*Psi and chi - are these two different things or, as Adiran suggested, are

they related in some way?

Razorclaw made a very good point when he said we've got to agree on this.

The impression I get from

most sources is that they are different.

I would say that Psi, as was said earlier, comes from without.  The Protoss
have to build a network of Psi Pylons in order for their units and buildings
to function properly, and in the manual it is said that this psi energy is
pretty much imported from the Protoss homeword.

*Protoss e-shields - just remember, are the Protoss _really_ going to leave

you alone while you're

poundin' on the things?

No, but those shields arent unbeatable, and if Ranma is really motivated his
chi attacks can carry some pretty heavy firepower.  You could also come up
with some interesting effects caused by the interaction of Psi and chi as a
power balancer if you feel it is nessecary.  My personal take is that the
shielding on most Protoss units is roughly as strong as their armor, so if
you just treat it as extra armor (that regenerates) and stop thinking of it
as a supernatural/supertech phenomenon then it may be easier to think
through.

*Reaction times - my impression is that the Nerimites will be pretty evenly

matched against the smaller

Zerg combat breeds (Hydralisks), and come up short against the Zerglings.

Larger things such as

Defilers (whose 'plague' doesn't kill outright, but weakens horribly) and

Ultralisks are slow but incredibly

tough - especially Ultralisks, which can go toe-to-toe with main battle

tanks.  As we probably will not

be seeing the Ranma cast fighting, say, Marines or Zealots, I'm not

mentioning them.

Agreed here -- one thing I'd like to point out is that with the type of
attack the Zergling uses it would probably be a one shot kill deal against
any un-armored human.  Well trained chi users like Ranma may be able to form
a sort of 'explosive chi defense' to divert the damage, and by explosive I
mean they trigger a directed burst of chi from the area of their body to be
hit at the Zergling's 'arm-claw thingy'  I guess it depends on  whether you
think it would be more effective for him to try and dodge or to trigger an
attack, and also on your interpretation of how long it takes Ranma to
channel that kind of power.  I dont see the Ultralisk as a threat because it
wouldnt be able to hit most of Team Ranma, so all of that firepower would be
wasted.  It would, however, scare the hell out of just about anyone.

*'Things-from-nowhere' and Arbiters' spatial-matrix games: I tossed this in

because some fanfic writers

interpret certain things (Mousse's arsenal, Kodachi's thousand-club

attack, etc.) as involving pocket

dimensions... something else to nail down.

The only thing within Ranma 1/2 that I really think involves hammerspace (as
I tend to call it) is Akane and her mallets, and occasionally random objects
that are used by other characters such as Genma's wooden signs.  I dont
think of hammerspace as having a lot of signifigance in combat, but I think
it is perfectly reasonable to assume that some characters do have access to
their own pocket dimensions unless you come up with a better or more
reasoned explanation.

I'm going to try and say this only once: this is something 'our heroes'

are going to have to truly sweat and/or get clever quick to deal with... and
they certainly won't be able to do it alone.  Yes, my style is heavily
influenced by Clancy, Brown, and their ilk, so that explains it.

And yes, I might make this into a Mikado Ichiban Elseworlds piece?

Confused?  Look here:


Well, Ranma and company would have to absolutely dump their age old strategy
of amassing to go attack the enemy in his hometown (Both Ranma 1/2 movies as
well as countless fanfics) and they would have to adopt a totally covert
style of combat in order to survive.  It would also be nice to give the
characters a very powerful motive to fight the Zerg other than the age old
heroism gig -- say a Zergling kills/almost kills Akane or someone else close
to Ranma and he pulls people together for vengeance.

Draxonx@bellsouth.net

Who just finished wiping the floor with a Terran and Zerg opponent as the
Protoss.... Long live Archons!