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

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew 'NightBeing' Alchemist" <xboct@??????.??????.kz>
To: <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 12:07 AM
Subject: [SPELLJAMMER] 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
>
> ********************************************************************
> The D&D; Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Welcome.asp
> The Spelljammer Homepage: http://www.darkwoodforest.com/rpg/compendium/
> To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@??????.???????.com
> with UNSUB SPELLJAMMER-L in the body of the message.
>