Magitech Space

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Kax

Going back to the start of this, if you use Yrth as a campaign origin and magic as the base your tech becomes TL3+3 to TL 3+5 for most things and TL 3+7 for space tech, giving a rather nice Star Wars feel. :)

Actually Yrth in Space was just the title. It wasn't really what the OP was asking about. So I'm starting a new thread just for that idea.

So the first thing is of course weapons. We want to keep swords so the "firearms" should have a very slow rate of fire. Maybe they need 3 seconds to build up a charge to match missile spells?

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

.

So the first thing is of course weapons. We want to keep swords so the "firearms" should have a very slow rate of fire. Maybe they need 3 seconds to build up a charge to match missile spells?

Belts enchanted with Reverse Missiles have been standard kit for centuries. Ranged weapons are for hunting and assassinations (antimagic ammo is possible, but too expensive for mass issue).

[TGLS]

Surely you can make a stylish, bespoke belt of reverse missiles if they are cheap enough for mass issue.

[RogerBW]

What are the implications of Reverse Missiles for personal manoeuvre in space? Presumably you get the impulse from stopping it and the impulse from returning it, just as if you'd caught a ball and then thrown it back. That's suddenly a lot more efficient, and safer.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

What are the implications of Reverse Missiles for personal manoeuvre in space? Presumably you get the impulse from stopping it and the impulse from returning it, just as if you'd caught a ball and then thrown it back. That's suddenly a lot more efficient, and safer.

Too bad it doesn't work with LASER Launch, eh?

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

What are the implications of Reverse Missiles for personal manoeuvre in space? Presumably you get the impulse from stopping it and the impulse from returning it, just as if you'd caught a ball and then thrown it back. That's suddenly a lot more efficient, and safer.

I think Reverse Missiles ignores momentum transfer, doesn't it? Otherwise you'd suffer knockback from catapult stones and such in a terrestrial setting.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Belts enchanted with Reverse Missiles have been standard kit for centuries. Ranged weapons are for hunting and assassinations (antimagic ammo is possible, but too expensive for mass issue).

Reverse Missiles doesn't work against Sunbolt (the laser analogy). So nobody uses slugthrowers and Sunbolt "wands" (pistols) do have a slow rate of fire. Sunbolt can be handled by Deflect Energy but that's a Blocking spell and lacks a standard item.

An improved Deflect Missiles (or more likely Missile Shield) that handles Sunbolt is probably possible but not currently known to Gurps Magic.

Also, no matter how amusing you think Reverse Missiles is it is sufficiently more expensive than Missile Shield that it is unlikely to be common. The base Enchantment cost isn't the problem. 400 v. 600 isn't that big a deal. It's the energy to use that's the problem. 5 to energize and 2 per minute for Missile shield but 7 and 3 for Reverse Missiles.

So, assuming we're doing Industrial Enchantment you run the missie;l Shield item through the 500 pt Power Enchantment line twice and pay the 3 when you put the Item on. The Reverse Missile item has to do the 500 x 2 thing as well and then take a separate trip through a 1000 pt line and thkes an extra FP when put on too.

Then there's the problem that if everyone else has Missile Shield your Reverse Missile Item is money for nothing.

Your 1000 pt Power Enchantment line is probably busy buffing your Sunbolt wands anyway. 2D-2 Burning isn't very impressive and 3D-3 is still so-so. The 75 yard 1/2 D isn't very good for anything but a pistol anyway. You can't do better than ROF 1/2 either.

So you might have a Swashbuclers in Space environment. Slow firing and limited range and power pistols that act as a prelude to swordfighting. Penetrating Blade on those swords probably makes armor of limited use.

If you try and use Orichalcum or Essential Steel for the armor thatt gets used for the swords to make Superfine blades. That'd get you a base (2) armor divisor to be multiplied by Penetrating Blade.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

I think Reverse Missiles ignores momentum transfer, doesn't it? Otherwise you'd suffer knockback from catapult stones and such in a terrestrial setting.

In that case you have a reactionless drive.

(Put the catapult at the front of a tube, and the guy with Reverse Missiles at the back. The catapult fires down the tube, and the reaction to the stone leaving the catapult provides a forward force. Reverse Missiles guy bounces the stone back, while you quickly rig up a net to catch it. The stone arriving at the net provides a forward force, and no reaction mass has been expended. If you get cunning enough you can even use the stone's arrival to help re-cock the catapult.)

Sorry, I know this isn't the objective of the discussion and I'll shut up about it, but I think it makes the more general point that taking what's originally a dungeon-bashing magic system so far out of its context is going to cause problems.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

In that case you have a reactionless drive.

Well, it is magic. I can't imagine many wizards signing up for Reverse Missile-Catapult Drive duty though.

Sorry, I know this isn't the objective of the discussion and I'll shut up about it, but I think it makes the more general point that taking what's originally a dungeon-bashing magic system so far out of its context is going to cause problems.

Likewise, a lot of edge cases and rulings about how various spells work are based on avoiding abuse rather than following any rules of magic. (The case of Force Dome negating inertia comes to mind.)

[Anthony]

The first question is what sort of physics and cosmology is involved; there's no particular reason to think that it's the same as our universe, something like a celestial spheres model seems at least as likely, and it's not like the rules of magic make sense according to normal physics.