Re: Planar Structure and Cosmology - Planejammer?

Well, if you're looking specifically to have a ship that goes from
plane to plane... well, you're going to have to aim towards the path
of least resistance.

1. Size: Assuming that portals come in all shapes and sizes, you're
going to want a ship that is small enough to fit through as many
portals as possible but still be large enough to be somewhat
defensable and carry enough cargo to be profitable. I'd say somewhere
between 10 and 25 tons for a classic spelljammer ship.

2. Composition: Living/Undead ship. SJ Lore would indicate that the
best way to go hoping across the planes with ship going with you is
with a ship that is somewhat alive in its own right. Specifically I am
thinking of the Pirates of Gith who can user their natural abilities
to plane-shift an elven ship into the Astral for ambushes. I would
extend this ability to ships built on the backs of space whales and
giant undead bone ships.

3. Reason: The biggest issue with this is why go through the trouble?
Sure adventurers will go anywhere but for your average person what's
in it for them? What sort of cargo are these ships carrying that makes
it so worth while? I would think that the primary reason for most
cultures would be military. Evil races would see them as a way to
conquest..while good races would need a way to prevent themselves from
being conquested.

On 4/14/05, Dreamer <dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk> wrote:
> In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Wed 13 Apr, George "Loki" Williams wrote:
> > > Maybe you could have 'shadow barges', parallel to spelljammers,
> > > that travel through the Plane of Shadow, rather than the
> > > Phlogiston?
> > >
> > > What would be really interesting would be a mechanism which
> > > allowed you to travel through both, or maybe even all the
> > > 'transitive planes', such as the Ethereal, Astral, Shadow and
> > > Phlogiston.
> > >
> > > Would this go some way towards satisfying the needs of the
> > > Planejammer project?
> >
> > There are already parallels existent. There are references to Etherships on
> > the Ethereal, as well as SJ style ships that sail the skies of the Abyss in
> > several Planescape products. (Look for a conversion of the Ethership Power
> > Core at the end of this email). In the Planejammer stuff I am working on
> > there are different means of propulsion needed on different planes. Helms
> > work on the Prime and astral according to the write up on Crosswinds Keep
> > (search the WOTC site for it), There are Astral sails and bound elemental
> > spirits powering the Githyanki astral ships in Incursion (Dragon/Dungeon
> > Magazine back issues- Githyanki Invasion of the Prime), Etherships use bound
> > elementals, etc.
> >
> > The trick is not so much traveling while in the transitive planes (and I
> > think they all should be fair game), but transposing the ship from one to
> > the next. Other than portals from the flow into a sphere you rarely will
> > find a planar gate large enough for a ship.
> 
> Creating a planar gate is a one-off process, if you cannot find
> one that already exists, to take you where you want to go. That
> sounds like casting a spell with a relatively short duration to
> me. And, it is probably just a two dimensional effect, an area
> you move your vessel through, like entering a mirror.
> 
> Actually travelling within a plane needs some sort of big
> three-dimensional effect, that covers the whole vessel, and this
> must have a long duration, typically a permanent enchantment.
> 
> While opening the planar gate may be difficult, you could argue
> that moving the vessel around is pretty difficult as well, and
> might even be harder, under certain circumstances.
> 
> 
> > Keep ideas coming as I am tightening up my Planejammer notes and the
> > Metalspace sphere I was working on before Mardi Gras and hope to have
> > them posted within the week.
> 
> Ethership Power Core?
> 
> 
> > George "Loki," Williams
> > New Orleans Music Reviews http://www.neworleansbands.net
> > Planescape: Planewalker.Com The Official Planescape Site Section Mgr for
> > Snail Outfitters http://www.planewalker.com/snail/index.php
> > Spelljammer: Beyond The Moons, The Official Spelljammer Site Contributing
> > Artist/Developer http://spelljammer.org/
> > Spelljammer:  Into The Void (Coming Soon) Columnist
> > http://intothevoid.spelljammer.org/
> 
> --
> Dreamer
> dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
> http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/
> 
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-- 
-DT
http://www.darktouch.net