Making a Galleon Fly

[comareddin]

I would use helium instead of hydrogen. Being a noble gas, it is a far more stable element. It will not burn with oxygen like hydrogen does and it is lighter than air. Also if the alchemists in your campaign have found a way to create fusion reactions :O they would have an endless helium source. After all that is what our sun is doing to provide life on this planet.

Com

 

[JimAde]

I would use helium instead of hydrogen. Being a noble gas, it is a far more stable element. It will not burn with oxygen like hydrogen does and it is lighter than air.

That's exactly why you should use hydrogen! What fun is an airship if it can't explode and rain down both water and firey death?

 

[Jack Simth]

I would use helium instead of hydrogen. Being a noble gas, it is a far more stable element. It will not burn with oxygen like hydrogen does and it is lighter than air. Also if the alchemists in your campaign have found a way to create fusion reactions :O they would have an endless helium source. After all that is what our sun is doing to provide life on this planet.

Com

Qute true; however, hydrogen is lighter (a hydrogen molecule of two hydrogen atoms has an atomic weight of just over 2, while a lone helium atom has an atomic weight of just over 4, and in gas form, both take essentially the same volume) and more accessable (to get helium, you need to liquify air; to get hydrogen, you only need to unbind some water)

 

[moritheil]

I see your point. The rationalization is that there are planes for water, fire, air and earth because they represent the source of magical energy types. There should, of course, also be a plane of sound, but that would be a little abstract even for an inner plane. Science has to function on my material planes the same way it does in our world for there to be any sense at all in the way things work. IMC, a fireball will make a sound because it rapidly burns the oxygen in the area. It won't fill volume because the area of the spell is basically replaced with a section of the plane of fire for a moment, not because I summon a certain mass of an explosive material.

It takes work to be consistent with the basic rules of physics and magic, but it allows players to be more creative, IMHO.

I think you mean "it won't create pressure" rather than "it won't fill volume." I agree that that sounds like a possibly workable explanation. However, that then raises other questions - how come the CO2 isn't higher than normal in the area after the fireball? How come there's no suffocation damage or penalty if all the O2 is taken up by the fireball? How come fireballs can be cast underwater with an additional check? You can say something like "The suffocation damage is part of the fireball damage," but that gets into the problem "What if I'm playing a treant, and CO2 is good for me to breathe and doesn't bother me in the least? Or an undead? Can I take reduced damage if I am not harmed by CO2?" You can say "The hot air creates a wind that blows across and restores oxygen to the area," but that isn't always plausible when indoors, and additionally, having enough of a temperature gradient implies that pressure differences will occur, which conflicts with the clause that fireballs do not cause pressure. Sooner or later, it occurs that magic and science are fundamentally irreconcilable.

Personally, I find that the way to avoid all these nagging scientific issues is to rule that all reality is based off mystical rules. But it's very interesting to see someone who tries to incorporate both in a campaign.

Have you ever had the problem of someone trying to metagame scientific knowledge into their character's actions, as in the famous episode of KODT? Or do you not consider it a problem at all?

 

[moritheil]

Also if the alchemists in your campaign have found a way to create fusion reactions :O they would have an endless helium source. After all that is what our sun is doing to provide life on this planet.

Com

Uh . . . alchemists with tokamak reactors? Sounds fun, but that might be more sci-fi than high fantasy.

Oh, and in case you aren't aware of it: the helium comes from fusing hydrogen.