ground, and a metal roof would all be anchors. Note that the metal is the anchor, not the nearby wall/ground/stone. A target is unanchored if it is moving freely with no resistance. A target is partially anchored if it meets some resistance but is not fully anchored (i.e. a coin skidding on the ground). Allomantic Force (AF) – the force that an Allomancer directly exerts on a target while pushing. Equal in magnitude to the force that the target directly exerts on the Allomancer while pushing. The Allomantic force does not change if the target is anchored or unanchored. Allomantic Normal Force (ANF) – the force that is exerted on an Allomancer or target as a result of the opposing target or Allomancer's push or pull by the surrounding ground, walls, etc. I'll discuss this down below. Essentially, it's what makes anchored targets give that extra strength to your push. Now, let's jump into the physics of Allomancy. Part II: Force, mass, and acceleration of a push When Allomancers in the books refer to “weight,” they almost always mean mass. [1] Let’s ignore Feruchemical weight for now. When an Allomancer pushes on a target, the Allomancer exerts a force on the target that is equal and opposite to the force that the target exerts on the Allomancer. It’s F = ma, it’s Newton’s third law, and if anything else were the case, the physics of Mistborn would be far too distant from our world for a good simulation. This explains one of the core features of pushing and pulling: If you push on an object heavier than you, you will accelerate more than it (and vice-versa). You push on a coin out in front of you. The force is the same between you and the coin, but the coin has less mass, so it accelerates more than you. The coin goes flying, but you hardly move. Likewise, heavier objects (like cars) have more mass than you, so you accelerate more than them. The previous statements are most apparent with an Allomancer and target in free-fall or space, where the Allomancer and target (such as a coin) won’t be anchored by anything (such as the ground). When the Allomancer or target are anchored by a wall or the ground, things get complicated. Part III: Anchors and the pole analogy In the books, if an Allomancer is falling through the air, throws a coin downwards, and starts pushing on it, the Allomancer doesn’t feel much while the coin is falling through the air and unanchored. The Allomancer pushes on the coin, but their acceleration from the push is not enough to stop their fall. Once the coin hits the ground and stops moving, the Allomancer suddenly “can get a stronger push” and decelerate more strongly. Here is my interpretation: Pushing against an anchored coin on the ground has a similar effect as holding a long pole and physically pushing against the ground. The Normal Force due to the Allomantic Force (Allomantic Normal Force, or ANF) that the ground/wall/etc. exerts on the target is transferred to the Allomancer. If you held a long vertical pole and pushed down on the ground, the ground would push back on you and the pole. If you tried to push the pole into the ground, the ground would resist, and you could climb upwards relative to the ground. Allomancy mimics this effect. When pushing on the coin, it is like you are physically connected to the coin. If something resists your push, you experience that resistance. It's just like you're literally pushing against the coin with your fists. If the coin's in the air, hardly anything happens. If the coin's on the ground, the ground resists. I drew some free-body diagrams that hopefully help explain what I’m saying. In these, an Allomancer and coin are falling down. The Allomancer is pushing on the coin. Let me discuss two of the other theories as to how Allomancers get stronger pushes from anchored targets: When the coin is airborne, the allomancer is only pushing on the mass of the coin. But when the coin is anchored to the planet, they are also pushing on the mass of Scadrial/the ground around the coin, which causes the Allomancer to accelerate more. [not a quote, but the concept taken from 1] I’ll get into how mass affects the force later in the math section, but I want to now make something clear. With my interpretation, Allomancers push on the mass of metal, not the combined mass of metal and nearby non-metal (the planet). When pushing against an anchored coin, the Allomancer is only indirectly pushing on the ground – they are pushing on the coin, which pushes on the ground, which resists back on the coin, which resists back on the Allomancer – similar to holding a long pole and pushing on the ground. An Allomancer’s strength is the amount of kinetic energy they can add to the system of the coin and allomancer. When the Allomancer pushes on an unanchored target, that kinetic energy is distributed between the two, proportionally to their masses. But, when the target is stationary, their velocity is zero, so all of the kinetic energy is given to the allomancer (and vice-versa). [paraphrased from 8] I like this explanation. Honestly, I may agree with it more than with my own ANF theory. I tried it out, but it was a lot more difficult programming-wise than the ANF idea. Unity has easier force manipulation than energy manipulation, so I framed my theory using that. Energy is just force with extra steps. (See Edit 1) I’ll talk more about the Allomantic Normal Force and partially-anchored targets after the math in Part V. Part IV: Math Now, I’ll introduce the formula that I