Re: Tech & SJ

Exactly! I don't get why folk want stinking steam stuff, lol. I may love
the look of a steam train, but I know they are incredibly dirty things.
I'd much rather have a *magical* helm, than you very much! ;)

Fouling the enemy's air may not be a good idea though, as it may come
back to hit you...I'd personally guess amongst "honourable" types, that
kind of activity would be frowned on, much as we have rules of war that
ban poison gas etc. For a very brutal and to the point example of why it
could be suicidal...the enemy captain would have no choice but to ram
YOUR ship, to survive! "Hoist by your own petard", indeed ;)

Yes, improved/new weapon tech would be good, I see the "Helm Seeking"
weapons being a "Big thing". Imagine loading a catapult, with a barrel
loaded with swarms of bugs, and making it a Helm Seeker...now that,
would be a brilliant way to wreck a ship's ability to fight, without
damaging the ship, hehe.





-----Original Message-----
From: Spelljammer Setting Discussion
[mailto:SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com] On Behalf Of Adam Miller
Sent: 27 August 2007 00:48
To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Tech & SJ

Heh, time to go into a bit of a rant.

Tech & SJ

One pet peeve of mine that I've developed lately is
the people saying "the natural progression of SJ is to
steamships & guns!"  Um, no its not.  In fact, the two
do not mix well at all, if you understand the
fundamentals of the SJ universe.

And why won't they work?  Simple, its all about the
air.  In SJ, a ship has a very limited air supply. 
Steam and guns foul air, very quickly in fact
*snip*
.

Steam is even worse

*snip*

And really, what would a SJ captain be trying to solve
by using steam engines?  An expensive helm & helmsman.
 But a steam engine wouldn't get him anywhere any
faster; speeds are set at 100 MMPD.  It would use up a
lot of valuable space, and would require an expensive
magic item of some sort to keep the air clean.  In the
end, it wouldn't really buy him anything but more
headaches than it'd be worth.

So where do I see SJ tech developing?  Look to the
elves.  Starfly plants are ingenious for making ships.
 Firstly, you create a ship that is still a living
plant.  Something that freshens the air, extending the
air a ship has.  We have a few examples of that
happening (namely from Sea of Sorrow).  Its slightly
more flimsy than a thick wood hull (AR 7 for MoW as
opposed to AR 6 for a hammership), but easier to sail
(MC C vs. MC D).  And it may be possible to grow
enormous orchards of thousands of ships at once,
probably with only minimal pruning and maintenance.  

For propulsion, I see Splendid Sails & Onrey Oars as a
more logical progression.  They're cheap, and don't
use a spellcaster.  They have their limitations, but
I'd also keep a minor helm aboard for emergencies like
landing & combat.  Its a far less complex solution to
the "problem" of helms.  

Weapon evolution would be more along the lines of
developing more powerful catapults & ballista, such as
dual ballista & the Vodoni weapons, or for the REALLY
wealthy, magic weapons.  Especially magic weapons that
chuck smokebombs at a their foes.  Destroy a foe's
air, you kill them in one fell swoop.

So, in the context of the SJ universe, I would see the
"state of the art" ship being something not unlike a
MoW, perhaps with a different layout, with wing-like
Splendid Sails and armed to the teeth with Vodoni
double-ranged ballista.  Certainly not a steamship
armed with cannons! :D

But that's all just IMHO ;)

Adam


      

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