Re: Helm restrictions

One of the things that has been neglected in the most recent debates
about Capital Ships and Wild Mages on Helms is that _no one_ knows how
the helms work.  In game or out, TSR is as much in the dark as the IEN. 
Only the Arcane know how they function, how to build them, or anything
else about them.  And, depending on your campaign, maybe the Arcane
aren't telling....
	IN my game, the Arcane were enslaved millions of years ago by the Juna
and their Prime Material pawns the K'r'r'r.  With the aid of Celestian's
chosen, the Arcane freed themselves (The spelljammer was created during
this time by Celestian as a weapon against the mysterious Juna).  The
K'r'r'r had huge capital ships, easily equivalent to a star destroyer,
that made their domination of wildspace easy.  When the K'r'r'r and the
Juna were evicted and the earthbound races made their way into space,
the Arcane, in a paranoid racial defense kind of way, jealously guarded
the secrets of the Juna they learned while in slavery.  Does 100 tons
seem like too arbitrary a limit on spelljammers? It is.  The Arcane will
not allow the elves or the Thri-kreen or the Scro to become as dominant
as the K'r'r'r were, so they have not allowed the secrets of the helms
to get out.  They know how to propel capital ships... but they aren't
telling.
In my campaign, the K'r'r'r have returned (read: shadows form Bab5), and
the first time the players see a Capital ship (the tri-catamaran
Shadowmaster class) I expect them to be extremely surprised.  When this
confabulation dies down, I suspect there will be some questions asked of
the Arcane.  I still do not know how they will answer.
	Needless to say, the Elven Captital ships would ruin this surprise, but
they may make an appearance after the Shadow wars....

CAUTION: These are merely sample ideas. Results in your campaign may
vary. Not valid with any other offer.

Tempest