At 02:30 PM 5/17/2006 +0000, you wrote: >Hey Hal: > >I could potentially have a lot of thoughts, but I have a few questions first. >I like the idea, and from what you talked about, this sounded TL6-8ish, but I'm not sure exactly whre you are coming from. You're typically an epic fantasy kind of guy, but this is a little different sounding. > >So, exactly what level TL are we speaking about? Obviously, if mana broadcasting is the only source of non-organic (by that I mean slaves/beasts of burden, or methane production or fermentation derivatives) power, and certainly the only transmissable power source-- well, it will effect the development of that civilizxation immensely. >So what else do they have, and when in their development process did mana broadcasting become feasible? > >FrEx-- today, in RL, if we discovered mana and how to broadcast it-- well, first and foremost, an auto conglomerate would buy the technology, then suppress it... > >OK, bad example... > >-vk
Hi Vk and Eric, Here's the lowdown on what ATLANTIS: THE SECOND AGE does with its magic... Vril collectors come in two forms. Pyramids, which broadcast the energy to a range of 21 miles, and Stonehenge like circles that broadcast the energy to an unlimited range, but do so only along ley lines. Each "pillar" of a stonehenge can power one crystal matrix attuned to it. Thus, a stonehenge with 16 stones can power 16 crystals max. Vril collectors are now a lost art of the first Atlantean age and can no longer be created. Lesser Vril crystals receivers however, can be created/crafted by Alchemists providing they are of the following types: Create Light akin to a 150 watt light bulb Create Heat Akin to a camp fire. Multiple units can of course heat things to a hotter temperature given enough time pump water for irrigation purposes Lift and propel vehicles (called Vril Chariots) Other lost "lesser crystals" (ie smaller cyrstals that if found, will work within a Vril broadcast range, but cannot be manufactured any more) include the ability to create: Vril flying Palanquins, power cold freezer type devices (ie, refrigerators and ice boxes), act as an air conditioner, crystal swords, and flame lances. Greater crystals which cannot be manufactured include those that power "Vril Canons" as well as flying boats or propel larger seagoing ships. And finally, there is that which is known as the Vril roads. These are created ON ley lines, need to be pefectly straight, and have the ability to keep temperatures within a comfortable range (they shield people from extremes of temperatures), moves all debris off the road slowly, and gives off a faint light. These roads are made of recycled vril glass, which alchemists can make in small lots (presumably the first age alchemists knew methods for mass producing this stuff). >From what I've read about Crystal swords and Cyrstal spears - the stuff is hard like metal (treat as steel or iron weapons) but has an armor divisor of (2) and does roughly twice the damage that ordinary weapons do. Flame lances (Crystal spears) can fire bolts of energy up to 150 feet (50 yards) doing roughly spear like damage (or perhaps the better analogy is arrow like damage) with the usual armor piercing ability/double damage ability. Note however, that the effects of the Vril weapons require that they be kept within range of the Vril Collector (either via Ley lines, Stonehenge circles, or Pyramids). This means that unless the Vril weapon is attuned to a circle, its effects do not work except on a ley line or outside of the 21 mile radius of the Pyramid. The Vril Canons presumably act like modern day artillery in the damage they an produce ;) As written, it seems like an unlimited number of "lights", "water irrigation pumps", Heaters, and Vril chariots can be manufactured and powered within the 21 mile radius of a Pyramid. As modified for use with GURPS, we can easily enough decide how much "energy in kilowatts" these devices use, and presume that most cities will not even come close to the maximum energy output by such Pyramids or Stonehenge circle production. >From the description, the Vril chariots seem to come across as repulor-lift cars that float above the surface. There is more information of course - but that's the gist of the pertinent material. If you guys are intnerested, the book sells for $35, and a sampler of the book is available here at http://www.morriganrpg.com/AtlantisSampler.pdf The roleplaying system packaged with the game is somewhat explained within the book and it is called the Omni-system. The Magic system within the game looks rather nice actually. It reminds me to a minor extent, what Ars Magica did with their system. The duration of the spell, its range, its damaging powers, etc - all contribute to a "complexity" rating that is deducted from the Mage's ability to cast the spell successfully. As the system uses the premise that a full success is any modified roll of 11+, a partial success is any roll between 6 through 10 inclusive, and any failure is a roll from 1 to 5 (with rolls modified to less than 1 being spectacular failures) - mages want spells whose negatives are kept to a minimum effect. All in all, I rather like the concepts of the Vril collectors and I think such a thing for use with GURPS magic might prove to be interesting. It almost looks like a process by which Alchemists can magic magic items without having to use the process of "Enchantment" listed within GURPS. As a concept - GM's might consider the prospect of allowing their characters ways to create new processes that are "lesser" in capability, while reserving more powerful processes for their own "GM only" magical treasure trove kind of thing. Imagine the excitement that a group of players might have if they discovered a ruined First Age Atlantean ship sunk in a habor when a volcano errupted and buried it in ash that later hardened into a hard mud or rock even. Perhaps they discover a lot of rotted wood in the clearing of a jungle where a clearing has no business being - only to discover a somewhat damaged crystal globe (think of an airplane that crashed because the stonehenge it was connected to toppled during the massive earthquake of the First Age partial sinking of Atlantis <g>. Oh, one more thing - I've already pointed out that the weights for weapons in ATLANTIS: The Second Age are a wee bit off <g>. It is an easy matter to fix by using more realistic values as the GM sees fit. Hey Eric - I'll give the idea a shot and see what GURPS VEHICLES suggests. Might be interesting to see just how well it works. Hal _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
