Re: Discussion: What's "wrong" with SJ?

>At one point, I was a big fan of reducing helm costs by a factor of ten or
>so. However, examination of the economic potential of helms
>(cargo-hauling) convinced me that the prices listed probably are fair
>approximations of the going rate on helms. I get upwards of 40,000 gp
>income per year hauling cargoes with a minor helm (using the Merchant kit,
>and my own parameters on port density and expenses for crew, etc.).

I always felt that helms needed to be both cheaper, and more expensive:)
They need to be cheap enough to be fairly common, yet expensive enough to
be not _too common_.  They also needed more variety in what size vessels
they could power.  I solved the problem by adding different types of helms,
"Arcane" helms which were standard helms, and then just "helms" which were
created using the priest or mage Create Helm spells combined with
permanancy.  These "created" helms were cheaper, and more common, but had
the tonnage limits listed under the spell description.  I also made the
helms much more fragile, they still save versus magical effects on a 2, but
versus physical attacks they use the standard item saving throw tables.  I
also ruled that transfering helms was a tricky process, which required a
saving throw versus crushing blow for the chair when it was removed from a
vessel outside a shipyard.  To keep players from just "risking" it, I added
a rule that whenever a helm is destroyed, it becomes the center for 1d6
wildsurges (this also allows for spectacular ship death scenes, since the
helm of a ship reduced to 0 Hull Points almost always fails its crushing
blow save and becomes the center of a wild surge storm:))

For those interested in hearing more, its in my SJ Players primer, which is
on Statics Beyond the Moons site, I believe:)

"We look on the same stars,  the sky is common,  the same world surrounds
us.  What difference does it make by what pains each seeks the truth?  We
can not attain to so great a secret by one road..."
Symmachus,  "Memorial on the Occasion of the Removal of the Altar of
Victory from the Senate House" (392 AD)

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State
Adjunct Faculty, Humanities Department, Columbus State Community College