Re: The Future of Spelljammer

On Tue, 19 Mar 1996, Douglas Russell wrote:

> Tinker gnomes?  What are/were they?  Weren't they just a stupid legend?  Yes,
> Virginia, they never existed at all!

Awwww..... *I* really liked them.....  :-)  On the other hand, given
their tendency to have mishaps, if one lifts the 'it's cute, it'll
survive *anything*' rule, they would die out quickly in a hostile wildspace.

> The neogi have taken to creating armies of slave-mercenaries;  controlled by
> special drugs or biologic implants, then hiring out these mercenaries for
> profit.

The one *BIG* problem with the neogi expansion is, given their
reproductive cycle (which isn't very well thought out *at all*), they
would have a hard time expanding their population beyond a certain
number.  The sheer attrition of warring with all other cultures and races
would wipe them out *much* faster than the handful created each time a
neogi actually lives to be a grand old master (was that the title?).

> The Spelljammer has become a "neutral ground" city -- a place for diplomacy
> that
> is strong enough that no one power could take it over.  It has become the
> "Switzerland" of space...

That's a shame, IMO.  The Spelljammer should remain a legendary,
exceedingly rare place from which there is no escape.

> These are my ideas, comments and constructive crit is always welcome.

Of course, my comments are utterly IMO.  Take them for what they are :-) I
consider the dwarves rather industrious, but I've always considered them
to be *very* possessive and secretive with their inventions.  I'd be
surprised if the 'standard' dwarves would be so free in sharing their
tech, even if they got fabulously wealthy in the process.  After all, the
time frame listed is barely two or three generations of dwarves, unless
this old man's memory is failing.

Heh.

    Mike Phillips, mike@??????.??.edu