Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
Verne does present the batteries as a high-end electrical technology, one more powerful than the batteries then in common use; but he identifies them as batteries of a specific design, using specific metals as electrodes. He's too optimistic about how much energy they can provide, by a long way. But he doesn't claim that they're a fundamentally new technology; he claims that they're an advanced version of a technology that already exists.
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Which brings up the tar baby of where does the line between TLx, TL(x+y), and TLz (where z=x+y) reside.
Is is accurate to call the
Nautilus TL(5+1)^ or should it be TL6^ because it uses a cinematic version of already existing technology?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro
To be clear, I'm not saying that settings can't operate on cinematic logic or ignore realism for the sake of narrative flow. However, even if Verne thought the superbatteries (and everything else about its design) were plausible, you need something to point out to a GM who's prospectively using the Nautilus in their game that no, normally 19th century submarines can't go 5 days without surfacing.
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Not just that but there are many real world things that require superscience to actually work as presented:
Electropathic Belt (TL(5+1) or TL6): In the real world this didn't do anything. In a superscience setting "it increases the wearer's HT to 10, if it was below that level". (Steamtech 31)
N-Rays ("discovered" in 1895): they were actually the result of experimenter bias. In a superscience world they could actually exist.
Phrenology (lampooned in Bowery Bugs; TL5): the shape of, size of, and bumps on the skull denotes intelligence and certain personality traits.
The Tempest Prognosticator (TL5): appeared in the Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851. It was supposed to predict the weather. In the real world it, at best, amounted to little more then a very crude barometer but in a superscience setting it can give a +2 to Meteorology. If the GM wants to whole hog with the superscience it can predict earthquakes as well. (Steamtech pg 51)
Lord Kelvin's Water-Drop Electrostatic Generator (TL5): In the real world it has been relegated to the demonstrate the principles of electrostatics in physics education. In a superscience world it could be more useful then Volta's Pile. (Steamtech pg 52)
Cheirometer TL(5+1): Better known as the Bertillon System of Criminal Identification system it served the same function as fingerprints by "the meticulous measurement and recording of different parts and components of the human body." It was largely replaced by fingerprinting though it still survives in the form of mug shots. (Steamtech pg 58)