Rod or Ring?

[DrNewGod]

You're rummaging around JSA Headquarters and in a closet find both
Green Lantern's lamp and ring
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and Starman's Cosmic Rod.
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Which one you taking?

[Ascended]

I'm taking the cosmic rod. Then I'm giving the design away to everybody, leaking it everywhere online and giving everybody access to cheap, green, renewable energy. Then the Knight family estate sues my ass to jail forever, assuming the government doesn't disappear me first. But the genie will be out of the bottle and I will have brought limitless eco-friendly power to the world.

Sure, Ted worried about giving cosmic tech away before he could de-weaponize it, and he rightfully feared a government/military powered by his science. I'm less concerned. We already have the power to destroy ourselves a hundred times over, Ted's tech isn't making us any deadlier (to ourselves) than we already are. But maybe this is just me wanting to watch the world burn, too....

[j9ac9k]

I'm taking the cosmic rod.

Did you not vote? I also voted "Rod" but says there are only two votes and so far there's one for each...

Anyhoo, as much as I love Green Lantern, having the ring and battery always seemed cumbersome. You have to hide the battery and recharge all the time, etc. And the Starheart is a bit scary with its ties to magic. I just know I'm gonna get sucked into the battery at some point. I'm not as worried about the weakness to wood, but that's also a negative.

[DrNewGod]

Did you not vote? I also voted "Rod" but says there are only two votes and so far there's one for each...

Anyhoo, as much as I love Green Lantern, having the ring and battery always seemed cumbersome. You have to hide the battery and recharge all the time, etc. And the Starheart is a bit scary with its ties to magic. I just know I'm gonna get sucked into the battery at some point. I'm not as worried about the weakness to wood, but that's also a negative.

Also, the Rod doesn't go to randomly talking at you, begging the question of whether it's discreetly planting ideas in your noggin on each recharge

[superduperman]

Also, the Rod doesn't go to randomly talking at you, begging the question of whether it's discreetly planting ideas in your noggin on each recharge

I probably should have read this before I voted.

[Riv86672]

I’m fine w. the Ring.

[Jon Clark]

Outside of the Arroverse Stargirl, I've never seen the Cosmic Rod with any sentience, so I assume it has less chance of rebelling against the user. I'll take that.

Now if I was being given either item willingly by the hero, the ring is a preferred as being more user friendly (Think and it happens)

[marhawkman]

Yeah, Ring because it's more useful overall.

[The Darknight Detective]

The ring! My precious!

[Phoenixx9]

Power Ring for me, please and thank you! (It could even be Power Ring's Power Ring!)

[Aarkus]

call me crazy here, but the ring is only limited to the user's imagination + willpower, right? ergo, one could focus those traits into using the ring to create a cosmic rod anyway, thus having both rather than needing to choose.

thread closed

[Ascended]

Did you not vote? I also voted "Rod" but says there are only two votes and so far there's one for each...

Whoops, I didn't! Fixed. Thanks.

call me crazy here, but the ring is only limited to the user's imagination + willpower, right? ergo, one could focus those traits into using the ring to create a cosmic rod anyway, thus having both rather than needing to choose.

thread closed

Except I don't know how a cosmic rod works, so I couldn't fabricate one with the ring. I mean, I could make a construct that looks like it and does the same stuff, but it won't be a working cosmic rod, just the illusion of one. I couldn't give the blueprint of that away or anything.

And honestly, I don't have many illusions about my ability to make the ring work. I'm a stubborn bastard, but do I have the willpower to make it do more than glow a little bit? Not just anyone is supposed to be able to wield these things. Alan's ring doesn't work quite the same way as the Corps' do, I guess, but it's still prevalent on the user's willpower right? But I know for a fact I can flip a switch.

[Aarkus]

Except I don't know how a cosmic rod works, so I couldn't fabricate one with the ring. I mean, I could make a construct that looks like it and does the same stuff, but it won't be a working cosmic rod, just the illusion of one. I couldn't give the blueprint of that away or anything.

And honestly, I don't have many illusions about my ability to make the ring work. I'm a stubborn bastard, but do I have the willpower to make it do more than glow a little bit? Not just anyone is supposed to be able to wield these things. Alan's ring doesn't work quite the same way as the Corps' do, I guess, but it's still prevalent on the user's willpower right? But I know for a fact I can flip a switch.

hm, I'd argue that knowledge over how the rod works, even blueprints themselves, would already be in the large database of knowledge and info that Lanterns gain access to when they get the rings. Hal once created "telepathic earpieces" for himself and a few cohorts, at some point during 52, I think - if a Lantern/Ring can produce THAT without blueprints, I don't see why one would need them for a the rod....

[out of control]

I voted Cosmic Rod ! Starman all the way. Jack Knight rules.

[DrNewGod]

hm, I'd argue that knowledge over how the rod works, even blueprints themselves, would already be in the large database of knowledge and info that Lanterns gain access to when they get the rings. Hal once created "telepathic earpieces" for himself and a few cohorts, at some point during 52, I think - if a Lantern/Ring can produce THAT without blueprints, I don't see why one would need them for a the rod....

Fair point. However, it all comes down to the writer. I seem to remember a ring telling a GL that a construct he wanted was beyond his ability to conceptualize. Maybe it was a substandard GL.