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Old 04-28-2008, 11:49 PM   #21
StevenH
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Default Re: Magical Airships

I really like the idea of the vacuumed atmosphere domes....Since water vapor is being "pushed" out of the area, I agree with the clouds/mist idea (plus it just plain looks cool), and that may even give a nickname for them. Something like "Cloud Caravels" or "Mist yachts" or something.

Being nonsolid, these vacuum volumes have other effects, as well. Birds flying through them had better hold their breath...and maneuvering your ship under your enemies for a long enough time can cause some problems....And it would work as an flame countermeasure as well (as long as you don't asphyxiate the crew, of course).
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Old 04-28-2008, 11:59 PM   #22
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Default Re: Magical Airships

It could be worked as some kind of bound air spirit; a summonable ally with a low IQ, flight, slave mentality, and a large lifting capacity. A 150 point air spirit could carry around 5 tons depending on the build, and summoning a team of 10 would be a 60 point advantage. That might be steep for a PC though. Some sort of Airmen's Guild NPC might take it though.
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Old 04-29-2008, 02:24 AM   #23
garfield
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Default Re: Magical Airships

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2
Actually, a medieval economy could build them. The basic design is simply a large building with extra supports - any shipyard could handle that part.
Yes, but just the ship-part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2
As for the magic, that would require a very very wealthy sponsor - most likely a Crowned Head. I was visualizing nation-states like Yrth's Araterre or Megalos building the first ones, then selling them to private interests as they became obsolete or having them go privateer.
Here comes the complaint about Banestorm, which I think is justified, that it is not an economically well thought through setting. In earths medieval societies, there was no nation that could have afforded that - but there was no magic either ... and that is what I mean with either airship or medieval economy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2
And if the spells and principles of LTA flight were well-known enough, civilian airships could begin to pop up.
But that makes a deviation from the economic consistent medieval society.

A final remark: I think it is very nice and inspiring to have for instance airships or other cool things in the game. And it is even better if they fit into the economy. But the setting will be larger than life and then the consistency will break down, when inspected too closely. Just go for the fun and consciously ignore economic limitations when they do not fit your ideas!
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Old 04-29-2008, 06:03 AM   #24
talonthehand
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Default Re: Magical Airships

The atmosphere dome spell sounds like a great idea, there's just one part I'm not sure on (and it may just be because it's 7am where I am). As I understand it, once you define what composition the air inside the dome is, the dome is locked into it. I guess my question is how would you get the airship back down again?
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Old 04-29-2008, 06:43 AM   #25
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Default Re: Magical Airships

Quote:
Originally Posted by garfield
Yes, but just the ship-part.
Here comes the complaint about Banestorm, which I think is justified, that it is not an economically well thought through setting. In earths medieval societies, there was no nation that could have afforded that - but there was no magic either ... and that is what I mean with either airship or medieval economy.
I disagree. Kings could afford to employ people continuously for years, which is what the enchantment requires, and the ship could certainly be built. A bigger problem is probably getting the enchantments done quickly enough that you don't lose too many attempts to attrition in the circles doing the work - another thing that encourages the use of multiple small bubbles, or whatever is being used.

I think you won't see many such vessels to start - they're on the sort of cost scale that royal castles and large fortresses were. However, once their utility becomes clear, and the profits from ownership of such vessels start rolling in they'll rapidly be reinvested in more such vessels, and that'll result in growth, more wealth, more people able to afford air ships...
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Old 04-29-2008, 08:53 AM   #26
Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2
 
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Default Re: Magical Airships

Quote:
Originally Posted by talonthehand
The atmosphere dome spell sounds like a great idea, there's just one part I'm not sure on (and it may just be because it's 7am where I am). As I understand it, once you define what composition the air inside the dome is, the dome is locked into it. I guess my question is how would you get the airship back down again?
It's early, that's all. I specified in the original post the possibility of variable dome size, thus changing the buoyancy at will. The Magic supplement is unclear on this. If the dome size couldn't be altered, then either the RL solution (ropes and ground crews), or the Wind-spell-casting mage that acts as ship's propulsion could simply direct the wind downward.
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Old 04-29-2008, 09:01 AM   #27
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Default Re: Magical Airships

I did the flying sailing ship thing a bunch of years ago, but I never worked out the economics or anything, they were mostly for flavor and only became part of the game a couple of times.

The spell I used was a variation of the Levitation spell. I don't remember the specifics, but it couldn't be used on living creatures, could only go up and down, only had a move of 1 (or less), and cost much less FP's than Levitation. Once they got it into the air they would unfurl the sails and use wind power for forward movement.

Don't know if that will help or not, but there it is.
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Old 04-29-2008, 09:07 AM   #28
StevenH
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: Magical Airships

Quote:
Originally Posted by garfield
Here comes the complaint about Banestorm, which I think is justified, that it is not an economically well thought through setting. In earths medieval societies, there was no nation that could have afforded that - but there was no magic either ... and that is what I mean with either airship or medieval economy.
But that makes a deviation from the economic consistent medieval society.
While I agree with the comments here, I just have to add that once you factor in magic, you are not going to end up with a medieval economy anyway. The inputs and outputs that created the medieval economy on Earth are different there. You might, just might, be able to get something that is superficially similar, but it won't be the same. I think that any attempt to duplicate the end effects with different initial conditions is doomed to failure.

I would just figure out what kinds of things could be done, and then see how that affects the local economy, without trying to hit some sort of economic target. Don't worry about "medieval economies".
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Warmest regards,

StevenH

My current worldbuilding project. You can find the Adventure Logs of the campaign here. I try to write them up as narrative prose, with illustrations. As such, they are "embellished" accounts of the play sessions.


Link of the moment: Bestiary of Plants. In a world of mana, plants evolved to use it as an energy source.



It is also the new home of the Alaconius Lectures, a series of essays about the various Colleges of Spells.
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Old 05-01-2008, 09:12 AM   #29
garfield
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Default Re: Magical Airships

Quote:
Originally Posted by StevenH
While I agree with the comments here, I just have to add that once you factor in magic, you are not going to end up with a medieval economy anyway. The inputs and outputs that created the medieval economy on Earth are different there. You might, just might, be able to get something that is superficially similar, but it won't be the same. I think that any attempt to duplicate the end effects with different initial conditions is doomed to failure.

I would just figure out what kinds of things could be done, and then see how that affects the local economy, without trying to hit some sort of economic target. Don't worry about "medieval economies".
Exactly! Thanks for wording it in a much better way! :-)
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