LONG -- SJ+Planes / Drow Question / Ranting -- LONG

Good Night

> Has  anyone  even  considered  something  along  the  lines  of    a
> phase-cloak  system  similar to the Romulans' phase cloaking device?
> One  possibility  may  be that the ships could phase into the Border
> Ethereal,  pass  through the surface without the need of any kind of
> tunnel  or hangar and then phase back to the Prime. Mind you, severe
> limitations  would  be  needed to prevent its use in battle and keep
> its  use  limited to passing through the surface (maybe even an item
> that  gives  them  the phase ability with a maximum of 2 charges and
> can  only  be  charged in the Underdark). But, it would take care of
> the security problem.

BTW, did anyone ever thought WHY mixing SJ and planes is considered at
least a bad taste? ;)

If  we  start creating such kind of things, few questions arise, in an
order:

1) Do SJ helms function on other planes?

If they don't:

   a) You'll be unable to move the ship there

   b)  There's  a possibility that they will not function anymore even
   after return to PMP

If they do:

   Then  why  in  all hells the SJ ships aren't commonly equipped with
   plane-hopping devices, and not used extensively on other planes? Do
   I  need  to  mention such places as Limbo to make a point that drow
   aren't  among the top ten of planehoppers among SJ-aware races, and
   aren't even on par with some of SJ-expert races?

   Why  SJ  ships  don't  travel  in  such  a  state -- for it is MUCH
   quicker, and safer in some aspects like air and asteroids?

And,  finally,  one  question  that  was  ALWAYS  on my mind. It isn't
related to planes.

Could  anyone  give  me any GOOD reason why SJ ships aren't used "down
there"?  I could get some points that strongly suggest otherwise... So
really, the above question could transform into "Why it is a bad taste
to  mix  SJ  with  anything  non-SJ,  including groundlings?", and the
answer  will  likely be: "Because it kills the credibility of SJ". The
drow   question  certainly  falls  into  the  same  category.  It  is,
basically:  "Why land-dwellers don't use SJ ships?" If we ask why drow
don't  SJ,  and  how to make them, then why we aren't asking questions
like:

Example #1:

Many rulers could easily afford a small fleet of SJ ships. Not too few
of  them  are  SJ-aware. Imagine some medium or large ship packed with
troops  suddenly  landing  in  the  dead  of  the  night in a critical
location  of  enemy's  territory?  These troops will not need to worry
about  months-long fighting advance, not even too much about supplies.
Imagine  a lone dragonfly hovering over an enemy's positions acting as
a  recon?  Imagine  it  has  all  of  its  5-ton cargo bay loaded with
incendiaries? Now give me a reason why they don't do it?

WHY every aspiring emperor does not use SJ ships to conquer the entire
planet?

Example #2:

Let's  consider  trade. There are many SJ ships that go here and there
doing  trade  business. They don't make a LOT of money, otherwise even
their sailor would have been rich people, AND the SJ piracy would have
been  hundred-fold  more  common.  Now consider the use of SJ ship for
on-planet   trade.  There  aren't  too  much  goods  that  get  traded
interplanetarily  (especially, if we have a situation when SJing needs
to  remain  concealed).  Examples from the "Spelljammer" computer game
when you are commissioned to ferry a ton or two of broadswords or even
wood  from some very-well developed port to another no less developed,
on another planet, made me feel dumb.

But  there's  a  LOT  of  goods  that  make  a HUGE profit down there.
Ordinary  ship  could take a few months of risky travel to get a cargo
of spice or exotic craftsmanship from one continent to another. For SJ
ship,  it is a matter of maximum of half-a-week, to lift off and touch
down at another point of the planet. And the hazards are much less, if
not to say zeroed.

So,  WHY  every  SJ  captain who's in need of some quick cash does not
make  a  few  such trips in a time it takes to reach the nearest other
planet?   WHY  trade  empires  like  real-world  Hanseatic  League  or
Venetians don't use SJ ships?

And the Drow are the dark-dwellers to boot.

One  occasional Drow in the Space is OK, but do we need to pull to the
stars every groundling race that just does not belong there?

Why we aren't talking Kobold starfleets? They need much less space and
supplies,  so  they  have  MUCH  more  probability to find their niche
there.

Why  there  aren't  too  much  SJ Minotaurs? Do Giffs beat them to the
pulp?

Why not put Treefolk in the skies? They certainly could get along with
EIN very well ;)

BTW, do EIN plant-ships have an air-regeneration capability? ;)

Good Luck
Andrew "NightBeing" Alchemist