10-28-2016, 06:58 AM | #41 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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Scrolls would come into their own in such a setting. Magery 0 candidates who are literate will be able to cast relatively cheap spells (including the wind spells) using scrolls. What might be interesting is for someone to actively take a value from say, GURPS BANESTORM for a given kingdom, use the demographics given in GURPRS FANTASY and derive the numbers of mageborn available for an entire kingdom. From there, make the presumption that 1/3rd of available mageborn are ineligible for use due to ages under 15. With that last bit, actually allocate the necessary mages to the various job classifications to see what comes of it. Just a thought. |
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10-28-2016, 10:17 AM | #42 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: U.K.
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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(3e Yrth and 4e Yrth really aren't the same worlds. You can tell by the fact that the skies are different.) As to the ships - I'd be tempted to make most of them very similar to historic-Earth TL3/4 vessels (because you can't always get or afford or trust a wizard), but every now and again your experienced sailor will point to some impossibly lean or flimsy-looking cutter over on the next dock and mutter "magic-runner". And if you get into a fight with one of those things at sea, well, try running for that no-mana reef that you've heard of.
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10-28-2016, 10:54 AM | #43 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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The first issue is that you don't build with Essential Wood. You build with regular wood and then transform it when it's done. Hammering into 3x as hard wood would be masochistic when there's no need. Anyway, as a Regular Spell Essential Wood has costs based on SM and it's quite efficient to cast on finished products. The second issue is that for most things materials costs are very low. It's labor that's the overwhelming expense. It's this sort of thing that led David Ricardo to form the Labor Theory of Value during the dawn of economics. It was industrialization that reduced the amount of labor need to make goods that gave us our present ideas about the relative costs of labor and materials. It's entirely possible that the extra labor to make your hull planks 1/3rd as thick would make them _more_ expensive. You'd also need extensive hull bracing during construction before the essential transformation. You might see a lot of regular hulls transformed into Essential Wood for 3x durability. The economics are fairly favorable to support one moderately talented Mage working for each shipyard. Of course, having your wood be 3x as hard is likely to be a nuisance later when repairs and alterations are necessary.
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Fred Brackin |
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10-28-2016, 12:37 PM | #44 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
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Re: Banestorm Navies
One thing that I wonder at...
SHAPE PLANT As a spell, it permits one to mold plant material into an shape required. It also to my mind, would change the way hulls would be manufactured in ways that were not possible in normal technological environments. Consider for example, the ability to extrude elements of the spars such that they meld together without the need for nails or glue - or used in conjunction with glue make for a better fit that would not be possible otherwise. Imagine a tube of material being such that you can mold a perfectly round wooden member. Or imagine being able to create pretzel like configurations with wood in an effort to strengthen them and then mold them to your needs. Either way, ships would have a better HP value than ordinary construction would imply. |
10-28-2016, 05:54 PM | #45 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Banestorm Navies
It wouldn't improve speed, unless your ship is oar or screw propelled. It wouldn't make much difference to draft, since most of the ship's loaded weight is going to be in its cargo. It would probably help you turn a bit faster, although once again, that's more a function of the vessel's length.
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10-28-2016, 07:34 PM | #46 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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Besides cargo there's normally a lot of weight put into ballast along the ship's keel to improve stability. If you left out the ballast you'd probably have to shorten the masts to compensate and less sail area is not a way to make a ship faster. One good way to make a ship faster is to make it longer for the same beam and draft. If you don't have the USS Constitution's special hull bracing you definitely want the Essential Wood at full strength. You could make _very_ long ships out of Essential Wood. Mostly though I think you want a ship that lasts 3x as long before wearing out.
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Fred Brackin |
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10-28-2016, 08:49 PM | #47 |
formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans'
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Wyoming, Michigan
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Re: Banestorm Navies
And the thing that makes a real difference for gameability: Anglish used to have a default to and from English so that when playing a modern English speaker Banestormed into Ytarria he could get along on some level right away ("playing ourselves" scenarios, for instance).
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10-28-2016, 09:44 PM | #48 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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10-28-2016, 09:54 PM | #49 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MO, U.S.A.
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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10-28-2016, 09:58 PM | #50 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Banestorm Navies
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