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Old 10-27-2014, 01:05 AM   #1
PTTG
 
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Some friends of mine are working on a campaign which will involve airships. When I say "involve," I mean, will likely revolve quite heavily around the concept of naval-themed airships.

The TL will vary between TL 4 and TL 6 (plus a little bit on the sides), so neither Low Tech nor High Tech seems appropriate. Additionally, we want some details on operating a large vessel over a long period, so simple vehicle stats seem a little insufficient.

In short, is there a Spaceships book for non-space ships? And can it handle a variate of superscience airships?
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Old 10-27-2014, 01:22 AM   #2
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In short, is there a Spaceships book for non-space ships? And can it handle a variate of superscience airships?
The Spaceships books can technically handle this, though the resolution of that system is pretty low. You'll need SS1 for the core design rules, and SS7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech for the superscience / weird science components. It's sadly lacking in the steampunk department - no steam engines or aerial propellers.
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Old 10-27-2014, 06:28 AM   #3
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The Spaceships books can technically handle this, though the resolution of that system is pretty low. You'll need SS1 for the core design rules, and SS7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech for the superscience / weird science components. It's sadly lacking in the steampunk department - no steam engines or aerial propellers.
Don't forget Pyramid #3/34, "Alternate GURPS", has rules for adapting the Spaceships system to land/sea/underwater craft, though, like you said, a lack of aerial propellers is a downer. I think the OP can adapt some of the ether systems in SS7 to air with little issue. And I thought there was a boiler in SS7?
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Old 10-27-2014, 09:26 AM   #4
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The TL will vary between TL 4 and TL 6 (plus a little bit on the sides), so neither Low Tech nor High Tech seems appropriate.?
This is a strange statement. I assure you that Low Tech covers TL4 and High Tech covers TL5 and 6,

Besides the aforementioned 4e support there is some 3e material to be found in Steampunk and Steam-tech including stats for Ve2-built airships. Also I think an article in All-Star Jam 2004.
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Old 10-27-2014, 10:38 AM   #5
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Don't forget Pyramid #3/34, "Alternate GURPS", has rules for adapting the Spaceships system to land/sea/underwater craft, though, like you said, a lack of aerial propellers is a downer.
Thanks. I knew there was a Pyramid article that touched on this but couldn't remember which issue it was from.

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And I thought there was a boiler in SS7?
There's the Solar Boiler, a two-part system that is effectively a steam-tech solar array. There isn't any proper steam engine, but you could adapt the Internal Combustion Engine from Pyramid #3/34. Not sure if it would be sufficient to reduce its fuel efficiency, or if you'd need to downgrade the power output as well (producing 0.5 Power per system, for example).
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Old 10-27-2014, 11:24 AM   #6
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Pyramid #3/64 has Ghostdancer's "Sailing the Open Skies," which has - you guessed it - naval style airships, using the Spaceships system. It's got some good modifications for existing systems, and some new ones - oars, sails (both of which have an aerial variant), and two coal-burning (with an option to use wood) steam engines, one for TL 4 and one for TL 6 (for TL 5, a simple solution is to use the performance of TL 6 but the endurance of TL 4).

You'll need Spaceships 1, obviously, and ideally you'll probably also want at least Spaceships 7 and possibly Pyramid #3/34.
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