Dear GURPSnet, for a Traveller world, I'm thinking about sail-powered desert vehicles. Still 3E, since 4E Spaceships doesn't help much ...
Explaining why they use such quaint tech rather than imported contragrav will be handled by the political/social history of the world. But what about the nuts and bolts of the rules? Oh, and I'm thinking about skids rather than wheels to make it interesting. * According to VE, sails can power vehicles with skids. The listed speed factor of skids is rather modest, but it is for non-icy terrain -- there is no further reduction for the lack of snow or ice. * On the other hand, the off-road speed divisor will be bad unless the skids are truly massive. Even low GP will give 1/3 off-road speed. There are no big stumbling blocks in the rules, right? Next question, I want it to be reasonably hard science, so I won't do everything that is allowed by the rules. So how does it look in reality? * Ships balance the forces of wind over the sails and water under the hull to run in any direction except directly into the wind. Skids on the ground should be able to substitute for keels. Wheels would be even better, of course. * Running on broken or rocky/pebbly terrain will be difficult. So the world should include vast 'seas of sand'. * Getting over dunes will be really hard. How do you get fine sand, strong winds, and no dunes? * Would fine dust help or hinder? Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
