Greetings
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Quantum Fox
- Newbie
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:43 am
- Location: Austin Tx
Welcome to the forums.. I lurk.. I listen.. Never know what will show up.
As for the tapper projectile, I see a few problems.
1) Absorption rate. I think that is the real reason you wouldn't instantly pierce a shield.
2) They absorb from _you_ too. Remember those nice silk carrying bags? Every minute you're handling the raw item, it's stealing lux from you.
3) Expense. Even if they are dirt cheap, having something that isn't spelled at all is cheaper.
4) Inefficient projectiles. It will throw off weight and structure of whatever you're shooting. We use iron tips on wooden shafts for a reason. Same for lead shot. You're trying to maximize inertia and concentration of force. Assume it is like chalk. Shooting a piece of chalk, even with an iron tip, will more often give the guy a bruise and a cloud of dust. Can't re-use it. Wooden shafts don't dissapate, have great aerodynamics, and project a large concentrated force on a small area.
5) Chaotic results. They have an economy that runs on lux. Putting out things like that would disrupt and inconvenience everyone. Imagine firing at a burglar in the art museum. Pfzzzt there went the alarms. Pfzzzt there went the lights. Pfzzzt There went the spell holding up a portcullis over you.
Almost certainly you could make a tapper projectile. Put the item in a stage of almost completion and have the impact finish making it a real tapper. But this is expensive, hard to craft into an arrow/bolt/bullet, failure prone, and as pointed out above, almost as likely to inconvenience you as your target. Worse, imagine if outsiders got hold of such tech?! It could cripple the defenses of the seven villages.
As for the tapper projectile, I see a few problems.
1) Absorption rate. I think that is the real reason you wouldn't instantly pierce a shield.
2) They absorb from _you_ too. Remember those nice silk carrying bags? Every minute you're handling the raw item, it's stealing lux from you.
3) Expense. Even if they are dirt cheap, having something that isn't spelled at all is cheaper.
4) Inefficient projectiles. It will throw off weight and structure of whatever you're shooting. We use iron tips on wooden shafts for a reason. Same for lead shot. You're trying to maximize inertia and concentration of force. Assume it is like chalk. Shooting a piece of chalk, even with an iron tip, will more often give the guy a bruise and a cloud of dust. Can't re-use it. Wooden shafts don't dissapate, have great aerodynamics, and project a large concentrated force on a small area.
5) Chaotic results. They have an economy that runs on lux. Putting out things like that would disrupt and inconvenience everyone. Imagine firing at a burglar in the art museum. Pfzzzt there went the alarms. Pfzzzt there went the lights. Pfzzzt There went the spell holding up a portcullis over you.
Almost certainly you could make a tapper projectile. Put the item in a stage of almost completion and have the impact finish making it a real tapper. But this is expensive, hard to craft into an arrow/bolt/bullet, failure prone, and as pointed out above, almost as likely to inconvenience you as your target. Worse, imagine if outsiders got hold of such tech?! It could cripple the defenses of the seven villages.
I was looking at this from an outsiders point of view or someone who is mageblind. Its something I do, my buddies call it Metagaming, guess it comes from being a Gamemaster for over 10 years. For me if I can find a weakness, I can find a way to defend against it.
It is true that Tapper Ammo would not be great for lux users, but for human infantry it would do 2 things, provide defense. I.e. carrying it would stop some (not all) effects before they got to you. Second it provides them a way to destroy lux defenses.
Imagine a long range boomslanger, similar to a sniper, taking pot shots at your mages. The tappers might keep him from being Kenned (by a very strong person Kenning), or he might stick out like a sore thumb. Of course Silk could be used as camoflauge netting to hide under or behind I guess. But at long range, lux has less and less of an effect.
If a tapper is as fragile as chalk, it would require a special delivery system and be very expensive. But to an army, taking down high priority targets would be worth the expense.
But most of these thoughts come from the mind of an Evil GM who likes to throw curveballs at his players. True I know this is not a game system, but its hard to stop thinking that way.
Thanks for the Welcome everyone and I hope to be a productive member of the forums.
It is true that Tapper Ammo would not be great for lux users, but for human infantry it would do 2 things, provide defense. I.e. carrying it would stop some (not all) effects before they got to you. Second it provides them a way to destroy lux defenses.
Imagine a long range boomslanger, similar to a sniper, taking pot shots at your mages. The tappers might keep him from being Kenned (by a very strong person Kenning), or he might stick out like a sore thumb. Of course Silk could be used as camoflauge netting to hide under or behind I guess. But at long range, lux has less and less of an effect.
If a tapper is as fragile as chalk, it would require a special delivery system and be very expensive. But to an army, taking down high priority targets would be worth the expense.
But most of these thoughts come from the mind of an Evil GM who likes to throw curveballs at his players. True I know this is not a game system, but its hard to stop thinking that way.
Thanks for the Welcome everyone and I hope to be a productive member of the forums.
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Wayfarer
- Regular Poster
- Posts: 776
- Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:15 pm
- Location: Lantern Waste
- Contact:
Yeah, many of the folk around here would rather do destructive stuff, anyway. Not that I'm thinking of any sharp-and/or-explosive-object-obsessed forum members in particular, oh, no, never.Sharuuk wrote:being "productive" here is NOT a pre-requisite.
(I just have to pester you guys. It's in my contract, after all. 
)Any case... let me just add my welcome to the others, Kreytor. Have fun around here.
“The mirror may tell us what we are; memory may tell us what we were; but only the imagination can tell us what we might be.” – Donald Keesey
“You go whistling in the dark/ Making light of it/ Making light of it/ And I follow with my heart/ Laughing all the way// Oh 'cause you move me/ You get me dancing and you make me sing/ You move me/ Now I'm taking delight/ In every little thing/ How you move me”
~ "You Move Me"
Pierce Pettis, Gordon Kennedy
“You go whistling in the dark/ Making light of it/ Making light of it/ And I follow with my heart/ Laughing all the way// Oh 'cause you move me/ You get me dancing and you make me sing/ You move me/ Now I'm taking delight/ In every little thing/ How you move me”
~ "You Move Me"
Pierce Pettis, Gordon Kennedy
Not really "obsessed", just...intensely interested in.Wayfarer wrote:Yeah, many of the folk around here would rather do destructive stuff, anyway. Not that I'm thinking of any sharp-and/or-explosive-object-obsessed forum members in particular, oh, no, never.
And that's not to mention all the high voltage stuff I haven't even brought out yet! 
*Laughing hard, kneels down and gives Wayfarer a big (but GENTLE) wolfie hug*
S'aaruuk
We are NOT surrounded.....this is a "target rich" environment!
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Quantum Fox
- Newbie
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:43 am
- Location: Austin Tx
On Tapper Ammo..
Agreed, if you're the mage-blind or lux-less opponent, you want tapper rods, spell breakers, and anything else you can find to help defeat the major advantage the mages have. However, a forewarned or careful mage will still clean your clock. As Quentyn proved, if you know what you are up against, odds are that something can negate or reverse the advantage.
Fortunately, I'd lay odds that penalties for releasing manufacturing info on them to humans would be high in the 'treason' category.
Agreed, if you're the mage-blind or lux-less opponent, you want tapper rods, spell breakers, and anything else you can find to help defeat the major advantage the mages have. However, a forewarned or careful mage will still clean your clock. As Quentyn proved, if you know what you are up against, odds are that something can negate or reverse the advantage.
Fortunately, I'd lay odds that penalties for releasing manufacturing info on them to humans would be high in the 'treason' category.