Comments | inf_archipelago: Ship-To-Ship Combat

eyelessgame in inf_archipelago

Ship-To-Ship Combat

May 04, 2012 13:02

In an attempt to spur some IA conversation: what should ship-to-ship combat be like in this universe? I don't plan to limit myself to the implications of any given game system, but instead mean to muse about what level of magic/technology would be cool in this particular universe, and then bend it around whatever mechanics IA uses. I want ( Read more... )

Comments 2

eyelessgame May 4 2012, 20:44:11 UTC

The way magic traditionally differs from technology, story-wise, is that magic tends to be one-off (that's why it doesn't wind up benefiting society as a whole like technology does) - thus it's hard to imagine sailing ships being routinely equipped with magical shielding dinguses. Also, that only certain "special" gifted people can do magic (as opposed to it being a trade like carpentry - that's why there's a difference between having a ship's carpenter and a ship's wizard - then again, would a trade have been considered that different, back in Ye Olde Tiemes ( ... )

eyelessgame May 31 2012, 23:13:04 UTC

After thinking about this for a bit: one possibility is that ships don't deflect away flaming cannonballs; instead, what magic can do is repair ships, so a heavily damaged ship that in real life would have to be scrapped could be rescued by magic.

But I also think magic has to have only limited ability to wreck ships. Unsure yet how this works. I am not sanguine about steel (or even iron) ships; I want them to be wood, but that limits their tensile strength and maximum size... unless magic (or otherworldly growth) produces stronger "wood"... and I have to suspect it does. Ironwood ho!