Re: What is a "conventional engine"?

On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 22:08:22 -0800, Danton May <coyotedkm@?????.com> wrote:

>Whether a flitter moved its wings or not would not
>really make a difference.
[snip]

it DOES make a difference: my players will ask me what they see, or at
least i´ll have to describe the takeoff/landing of a flitter somewhere down
the road. imagine your characters are groundlings who have seen only a few
spelljamming ships during their first trip into wildspace. th THEM it DOES
matter, it´s probably like a savage seeing a train for the first time.
and its the dm´s duty to describe the "wonders of wildspace" appropriately.


>But if you can't imagine a flitter working without
>wings that move, them make their wings move.  As far
>as physics go it is not an issue, so think in terms of
>pure magic.

i´ll go with the kite-explanation; combined with a "small helm" ((slow)
tactical movement without spelljamming speed) that seems satisfying to me.
other ships will have different kinds of propulsion; i am sure that one day
my players will come across the dew-holding brass sphere - i really look
forward to seeing their faces when they hear the explanation of how the
device works! :o)

thx @ all for resolving this question!

tauster


>--- David Shepheard <david_shepheard@???????.com>
>wrote:
>> >From: "Tauster" <chefseehund@???.de>
>> >Subject: [SPELLJAMMER] What is a "conventional
>> engine"?
>>
>>
>> >another thing that bugs me: does the elven flitter
>> move its wings when
>> >flying? the name implies that, but i didn´t read a
>> description yet. the
>> >same goes with the dragonfly, damselfly or wasp: do
>> their wings move or do
>> >they just "glide"?
>>
>> >i am for the moving-wings- version, because the
>> description of the flitter
>> >states that it can go OUT of an atmosphere, which
>> would be kind of
>> >difficult with a glider- the pilot would have to
>> rely on upwinds that
>> >actually blow his ship out of (!) the athmosphere.
>>
>> A kite is capable of achieving lift without
>> "flapping its wings" all that is required is
>> to point it into a wind. Perhaps the elves use some
>> sort of magic to give lift from a
>> world and use the angle and direction of the ship
>> for stearing it (hence the controls).
>>
>> Looking at the picture of the elven flitter, I think
>> it looks like the wings are fixed.
>> The elven ships seem to be grown like plants and
>> plant ships would seem to imply no
>> movement or very slow movement in the wings.
>>
>> Alternatively, perhaps the flitter (and other
>> similar elven craft) has a small degree of
>> movement in the edges of its wings that makes them
>> act similar to flaps on an aircraft.
>> However, I think I'd prefer it if the wings were
>> solid and the elven made body of the ship
>> had some sort of rudders and other controls for
>> steering.
>>
>> David "Big Mac" Shepheard
>> Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
>>
>http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_0010719
37434/Spelljammer_001071430476
>> http://virtualeclipse.aboho.com/
>>
>>
>********************************************************************
>> The D&D; Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd
>> The Spelljammer Homepage: http://www.spelljammer.org
>> To unsubscribe, send email to
>> LISTSERV@??????.???????.com
>> with UNSUB SPELLJAMMER-L in the body of the message.
>>
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________
>Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday!
>Yahoo! Netrospective: 100 Moments of the Web
>http://birthday.yahoo.com/netrospective/
>
>********************************************************************
>The D&D; Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd
>The Spelljammer Homepage: http://www.spelljammer.org
>To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@??????.???????.com
>with UNSUB SPELLJAMMER-L in the body of the message.