used to calculate the Allomantic Force. After that, I’ll describe each of the terms in detail. Allomancy is a lot like magnetism, so let’s start by looking at the formula for the magnetic force between two poles. In Allomancy, the “two poles” would be the Allomancer and target. Magnetic Force = Constant * q1 * q2 / r2 Constant – some constant that depends on the medium between the poles. q1and q2 – the magnitudes of the magnetic charges of the poles. r – the distance between the poles. The greater the charges, the greater the force. The greater the distance between the two poles, the weaker the force – and through the inverse square relationship, greater and greater distances cause much weaker and weaker forces. Now, the Allomantic Force: Allomantic Force = A * S * b * c1 * c2 / r2 (See Edit 2/3) A – some constant. This depends on how all pushes and pulls are described in the book and can be increased/decreased for overall stronger/weaker pushes. b – Burn rate. See below. S – Allomantic Strength. See below. c1 and c2 – the Allomantic Charges of the Allomancer and target. r – the distance between the Allomancer and target. Burn rate – the rate at which an allomancer burns their metals. For my purposes, burn rate is a range between 0 and 1, where 0 is “not burning at all” and 1 is “pushing as hard as you can,” possibly without flaring. I bound this to the triggers on a gamepad and to the scroll wheel on a mouse, which allow me to variably control the strength of a push using the burn rate. Allomantic Strength – the most magic-y of the all the components of the force. Some Allomancers are naturally stronger than others, perhaps by sDNA. Allomancers get better with training and experience. These factors get bundled into the Allomancer’s Allomantic Strength. The Allomantic Force is not proportional to the Allomantic Strength (see [3]). Rather, the Allomancer’s maximum burn rate is proportional to the Allomantic Strength. In this way, Allomantic Strength acts as a sort of limiter. Stronger Allomancers must be able to burn more metal faster for a stronger effect. I won’t incorporate this in-game. Allomantic Charge – Analogous to magnetic charge. Contributes to the Allomantic Force. A property of both metals and Allomancers. I recommend now reading [1], which has a very interesting theory on this. I’m not adhering to it completely, though. An Allomancer or target’s Allomantic Charge is a function of its mass. To make the mass relationships of Mistborn work, we need to satisfy a few factors: The more massive a target is, the stronger a push an Allomancer can get off of it. The less massive a target is, the weaker a push an allomancer can get off of it. “[Wax] shot outwards in a grand arc above the city, flying for a good half a minute on the Push off those enormous girders” (AoL ch 1 pg 34) [3]. “…the lamp was a good anchor - lots of metal, firmly attached to the ground - capable of pushing [Wax] quite high” (AoL ch 1 pg 32) [3]. Both of the targets in these quotes are equally anchored, but the girders are much more massive and provide a stronger push. I don’t have any direct quotes, but we know that Allomancers get less of a push from coins than they do from, say, enormous girders. The “heavier” an Allomancer is, the stronger their push. This argument comes from Feruchemical weight, not mass, but it nonetheless impacts Allomancy in the books, so I should bring it up here. While tapping weight, Wax thought, “with this incredible conflux of weight, his ability to Push grew incredible” (AoL) [2]. I can’t quite remember the context or quote, but I recall that one of Kelsier’s surprises about Vin was her Allomantic Strength/Charge was large “for her size,” implying that smaller/less massive Allomancers usually have less charge. It’s symmetrical with the target’s mass impacting the Allomantic Charge. It’s intuitive and makes sense. There should be some soft maximum cap and minimum cap to the force. If an Allomancer pushes off of an absolutely massive multi-ton solid block of gold, they shouldn’t be pushed into the stratosphere. Likewise, coins are very light relative to lampposts and roofs, but they still provide a reasonably strong push. This leads me to the most disgusting part of the math. What exact relationship do the masses have with the force? The relationship can’t be zero. If this were the case, mass would have no effect on the force, which I argued against. Also, an Allomancer could push on a “metal” with a mass of 0 and still get a push, which doesn’t make sense. The relationship can’t be linear. If this were the case, a target 10 times as massive as another would provide 10 times a push as the other, which doesn’t appear to be the case. If an Allomancer pushes first on a 30g coin and then on a 30kg metal block, the Allomancer would receive 1000 times more the force from the block than the coin. In the books, Allomancers push off of girders and roofs which are much heavier than 30kg, but they certainly don’t describe such a massive difference in forces from coins. That’s duralumin-levels of strength. I’ve tried out a lot of relationships. Logs, sum of logs, product of logs, and roots. Eww. My solution was to take the root of the masses of the Allomancer and target. Specifically, the, ah, sixteenth root. It provided a good combination of strong-enough pushes from light coins and weak-enough pushes from very massive targets that felt most similar to the books. The number 16 was arbitrary. I figured I might as