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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6803200" data-attributes="member: 6787650">I don't think that 100,000 gp price is just the price for a shiny new helm. That is also a pretty good guess at a fair market value for a used helm, just based on its cargo carrying capacity and some reasonable approximations of merchant trade. (Safer, faster, cheaper than waterborn transport.) How valuable would a cargo helicopter with no fuel costs be in 14th century Europe? Even a SR 1 helm is about three times as fast as a sailing ship under even the most favorable conditions; and you don't need to worry about digging any Suez canals either, you can just take the most favorable routes.(Rather, you can take the most geographically favorable routes, but there might be routes you'd like to take but can't unless someone suppresses a threat that makes that route safe again. coughcough*adventurehook*ahemahem.)With that in mind, Staffan's points are very well-taken. If you want smaller merchant ships to exist, you need to differentiate the helms more than minor (60 tons) and major (100 tons). A two-dimensional helm axis sounds like a fantastic idea.BTW, there used to be a Staffan something on the old AD&D Spelljammer listserv, the one run by Leroy Van Camp. I wonder if it's the same Staffan...Huh. I don't remember that plotline, but I do remember using an approach very, very similar to that to explain my Arcanes back in the day, sans any "First Helm" thing. Either great minds think alike, or I stole the general idea from the Astromundi Cluster without registering where I got it from.I didn't really like the Astromundi Cluster though. The essence of Spelljammer to me is unlimited space, and running a whole campaign inside a single crystal sphere just doesn't work for me.</blockquote>

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