A Beginner’s Guide to Drucraft #30: Motion Sigls (II)

Kinetic Barrier

Type:  Triggered
Appearance: Gold, faceted square
Rank: C to B+

Creates a field in front of the sigl that converts the kinetic energy of momentum into free essentia, slowing or stopping any object that enters.  Typically used as a shield;  projectiles fired towards the wielder slow to a stop and drop to the ground.

The speed at which a kinetic barrier can drain kinetic energy is dependent on the sigl’s power – a C-rank version might completely stop a subsonic round, slow down (but not stop) a supersonic round, and do almost nothing to a rifle shot.

Different models project the field in different ways.  Some are designed to create a vertical shield, others create a curved partial sphere, and some create a full sphere that encloses the wielder completely.  As you would expect, the greater the coverage, the more power the sigl draws and the higher a rank it needs to be.

Balancing a kinetic barrier’s drain speed, coverage, and cost is a trade-off.  Typically you can get at most two out of three.

Since the effect is triggered, it’s useless against an attack that the wielder doesn’t know is coming.  As such, many consider this sigl suitable only for drucrafters who expect to know in advance when they’re getting into a fight (most likely because they’re going to be the one starting it).

Kinetic Shield

Type:  Continuous
Appearance: Gold, faceted sphere
Rank: C+ to A

A more advanced version of the kinetic barrier designed to operate automatically.  Projects a field around the user that slows down anything entering that field moving above a certain speed.  These sigls generally (but not always) are designed on the assumption that they’re meant to be defending against bullets – as such, they’re optimised for slowing down small things moving at a high speed, and don’t do much against bigger things, such as cars, falling objects, or people.

Has the big advantage that it works automatically, so it’ll still protect you if you get shot in the back.  The price you pay for this is a small constant essentia drain (or a large one if you’re under active attack), but most drucrafters consider this a worthwhile trade-off.

Always made as a sphere – in theory could be made with any kind of coverage, but in practice if you’re going to spend the resources to make this powerful and expensive a sigl, it makes no sense not to have it also provide all-around protection.

Versions of this sigl tend to be split into continuous and hybrid models.  Continuous models are designed to operate constantly with no input from the wielder (usually because it’s assumed that the wielder can’t channel or is bad at it).  Hybrid models can be triggered manually, allowing the wielder to control the amount of essentia flowing through the shield and reinforce it against specific attacks.

Probably the single most popular defensive Motion sigl.  Guns are by far the most common lethal weapon in the modern age, and anything that can defend against them is highly prized.   

Missile

Type:  Triggered
Appearance: Yellow, faceted
Rank: D+ to B+

A more powerful version of the Slam sigl which charges an item with kinetic energy.  Like the Slam sigl, this works by compressing air, but with the aim of imparting the kinetic energy to a projectile.  The air behind the projectile is heavily compressed, then released;  kinetic energy shapes a ‘barrel’ of force that means that the expanding air and projectile can only travel in one direction.  If the Slam sigl is the equivalent of an unloaded air gun, this is the equivalent of a loaded one.

Due to how a missile sigl works, it’s necessarily single-shot, with reload speed being dependent on how quickly the wielder can feed ammunition into their hand.  On the positive side, it’s also quiet, concealable, and accurate;  the mundane weapon whose performance it most closely matches is probably a crossbow.  At rank C and above, it’s potentially lethal to a human target.

Due to how subtle a missile sigl is, it’s quite hard to threaten someone with it – you can’t point it at someone to scare them the way you can a gun, meaning there’s little reason to carry this sigl unless you’re planning to actually use it against a target.  It’s less of a weapon for police or security, and more of a weapon for soldiers or assassins.  Unsurprisingly, this gives it a fairly bad reputation, and in most countries higher-power versions are sold only under licence.

Missile sigls are usually designed to work with a specific projectile type, such as a sphere, pellet, or flechette, though there are higher-end generalist models designed to be able to accept any kind of ammunition.

Hurl

Type:  Triggered
Appearance: Yellow, variable shape
Rank: D+ to B+

A very simple and straightforward sigl that projects a surge of kinetic energy into whatever the wielder touches, hurling them away from the wielder (hence the name).

Similar conceptually to the missile sigl, but designed to throw larger objects at lower velocities.  Unlike the missile sigl it doesn’t charge up a pocket of compressed air or use kinetic energy to form a barrel;  this makes the sigl relatively inaccurate, but it also makes it much simpler to shape and much easier and faster to use.

Most commonly used as a self-defence weapon to push opponents away.  Typically this is intended to be used defensively against attackers who’ve closed the distance to the wielder, but there’s nothing actually stopping a drucrafter from using it aggressively by closing the distance themselves.  Lower-level models will typically give a target no more than a few bruises, but higher-level ones can easily break bones.

Can be used in conjunction with Matter sigls to throw large objects;  this tactic is generally considered rather ineffective in practical terms, but is sometimes employed for intimidation purposes.