Need ideas on restricting flying in a fantasy world

[tantric]

I have no problem ruling out teleportation, but flying is a bit more difficult. I want repulsors that work by pushing against the ground and use the square law to control the distance of levitation (ie, twice the height is power^2 cost). But actual long distance flying would mess up my social landscape.

This is a flat world. I'm thinking that I could have a hostile aerial ecology. Perhaps there is a layer of thicker atmosphere at a certain height, fed with volcanic ash. As gravity is generated here by the disk-wide roots of the Worldtree, I can have a thicker layer of air at the point where the Tree branches - but that's still going to be at least 5km up, which really doesn't prevent most flying. (BTW, did y'all know there is air plankton on Earth?)

I'm one of those guys who likes to have a fairly rational explanation to give my players, and I'm having a hard time with restricting flying. Possibly magic comes from the Tree and its roots, and thus the farther you get from the ground, the less functional it is? Any other thoughts?

[Anthony]

The inverse square law isn't really appropriate here (your distance from the mass of the planet doesn't change very much), but if you model magical flight as insubstantial stilts, that puts a limit on height. In any case, all you need to prevent long-distance flight is to make it significantly more fatiguing than traveling the same distance on foot, at least if you're crossing good terrain (thus, the role of flight becomes traversing difficult terrain).

[ericthered]

Ok:

What about flying is so socially disruptive? is it speed of communication? is it the reliablity? And why do you need it in the first place?

[Nereidalbel]

If you disallow increased air move, flight simply becomes a way to get around nasty terrain, without increasing your actual speed. You can also enforce a flight ceiling low enough that archers can stop somebody trying to fly through enemy territory.

Or, if we're going high tech, just stick to the low flight ceiling as a technological limitation, and leave it at that. If your players want more logic, it's because nobody has discovered a cheaper way to fly (yet).

[tantric]

?? If you levitate 1m and it costs 1FP, and 2m is 4FP, isn't that a version of the square law? Inverse square would be 2m=sqrt(2)FP.

This is a heavy magitech world, but I do not want a global society. I use the same square bit to limit long distance communication - if scrying something 100m away is 10FP, 200m away is 100FP. "The ether is opaque."

Basically, I want a world where enchanted armorcloth and sunbolt wands are normal, but what is 1000km away is still mysterious. No long distance comm, no rapid long distance travel.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by tantric

?? If you levitate 1m and it costs 1FP, and 2m is 4FP, isn't that a version of the square law?

It implies that force drops with the inverse square of distance.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Anthony

It implies that force drops with the inverse square of distance.

When using magic. which isn't an issue, as there are no "right" rules for magic.


I would solve this in one of two ways:

Magical flight is either slow (or at least as slow as a boat or horse) or it has no endurance.

Travel is dangerous, with both bandits and beasts abounding and capable of endangering fliers.

[tantric]

Originally Posted by Anthony

It implies that force drops with the inverse square of distance.

If you're twice the distance, current G is sqrt(surface G). That's the inverse square law of gravity. That's specifically why I said "square law" not "inverse square law". In this case, it's FP, not G, and it's not inverse. If your replusor has a base levitation height of 1m and costs 2FP/hr, at 4m it's 16FP/hr. Intensity is proportional to distance^2, NOT 1/distance^2. Admittedly, I'm only an ecologist, but this isn't rocket science (oh, wait, it is!).

The idea of limiting flight speed is pretty brilliant. If you can't fly faster than a bird, global (diskal?) society is limited. I can also up the FP cost of real flight, and make separate replusor spells that work by pushing against the ground - which won't work over water. Or I can flat disallow antigravity spells.

If the same principle applies to communication spells, I have to decide how far this goes - does it limit your ability to TK objects? I'm limiting the caster's ability to transmit information across the ether - this could have unexpected consequences. It pretty much kills all Seek spells, for instance.

[Nereidalbel]

If the speed of a bird is the limit you're going for, you can rule that the actual flight spells are unknown, but shape changing into a bird is known. Sure you run the risk of a hunter shooting you down, but what's magic without a bit of risk, anyway?

Originally Posted by tantric

If the same principle applies to communication spells, I have to decide how far this goes - does it limit your ability to TK objects? I'm limiting the caster's ability to transmit information across the ether - this could have unexpected consequences. It pretty much kills all Seek spells, for instance.

"Magical interference" can function like static with a radio; the further you want your signal to go, the more power you need. It would not be unreasonable to say that very few people can afford to get enough energy in one place to send a message much further than the next town over.

[CraigM]

Originally Posted by tantric

I'm one of those guys who likes to have a fairly rational explanation to give my players, and I'm having a hard time with restricting flying. Possibly magic comes from the Tree and its roots, and thus the farther you get from the ground, the less functional it is? Any other thoughts?

Real world flight requires infrastructure (airports, etc.); why not do the same for magical flight?

For example, maybe all flight is via magical devices (carpets, flying chariots, whatever) that draw their power from a network of ground stations. Get too far from a station, and no more flight. Affluent areas have local networks, but long-distance routes have not yet been developed (and expanding or maintaining the networks should give plenty of adventure hooks...). Tweaking the ease with which the network can be disrupted lets you control the influence of aerial forces in combat, too.