Flying vehicles

[tecnowraith]

Ok I need some help/advice. White old thread about skyships this is some what part of this.

What is the way to create flying vehicles without using magic or psionic reasoning? Iam looking for more scienctific, future science or superscience (steampunk/pulp 1930's).

Also within a wolrd with low metal ratio in materials (like Dark Sun), what is the best make flying vehicles along with question above?

 

[d4]

the lowest-tech flying vehicle i can think of is the hot-air balloon. technically, you could probably build one without any metal at all.

 

[DanMcS]

Do you mean, how would such vehicles act, and how would they be created in-game, or how should they be statted out?

 

[tecnowraith]

Do you mean, how would such vehicles act, and how would they be created in-game, or how should they be statted out?

Both actually.

 

[tecnowraith]

Also if you could come up with a scale of tech levels that would be good. I like to know what I missed.

 

[DanMcS]

Low-tech, through like the 1930s, let's see. The earliest flying vehicles were balloons. Those can be made with no metal at all, really. The basket is wicker, the balloon can be silk, it needs a net or lot of rope to attach the two; if you want to keep it up for a long time, you have to have a burner on board, which can be ceramic.

Gliders can be made from wood and fabric, but once you start talking about powered flight, you need metal for the engine, obviously, but also for the fittings and joints. The stresses on the attachment points pretty much demand metal fasteners and such for strength; it's not until recently that composites have started to replace all that, and that's definitely not low-tech.

For early air vehicles, I like: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/

Lots of pictures, specs on the planes and engines, good stuff.

Try wikipedia, also.

 

[DanMcS]

Statistically, it kind of depends on the system you're using. If you're using d20 modern, check out this thread, I statted out a couple of planes generally. I'm working on specific stats for real-life planes and LTA craft for another post there.

In modern, your vehicles have initiative modifiers and maneuverability modifiers, based on size (it's the same as the size modifier from regular D&D, but high-power vehicles get a bonus to maneuverability). AC is based on size, but gets modified for speed in the base system. In my dogfighting system, I did away with it entirely, and just used Pilot checks modified by maneuverability to set AC every round.

Vehicles also have hit points and hardness; hit points you have to kind of eyeball, based mostly on size and construction; I haven't seen hard rules for them anywhere. Hardness is based on material.

 

[tecnowraith]

I am needing more what materials, power source and propulsion can be in a fantasical setting of low magic and low metal world.

I'm not to worried about the mechanics at the moment.

 

[DanMcS]

Have you looked at Airships? Bastion Press, good stuff.

 

[tecnowraith]

some of it. I wanting to combine steampunk (victorian) and pulp 1930's tech with the world I am trying to create.