By Winged Wolf
I see a lot of folks working on shielding from a mechanical perspective, and they can get very fancy. The issue, however, is that it doesn’t seem many people think about what a shield really IS, or how it actually works.
The first and most important thing to remember is that a shield is not a material object. The properties you assign it that are like material objects aren’t going to change its essential nature–it’s made of energy. It is patterned energy. All you’re changing is the pattern and programming.
The function of a shield is to block other energy from passing. To do that, it has to throw up some sort of interference or canceling pattern. It’s more like a radar scrambler than it is like a brick wall.
So, with that in mind, what should you be focusing on with your shielding?
It needs to cover as broad a range of frequencies as you can possibly reach. Any frequency you cannot match, or that you forget and leave out, is an entry point. If someone else can hit that frequency, they will go right through your shields, no matter how many spikes, flames, or fancy tricks you put into it.
It needs to cover as wide a range of patterns as possible, and it needs to change. If it stays the same, then all someone needs to do is study it for long enough, match the pattern, add a rider, and slip right through. The changes shouldn’t follow a predictable pattern, either.
It needs to cover more than one ‘space’. We’re all familiar with the space around us, and most energy-workers are familiar with what is called the ‘astral plane’, which is actually an energy space or extra-dimensional space, perhaps. If you ignore those entry points, people can teleport through your shields (so to speak).
Sounds difficult, doesn’t it? It is difficult. It’s easy to keep out a newbie who will be stopped by any reasonably complex barrier, because they don’t know how to match patterns or frequencies, and don’t have instincts to do it, either. It’s a great deal harder if you go up against someone who does have those instincts…and hardest of all, someone who actually knows what they are doing, and knows all the tricks. In the latter case, what you are doing is pitting your range and skill against theirs, directly. If you can’t cover as much or more area as they can in terms of frequencies, patterns, and space, then you fail, and they win, it’s that simple.
The rest is just window dressing to appeal to your own sense of aesthetics, and intimidate the less well-trained.
I apologize if this makes shielding ‘less fun’. You can still do all of the fancy stuff–but always remember what lies beneath it is what really counts.