(no subject)

[feotakahari]

Let's say a character has "bad luck" powers, but they're never described as mind control.

1): Is making someone trip over a rock bad luck?

2): If someone has a reasonable chance of forgetting their computer password, is making them forget it bad luck?

3): If your answers are different, what separates them?

Comments

[wingedcatgirl]

1. Could be, depending on the trippability of the rock and the baseline clumsiness of the someone. The bad luck power could move the rock, or cause a random glint of light to distract the person. It could only go so far before it stops making sense to call "luck", though; some very nimble person (Spiderman? My brain is supplying Spiderman) tripping over a rock in a well-lit and frequently-maintained hallway feels less like "bad luck" and more like "rock conjuration".

2. I wouldn't typically attribute remembering or forgetting a password to luck, though that might be because my baseline memory is so bad that I make a point of outsourcing as much of my password-remembering as possible to my browser and other devices. Having access to a given password, for me, is about planning rather than luck. I would, on the other hand, attribute needing a password I had forgotten to bad luck.

That said, I'm sure there are external factors manipulable by "luck" that could cause someone to forget a password they normally wouldn't have, same as with tripping on a rock - maybe our victim was overstimulated by loud noise at the wrong time and their train of thought got derailed.