Theoretical OP question

[Nox]

So I've been thinking about a device that limit's the OP of a channeler.  I'm thinking that it can only really limit their strength so I've been wondering how the OP in our world what strength really means.

Strength is how much power you can draw, and how long you can essentially channel -- in a nutshell.  Or at least that's how I envision the Strength number being represented.

Gonna use Nox as an example mostly because I know what he does and doesn't do lol.

Nox is maxed out at like 30 or 31.  Not overly strong in comparison.  But he's a Master at what he does do in most cases.

So if he draws max power and throws a fireball.  How does that differ if he say he only drew half his power, or 5% of his power? Is it just smaller, doesn't goes as far before fizzling out?

His skill doesn't change so what if it's more complex?  He typically can handle 3 different simpler weaves at the same time at about half his power?  Does being limited to only 5% of his power limit the number of flows he can handle?  Or is that pure skill?  If he drew all of his power and split flows could he handle more flows?  The more is definitely exponentially harder he's at his capacity at 3 as far as I'm concerned and won't ever do more, but it's a question on strength.

At dragonmount Strength (and Skill) determined what weaves you could and could not due.  And to further it Strength was also broken down into each of the 5 elements of the OP with a point buy system.  So we always knew what weaves we could or could not do based on our strength/skill levels.  I like our way better and am not suggesting we do anything with it.  I'm just curious as to what strength looks like.  Not so much against someone else, but what a person is capable of with the same skill level but with a limited strength cap.

[Thalia]

Is a good question, to which I don't have much answer. The majority of my characters are channelers, but barely any of them actually ever channel (beyond trivial things). When Ori fought Ryker I think she was significantly stronger, and certainly more skilled, but she was fighting to provoke not win, and ultimately that played against her. We just decided things cooperatively there. As to the question, I don't think I particularly considered what she was capable of at the time, just went with what made a fun scene.

Ori is my only "master" and the others are generally handicapped in some way still, either with blocks or the way they understand channeling itself. Or they haven't had occasion to use it much. To be honest I mostly forget to upgrade skill and power level. I should probably look at that for some of them actually, ha.

With channelers like Thalia who have a comparatively low strength I have always assumed there will be things she can't do, but once/if her skill level is high enough she would be able to handle complexity with the things she can do. What those things are I would probably just decide by what felt right for her character.

Not a helpful answer lol. But interested to see how others see it.

[Thalia]

As for a device limiting the OP, personally I would look at character consequence more than mechanics and percentages. What makes it fun to play with? So maybe the power is harder to draw on, like it's being sieved/funnelled through something. Can't get as much or as quickly, slower to do anything meaningful with it. Stuff like that.

[Nox]

Definitely not looking at in a battle scenario. Not a person against a person because that's much more fun on the fly. I assume Nox knows he's working at half power specifically so he can fight longer and harder, and he probably overly complicates his weaves because of how he learned. It's not mathematically efficient etc. Nox is only maxed power because he finally pulled enough power to find that threshold to keep a roof from crushing him and Jay lol.

If he were only a strength of 10 that wouldn't have worked. But if he's limited to 10 what could he have done. Would he have saved them trapping them in a 'bubble' of fall debris while the rest of the cave collapsed in around them?

[Thalia]

Yep, I used Ori because that's one of the only times one of my chars has actually used the power in any significant way. I doubled posted, so there are some suggestions above (as to how I would approach it anyway).

And I would say yes to that suggestion of how it might have affected the cave scenario for example.

[Nox]

I have very specific reason for trying to get an understanding on it. Though it likely won't happen because Zef is unlikely to be able to control a male OP with the device. I think it's a fair trade to limit the device to work only to your sex.

But it had me thinking. If you shielded Nox what would the horde do? The OP is how he 'controls' them. If he couldn't channel he'd be a thrall to the horde's rewiring of his brain, but since he can control the horde he can control his own impulses. (At least this is my current theory on what happens). So if Zef were to actually get the device to work on him, he'd pretty much become the monster he fears he is. But how much power does he need to control it. Is it a trickle of power? or is it like say 5% of his power does he need so he doesn't go all killer instinct on you. So if he's limited to 5% of his power what can he do?

Again likely not to happen as I think Zef shouldn't be able to control saidin.

[Jaxen Marveet]

Uhh, this makes my head hurt. But uh, here's a go at it.

The stronger you are, the more weaves, the more complex they can be, and the more threads you can use at once.

Strongest bloke: can weave dozens of all 5 threads together for really complex purposes - case in point, Rand doing the dozens of death gates while Logain watches in awe. Logain was powerful, but not as powerful as Rand, but he could still do the death gates, just not as many. 

Go down the power ranks and you can somewhat decrease your ability to mix and match the 3 'power flexes' to varying degrees: 1. number of threads, 2. complexity, 3. number of flows.

If Nox is maxed at a 30, when he pulls on his max power, he can perform his max threads, complexity, and flows and since he's a master he can do all that under duress while getting actively attacked and probably also while juggling bowling pins. If Nox accessed 10% of his power and only pulled a 3's worth, he could only do what a person who maxes out at 3 could do. Which is probably only channel 1 thread at a time. Nox at a 30 can hold up a collapsing cave with thousands of pounds of rock overhead. Nox at a 3 can lift a coffee cup. 

Jay is a 27. For reference, in my head, at max channeling he could only create 1 death gates at a time. It's complex, requires a lot of power, but he isn't strong enough to split the flows and create 2+. Or in contrast, Jay could create 2 bolts of lightning at a time. They're not quite as complex as death gates, so he has some 'left over' capacity to split the flows.

Talents I'm not even going to think about because they don't obey the rules. Case in point the healer talent.

[Nox]

Yeah but complexity is a direct result of skill increase it should not be relative to strength at all. In fa to become master complexity and duress is the requirement. Not strength. Related. You could be a master at 10. Can't do powerful things but still what you can do would be complex and under duress.

Splitting flow takes skill and power. Your flows would I think be a part of what you could channel at max. Splitting at 10 gives you tiny amounts of power not worth it but you should still be able to do it. Like make three separate lights independent of one another or juggling three different elemental balls.

[Jaxen Marveet]

uh you got to be at least a 12 to reach expert, which isn't that channeling more than 1 flow at a time.

I take that to mean if you're a max 30 and you only draw 10 worth of the OP, you could do a pretty cool bit of channeling but only one at a time?

[Thalia]

Since Nox doesn't have to be actively channeling or holding saidin to control the horde I don't think strength necessarily makes a difference (unless you want it to). Unless you're imagining it physically holding the horde back like a tide.

Do you want Nox to be put in the position of no or limited control? Because I think logically with the horde canon already established either can work. That he loses some or all control because his buffer is compromised, or that he remains unaffected because saidin is still present in that case, unlike a shield. The amount available to him can be irrelevant so long as it's actually there.

I agree with Jaxen. If skill level determines complexity but we're talking about an artificial reduction in the amount of saidin being drawn, you can't unlearn skill but you'd be limited physically with the amount of OP available for splitting flows. A master painter can only do so much with crayons but it's still going to be better artwork than a layman.

Thinking in percentages requires more info and rules than we use here. Could the device limit the OP by literally limiting the channeler to only using one flow at a time instead? Makes it simpler for determining outcome if you want set perimeters to work with.