well use Scadrial’s base number for legitimacy. If I used a more elegant root (i.e. the square root), coins provided practically no force, and massive targets still pushed to the stratosphere. Higher roots “level the playing field” more than lower roots. c1 = sixteenth root of (m1) c2 = sixteenth root of (m2) m1 – mass of Allomancer m2– mass of target Because of how roots work, we can also say that c1 * c2 = sixteenth root of (m1 * m2). Regarding the maximum to the force that an Allomancer can get from an extremely massive target: The heavier and heavier the target, the less and less the increase in force. No pushes to the stratosphere. I’m not actually sure if this is the case with roots, but it felt like it was: the lighter and lighter the target, the less and less the decrease in force. Coins are very light, but still provide a significant push. In the end, I’m not actually trying to figure out how mass affects the force in the books. I am fairly confident Brandon didn’t consider the exact relationship while writing the books. I’m just finding ways to emulate it in a physics engine. Part V: Summary & Final points And here’s the final, composed formula for the force an Allomancer experiences while pushing: Force on Allomancer = Allomantic Force + Allomantic Normal Force = Allomantic Constant * Burn rate * sixteenth root of (target mass * Allomancer mass) / squared distance between Allomancer and target (See Edit 2/3) + Allomantic Normal Force Burn rate is between 0 and 1. A Burn rate of 1 gives the maximum Allomantic Force. When target mass is 0 or the Allomancer mass is 0, the Allomantic Force is 0. The closer and closer the target is to the Allomancer, the greater and greater the Allomantic Force. Like other normal forces, if the target isn’t fully anchored (e.g. a coin sliding across the ground, or a thin metal rod that bends as you push on it), the Allomantic Normal Force ranges from 0 to the Allomantic Force, depending on how anchored the target is. This means that an Allomancer pushing on a perfectly anchored target will be pushed back with twice the force as a perfectly unanchored target, assuming they have the same distance. This last bit about the distance is key. If an Allomancer is falling through the air and throws down a coin, the coin quickly falls further and further down. The Allomantic Force quickly becomes very small. Only once the Allomancer falls further and is near the coin – now anchored to the ground – does the distance stay small enough for the Allomantic Force to be large enough for a long enough time to scale a building. Friction (and air resistance) can also be a normal force, in this context; any (normal component of a) force that resists the Allomantic Force can be an ANF. Gravity, too, can be an ANF. An allomancer hovering in the air (whose push cancels out gravity) exerts an ANF equal to gravity back to their target. Theoretically, the Allomantic Normal Force could be greater than the Allomantic Force if the target accelerated in the opposite direction of the push. If you pushed (not pulled) on a target, and the target moved towards you (e.g. a very determined Steel Inquisitor, resisting your push and walking towards you), that normal force would push on you harder. This could result in “pushing matches” between Allomancers who try to move towards each other for even stronger pushes. Allomantic Normal Force works both ways. If the Allomancer is anchored (e.g. braced against a wall), the target will experience an Allomantic Normal Force. Other details: There are two main coins in Mistborn: Imperial boxings (gold) and clips (copper or bronze). In real life gold coins are usually around 30 grams, but I’ve experimented with increasing their mass by about 10-100 times for the game. Currently, I’ve kept them as 30g. When pushed with any reasonable force, 30g coins instantly fly off of the screen like bullets. There’s no user feedback that they pushed on that coin, other than, “that coin no longer appears to exist.” If you drop a coin from the air, it is on the ground by the next frame. Coins are sometimes described as behaving like bullets, but I don’t like how that works in the game. With heavier coins, you can see the coin after you push on it, but it still moves very quickly. Another option (which is the one I’m using in the game) is to simply cap their maximum velocity. I’ve left it at around 120m/s, which feels good. That’s about 1/3 the speed of sound. It causes some problems with calculating the Allomantic Normal Force from the target, but those have been resolved with coding (more or less). The image on the coins in the game is taken from Shire Mint. Fun fact: Unity doesn’t let you modify force vectors individually, which makes this a bit hard. You can only add forces/accelerations/velocity changes one at a time, then they are all applied to the object at the end of the frame. Calculating the Allomantic Normal Force is absolutely disgusting. See my code on GitHub, if you’re curious. I hope you all enjoyed the read! Please discuss this and give your opinions on the physics and maths of Allomancy. Specifically, Are there any more elegant relationships between Allomancer/target mass and Allomantic Force that you think I should try? Does anyone have any esoteric knowledge of Unity’s Rigidbody/Force systems that you think could be helpful? Any general ideas for the game? Any suggestions from what you can see in the videos? Any spelling/formatting issues with the post? Thank you.