Fantasy Tech 1 - Wait, there's going to be more than one?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

Clever way to dodge the issue, but I fear that it might cause confusion.

I'm not too worried about it.

The Extra Heavy plate, as an example, isn't meant to be any sensible kind of plate armor at all - it's derived from the mythological qualities of plate armor, and is consistent with them - it is nigh impervious to normal men in normal combat conditions (DR 11-14) and weighs hundreds of pounds (35 lb helmet, oh my aching neck!).

So it can't be inconsistent with Low Tech, no matter what DR and weights that book gives to plate armor, as Low Tech is talking about an entirely different piece of equipment. It doesn't really matter if someone does the math and determines Extra Heavy plate must be made out of soft lead or some sort of hyperdense material, as it represents a mythological piece of equipment, not a real one.

The Gothic plate vs Low Tech's presentation of fluted armor design is a similar thing - one's based on wild (and flawed) theories and confused interpretations, the other represents best-attempt conversion to game mechanics based on best available sources. If the stats matched up I'd be frankly horrified :D

I won't say it's proof against confusion - humans can get confused even in perfect circumstances. The fact that one group of stats is in Fantasy Tech, and the other is in Low Tech, should be pretty useful in clearing up any confusion that does happen.


As an aside, I find it HILARIOUS that two weeks ago I was patiently trying to explain to a friend of mine that 10 lb zweihanders were not really intended as practical, combat-ready two-handed swords... and suddenly here's stats for basically the exact weapon he was excitedly arguing in favor of.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Bruno

As an aside, I find it HILARIOUS that two weeks ago I was patiently trying to explain to a friend of mine that 10 lb zweihanders were not really intended as practical, combat-ready two-handed swords... and suddenly here's stats for basically the exact weapon he was excitedly arguing in favor of.

Heh. Always happy to provide some irony.

Of course, if he finds out about it, you can point out to him that it's in the book whose primary criterion for including an item is that it is in some way not real.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Of course, if he finds out about it, you can point out to him that it's in the book whose primary criterion for including an item is that it is in some way not real.

I'm debating bringing it up deliberately.

I think he mostly petered out and changed the subject last time we had this go-round when I pointed out that the sword he was citing as evidence that it's "real honest and for true" was a wall-hanger literally found hanging above a door (with no documentation whatsoever, not even a wall plaque), and that "rusty" isn't exactly the same as "suffering real battle damage from being used in real battles".

It didn't help that his primary source was a wikipedia article who's primary source, in turn, was an article in Frisian with a picture about 50 pixels wide and no scale ruler. Listening to him was like watching a myth be built in real-time, it was pretty impressive. :)

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'm debating bringing it up deliberately.

Oh, do. It's people like that, making Olympian-caliber leaps to distant conclusions from the narrowest evidentiary platforms, who made the book possible in the first place.

[RevBob]

I'm waiting for a WWII "secret Nazi labs" and/or modern-day "secrets of Area 51" volume, myself.

[PK]

Originally Posted by RevBob

I'm waiting for a WWII "secret Nazi labs" and/or modern-day "secrets of Area 51" volume, myself.

http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/warehouse23/

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Oh, do. It's people like that, making Olympian-caliber leaps to distant conclusions from the narrowest evidentiary platforms, who made the book possible in the first place.

Those people are Awesome!

[hal]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Well, it is full of all sorts of cool stuff that will fit in many typical fantasy settings. Did you look at the preview pdf?

I did in fact, look at the preview and paid close attention to the table of contents. If it weren't for the alchemy parts, I'd probably not even be remotly tempted.

TBC hit the nail on the head for the most part. I'll admit/confess that I'm more partial to the "gritty close to historical realism as one can get" style of play. Now, if this had been a 30 page document dedicated to Alchemy, perhaps I'd have bitten ;)

[RevBob]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/warehouse23/

For Fourth Edition. And more of a logical/legendary approach than a hodgepodge of random Stuff. What were Hitler's alchemists working on? What did the Air Force back-engineer from the Roswell ship? What were the other branches of the Manhattan Project studying?

And let's not even think about Lovecraftian archaeology...

[hal]

Originally Posted by RevBob

For Fourth Edition. And more of a logical/legendary approach than a hodgepodge of random Stuff. What were Hitler's alchemists working on? What did the Air Force back-engineer from the Roswell ship? What were the other branches of the Manhattan Project studying?

And let's not even think about Lovecraftian archaeology...

I thought the Ancient Egyptians practiced lovecraft. <shrug>