Re: SJ Ship Construction

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Adam Miller" <night_druid3000@?????.com>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 2:54 PM


> Tonnage: If I were a shipbuilder, I sure the heck
> would NOT build a ship right at the 50-ton mark.

You're right.

> Also, by not going full-sized, it leaves open the
> option of towing ships.  Something not seen yet, but
> could very well work, is hooking up one 25-tradesman
> with a minor helm, then tow a helmless tradesman
> behind that one, doubling cargo, crew, and weapons.
> If necessary, a captain could cut loose one tradesman
> if faced with pirates, and escape.  A hammership with
> a major helm leaves plenty of wiggle room to tow most
> smaller ships behind it, maybe even two ships (two eel
> ships, for example, or a tradesman and a dragonfly).

Towing ships is a very interesting subject.

Towing a ship should be more difficult than flying a single ship. The 
helmsman would probably not be able to gain helmsight from the towed ship. 
It might cause him to have a "blind spot".

A towed ship would probably fall outside the air envelope of the main ship 
(although their might be a long air tube along the tow rope). This may make 
it function as a separate body and force the first ship to drop to tactical 
speed. However, that wouldn't be so much fun, so I hope that isn't the case.

During tactical movement a ship with a high manoeuvrability that towed a 
ship with a poor manoeuvrability would have to turn slowly or the towed ship 
would exceed its MC. This might cause the towed ship to overshoot and spin 
the main ship around. Towing more than one ship would make this risk higher 
as any of the ships could jacknife during manoeuvres.

Stopping would also be a problem as the towed ship would slam into the back 
of the towing ship. Ropes and chains are good for pulling ships but not 
pushing them. One option would be to cut (or drop) the tow rope. Separating 
the two ships should force them to be treated as different objects and force 
them both back to tactical speed. The main ship could then move to one side 
and let the other ship overtake it. However, they would need to grapple the 
(formerly) towed ship and pull it to a halt.

Maybe someone should design a "tug" that can cope with all of these things. 
It would need to be a boat that can bump into other boats and slow them down 
without damage.

David "Big Mac" Shepheard
Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_001071937434/Spelljammer_001071430476
http://www32.brinkster.com/virtualeclipse/