Magical Flight Hazards and Other Considerations

[Figleaf23]

Originally Posted by Icelander

How high would it be best to fly, for an optimal mix of best navigation,

Do they have good topographical maps, any experience navigating from altitude, instruments or telescopic vision? If not, they'll need to be low for navigation, low enough to retain something close to their normal perspective.

... least hazards ...

Higher than the highest edifices.

... and most comfort?

As low as possible.

How uncomfortable is it to fly for several hours while exposed to winds and weather?

Depends on the ambient temperature and relative wind speed. You can calculate the effects just as if they were standing on the ground outdoors.
Ride for half an hour in the back of a pick-up truck at in an ambient air temperature of 15C and you'll be pretty uncomfortable unless you're well clothed.

How tiring, ... You aren't using your muscles to move, but you're enduring at least some discomfort and you need to steer with your muscles.

It depends again. Is flying like skateboarding down a gentle slope, or like snowboard mogulling?

And, of course, what kind of dangers are there in the air?

Flying creatures, debris, weather, cold. That's about it.

How common is turbulance?

I'm not sure how it would affect a human shaped flyer -- it's a bigger deal for things relying on an air-foil for lift.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Assuming it does, it would function as goggles, of course. If not, what kind of goggles could you get at TL2? TL3? TL4?

With magic, a helmet with permanent Transparency.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Would you suffer any penalties from a quick dive or two at 80 mph without goggles? And what spell should you use to avoid it, if you are very unwilling to wear something as unstylish as goggles?

You will suffer a large prompt vision penalty -- i.e. the moment you start flying at 80 mph, you won't be able to see much. On the other hand, this is such an obvious penalty that I suspect protection from it is included in the Hawk Flight spell, or Hawk Flight would be nearly unusable.

[Fionn The Otaku]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Most of their flying so far has been done on the breakpoint between a subtropical desert climate (like Iraq) and a Mediterranean climate (again, like Iraq, in the coastal regions).

If they are fkying over deserts than the weather hazards i mentioned would still apply it's just they would be less likely and more likely to take them by suprise. In a subtropical desert percipitation will sometimes evaporate before hits the ground and the cold of night/early morning will also likely bring a risk of hypothermia and Ice.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

Do they have good topographical maps, any experience navigating from altitude, instruments or telescopic vision? If not, they'll need to be low for navigation, low enough to retain something close to their normal perspective.

They don't (yet) have good topographical maps, but are working on remedying that lack. They do have experience navigating from altitude, with some of them having learnt from griffon-riders and others just having accumulated a lot of hours in the air. If necessary, they can use all TL4 navigational instruments and additionally, at least three of them can cast Find Position, Measurement and other such spells. They also have fairly easy access to telescopic vision, using the Hawk Vision spell. Two of them even have a permanent such effect, with a x8 magnification.

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

Depends on the ambient temperature and relative wind speed. You can calculate the effects just as if they were standing on the ground outdoors.
Ride for half an hour in the back of a pick-up truck at in an ambient air temperature of 15C and you'll be pretty uncomfortable unless you're well clothed.

If the average temperatures at sea level are around 32° C (90° F), it seems like it would be merely pleasantly cool up in the air.

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

It depends again. Is flying like skateboarding down a gentle slope, or like snowboard mogulling?

Well, GURPS Magic doesn't say, but I lean toward flight at 20 mph without much in the way of rapid changes of direction or altitude is fairly leisurely and comfortable. Diving, jinking, barrel-rolling and such aerobatics are much more physically demanding, however. So would fighting through turbulance and bad weather.

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

Flying creatures, debris, weather, cold. That's about it.

Weather sounds like it covers a multitude of things, some of which I have little knowledge about. How different are the hazards of weather at 1,000-2,000 feet from those of ground level? What are the primary weather hazards in terrain much like the Mediterranean-climate parts of Iraq?

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

I'm not sure how it would affect a human shaped flyer -- it's a bigger deal for things relying on an air-foil for lift.

So I am informed.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

The problem is getting good-quality glass or an equivalent, so as not to suffer vision penalties. Given that, goggles will be OK at TL2 - leather for sides and straps, lead to join leather to glass. The glass is easy at at TL4, and probably reasonably available at TL3, but colourless glass seems to be a late TL2 invention according to LTC3 and Wikipedia.

The TL2-3 city that their war effort is based from is actually fairly well-known for sophisticated glass-making and exports glass to neighbouring TL2-3 polities. So the glass ought to be fairly available and not too expensive.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Make a HT roll to avoid your eyes watering enough to be a problem?

Sounds simple, but there ought to be some connection to velocity. Diving at 30 mph ought to be easier on the eyes than diving at 120 mph, counting acceleration from gravity.

Originally Posted by johndallman

As for spells, I am not an expert on the GURPS: Magic spell list, but Armour should do it. For something longer-lasting, a personal variant of Weather Dome looks plausible. But goggles are very stylish, old bean!

Flying goggles probably appeal to the player of the keen flier PC, but they would clash very badly with the aesthetics of some of the other PCs. Those would be such people as a knight who looks like a rugby player with the potential to play leading man roles in Hollywood, wears plate or dragonscale armour and likes to leave his head exposed or at least wear only an open-face helmet so his handsome face is visible. Oh, and an eastern nobleman in gleaming orichalum breastplate who covers half his face with an alabaster mask where dragonic acid scarred him.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anthony

With magic, a helmet with permanent Transparency.

In a world where Dispel Magic targeted at champions is a frequent occurance, it might pose a rather sizable risk. Granted, no bigger than the Boots of Flying do on their own while in use, but unlike the boots, the helmet would be in constant use. Instead of the Dispel removing a few bonuses or protections, it would make the wearer completely blind. Which is bad.

As something only used while flying, though, it should be fine.

Originally Posted by Anthony

You will suffer a large prompt vision penalty -- i.e. the moment you start flying at 80 mph, you won't be able to see much. On the other hand, this is such an obvious penalty that I suspect protection from it is included in the Hawk Flight spell, or Hawk Flight would be nearly unusable.

As noted somewhere above, I don't actually treat Hawk Flight as allowing acceleration of Move 40, but instead treat that as the top speed. A large reason for that is that going from 0 to 80 mph in one second without any protection seems rather unhealthy for the human body.

[roguebfl]

The scarey is probably going the be a dust/sand storm. Storm winds caring highly abrasive sand.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fionn The Otaku

If they are fkying over deserts than the weather hazards i mentioned would still apply it's just they would be less likely and more likely to take them by suprise. In a subtropical desert percipitation will sometimes evaporate before hits the ground and the cold of night/early morning will also likely bring a risk of hypothermia and Ice.

So far, they haven't actually flown over any deserts. The strategic value of the bona fide desert is very low and their operations take place mostly in the coastal areas (with Mediterranean climate) or in the more humid areas around the desert, where there are croplands, mountains and then a very large freshwater lake.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

The scarey is probably going the be a dust/sand storm. Storm winds caring highly abrasive sand.

Yes, I had thought that something like the khamsin would be a terrifying threat while flying. I don't know how common they are or how far they can be expected to blow inland from the actual desert.

[Kilmore]

How common is it that people fly around in your campaign? If it is exceptional, then people will certainly take notice. The local authorities may seek to take control of the character and use him for surveillance, people may pester him with requests ("fly me to the capital!"), and people with secrets on the ground may not appreciate the airborne interference.

Flying around like that may be raising that character's profile way too much.