Draw Power at TL3

[MEC]

I’m playing in a TL3 with a few TL4 ships, or basically a generic fantasy campaign. I’m trying to cast a few high energy cost spells and generally don’t have assistance or any practical way to get more energy than what the character can personally provide (about 18 energy without using HP) and since its actually a low mana world the character has a few low powered Powerstones, but only uses them when absolutely necessary. The best option I can find so far is to use Draw Power to get the energy. However, finding a machine that can generate any real power at TL3 seems impossible. Anyone have any ideas on machines that use MegaWatts of power at TL3 or other ways of getting large charges of energy?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by MEC

Anyone have any ideas on machines that use MegaWatts of power at TL3 or other ways of getting large charges of energy?

Historically, there weren't any. Big waterwheels were the best you had. Tapping the energy a large tree is getting from the sun, with a different spell, could be worthwhile, provided you don't tell your unfriendly local druid.

[Snaps]

I've let players use Draw Power at places where Leylines met in past games.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Historically, there weren't any. Big waterwheels were the best you had. Tapping the energy a large tree is getting from the sun, with a different spell, could be worthwhile, provided you don't tell your unfriendly local druid.

Ok, now you've got me interested. How much power might a huge tree produce?

[ErhnamDJ]

Here's what I've come up with:

Have two magical gateways. One way up in the sky, and another right below your wheel. You have big lead balls drop through the top gate, fall down and hit the wheel (turning it), then dropping into the next gate and going back up to the one in the sky to fall again.

You could end up with a very complex mechanism turning out a lot of power through this method. I don't know how to do all the math needed to figure it out, but I bet it would be more energy than you could use, especially if you rigged like a hundred of these together.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by MEC

I’m playing in a TL3 with a few TL4 ships, or basically a generic fantasy campaign. I’m trying to cast a few high energy cost spells and generally don’t have assistance or any practical way to get more energy than what the character can personally provide (about 18 energy without using HP) and since its actually a low mana world the character has a few low powered Powerstones, but only uses them when absolutely necessary. The best option I can find so far is to use Draw Power to get the energy. However, finding a machine that can generate any real power at TL3 seems impossible. Anyone have any ideas on machines that use MegaWatts of power at TL3 or other ways of getting large charges of energy?

No. There aren't any. I did the estimates when I was writing GURPS Thaumatology: Urban Magics, and had to come up with special, lower-power spells that could handle the trivial energy outputs of the era.

Bill Stoddard

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

Here's what I've come up with:

Have two magical gateways. One way up in the sky, and another right below your wheel. You have big lead balls drop through the top gate, fall down and hit the wheel (turning it), then dropping into the next gate and going back up to the one in the sky to fall again.

You could end up with a very complex mechanism turning out a lot of power through this method. I don't know how to do all the math needed to figure it out, but I bet it would be more energy than you could use, especially if you rigged like a hundred of these together.

That's basically a perpetual motion spell. I wouldn't let you do it if I were the GM. Or I would give it a mana cost based on the cost of converting power into mana.

Bill Stoddard

[Brandy]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

Here's what I've come up with:

Have two magical gateways. One way up in the sky, and another right below your wheel. You have big lead balls drop through the top gate, fall down and hit the wheel (turning it), then dropping into the next gate and going back up to the one in the sky to fall again.

Now you're thinking with portals.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

Here's what I've come up with:

Have two magical gateways. One way up in the sky, and another right below your wheel. You have big lead balls drop through the top gate, fall down and hit the wheel (turning it), then dropping into the next gate and going back up to the one in the sky to fall again.

Nah, won't work. You've chosen a more concentrated from of energy than running water but that was never the problem.

The problem is the structural limits of wooden cosntruction. Niagara falls was avaialble at TL0. It was the TL6 steel turbines (plus some reinforced concrete contruction for the housings) that everyone was waiting on.

What I've got is the Orichalcum from the Infinite Worlds location of the same name. That's a natural room temperature superconduct0or. Given that and some genius and some Shape Metal you could contruct a superconducting storage loop of multi-MW capacity.

Or you could jsut take those Shape Metal spells and go back and solve the problems with the Niagara Falls situation but stiop looking for increased energy density. The 4e Draw Power spell requires that the energy be in a form usuable by a machine and you need MW capable machines to provide that, not better energy sources.

[lexington]

Could you draw power from a large fire, maybe?

[ErhnamDJ]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Nah, won't work. You've chosen a more concentrated from of energy than running water but that was never the problem.

The problem is the structural limits of wooden cosntruction.

Why are you using wood, then? Brass or bronze or iron or dragon bone or something else should be able to handle it, right?

I'm sure there has to be some mechanism that could get you usable energy out of that. The Draw Power spell doesn't care that it's a useful machine or that it has some practical purpose.

Let's say we're using the regular old waterwheels. Couldn't you harness the power of hundreds (or thousands) of them all at once? Rig them all together with clockworks and have them turn the world's biggest Archimedes screw. I know almost nothing about engineering, but it looks to me like there has to be some way to get the energy from multiple waterwheels at once.

I'm not sure if ancient people didn't do these things because it was impossible. I think they didn't do it because it wouldn't have been useful.

But our wizard has a use for it: he gets magical power from it. It might be worth his while to invest in some giant clockwork that gets energy from a thousand machines that wouldn't individually provide him with enough power for his spells.

I'm sure there's lots of ways to go about this. He could create a high pressure flow of water that slowly turns a really big gear wheel.