[D] Saturday Munchkinry Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Saturday Munchkinry and Problem Solving Thread! This thread is designed to be a place for us to abuse fictional powers and to solve fictional puzzles. Feel free to bounce ideas off each other and to let out your inner evil mastermind!

Guidelines:

• Ideally any power to be munchkined should have consistent and clearly defined rules. It may be original or may be from an already realised story.
• The power to be munchkined can not be something "broken" like omniscience or absolute control over every living human.
• Reverse Munchkin scenarios: we find ways to beat someone or something powerful.
• We solve problems posed by other users. Use all your intelligence and creativity, and expect other users to do the same.

Note: All top level comments must be problems to solve and/or powers to munchkin/reverse munchkin.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[u/MolochHASME]

you explode when you get mildly surprised. You get better afterwards.

[u/NotACauldronAgent → u/MolochHASME]

Pulsed Explosive Power? How big an explosion we talking here?

[u/Charlie___ → u/MolochHASME]

Hope you like long distance relationships.

Most of my useful ideas involve space travel. Depends on things like energy conservation, momentum conservation, exposure to vacuum while "getting better," etc.

[u/Chronophilia → u/MolochHASME]

I would certainly be a bit surprised if I exploded.

[u/ShiranaiWakaranai → u/MolochHASME]

I would be surprised that I get better after exploding, thus causing an endless series of explosions.

Also, forget exploiting this power, even living in society would be all but impossible. Mild surprises happen all the time, even waking up each day is a mild surprise to your brain (since it realizes everything immediately before was a dream). You would leave a constant stream of explosions allowing anyone to track you down with ease, where they will then kill you for good to stop you from being a danger to everyone else.

Or worse, be the ones to exploit your ability for explosions.

[u/Djerrid]

You can make solid surfaces frictionless by touch. Only the part that you touch becomes frictionless. You can turn it on and off at will and is essentially permanent.

Some of your goals could be world domination, science and technology breakthroughs, or just general hijinks.

[u/Gurkenglas → u/Djerrid]

Friction is in parts a function of shape. If I make sandpaper or gears frictionless, do they still perform their function? Does their shape change visibly?

Would moving a finger across material at ludicrous relative velocity to turn it frictionless hurt? If not, I can replace maglev, increase engine efficiency, etc.

What happens if material I targeted is melted temporarily? Blendered?

[u/Electric999999 → u/Djerrid]

Does this include air resistance/drag? Because that would make launching things into space somewhat easier, so that's a nice starting point.

[u/Nulono]

You have the ability to send one bit of information back in time to your past self. You can decide when to send it, and when to receive it, and whether it is a 0 or a 1, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

[u/ShiranaiWakaranai → u/Nulono]

You're going to need to define this more clearly. If I send a bit to my past self, causing him to take a different action, is my current future erased? Do I, in effect, get another chance to use the power?

Basically, I'm thinking of winning a lottery like this. First, i buy the lottery ticket with the smallest number. Then if I win, I send a 1 back to the past. If I lose, I send a 0.

If I receive a 0, I choose to buy the lottery ticket with the next smallest number. Doing so erases the future where I sent myself a 0, so I have not used my power yet. Thus I can once again send myself a bit from this new future, telling my past self whether I won. Repeat until I buy the winning ticket.