Spelljammer/Netherese calc's

[SirNitram]

Just some rough ones as I've turned up Spelljamming resources at last. All figures are from 2nd Edition, the only one with official SJ and Netheril rules.

Spelljamming Speed: For long range movement. Can only be obtained at decent range from a large body. Quoted at '100 million kilometers per day', or 1/4th of a Lightday per day by my math. 1/4th Cee for normal vessels, however, the Netherese spell Valdick's Spheresail doubles this speed, allowing a vessel to hit .5c in realspace.

Tactical speed: Automatically engages when a large object is nearby. This is actually pretty slow. 500 meters per 'round'(A nebulous term, I'm going with a 'round is ten seconds' here) per SR. The top speed for a normal Spelljammer(And that granted by Spheresail) is 20, so we'll go from there. 1 Klick per second is my result(20 x 500 / 10).

FTL: Hard to decypher. The Phlogistron, the amber river which all star systems are accessable by, is damn wierd in it's own right. Travel times are from '10 to 100 days'.

Corrections/comments welcome, more to come.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Not bad

[SirNitram]

Blowing up rocks

Because it's the only way to know for sure

Inevitably, the best way to measure firepower is against inert rock. But it's not every day a Netherese or normal AD&D wizard hits an asteroid with a Meteor Swarm, so we use rock walls instead.

The normal rock wall of a dungeon, in 10 x 10 cubes, is rated at about 90 HP. This is about the power unleashed by a 15th level Netherese spellcaster's Lightning Bolt.. A spell they can shit out in terrifying quantity. But that's tricky. Does the hit melt, crater, vaporize, or fragment?

Examining the spell description of Lightning Bolt, it only melts materials with a low melting point, like gold etc. The specific word used is 'shatters' when talking about busting through barriers, so I will use the fragmentation energy of igneous rock.

This is stolen from Mike's Asteroid Calculator. 1 Isoton is about what he rates a 10m x 10m object for fragmentation, though I'll convert that to '1 ton of TNT'. I'll piss the Trekkies off later.

1 ton of TNT is approximately 4e9 J, according to Revelle, D. O. Global Infrasonic Monitoring of Large Meteorids. Assuming my remembering of prefixs is right, that's about 4 GJ. Keep in mind this is a bit more than a normal AD&D wizard can unleash.. In normal settings in 2nd Edition, damage for Lightning Bolt caps at 60HP, and in 3rd Edition it takes a special quality to boost spells up to that level.

As for how often a Netherese of the 15th level can shit out this spell, approximately 31 times every day.. Assuming no other spell use.

[Jadeite]

In normal settings in 2nd Edition, damage for Lightning Bolt caps at 60HP

The Netherese didnt have to deal with damage caps. Magic worked differently in their age.

[Alyrium Denryle]

SirNitram, could you PM the titles of you netherese source books so that I may "aquire" them

[The Dark]

IIRC, a round in 2e was 1 minute. Also, the Quad of Thay is quicker at Spelljamming speeds, though it only has 4 piercing rams for weaponry. Additionally, note that the charts are incorrect for the helms, as it says to round UP in one of the books (or errata, don't recall which), and the charts round DOWN.

And the Phlogiston is just weird. Fire sorcerers from Al'Qadim hate it. I'll try to grab my Spelljammer resources next time I go home, I have the main set, the War Captain's Companion, the Legend of Spelljammer, and SJA1-4, plus Lost Ships.

[Jadeite]

SirNitram, could you PM the titles of you netherese source books so that I may "aquire" them

You can find two on the official DnD site, under downloads I think.

[SirNitram]

SirNitram, could you PM the titles of you netherese source books so that I may "aquire" them

The boxed set is 'Netheril: Empire Of Magic'. It contains spells, NPC's, maps, etc. Very worth it.

There's also an adventure, called 'How The Mighty Are Fallen'. In case you want to scare your players, let them see the cover: It shows a Tarrasque having just ripped a guy's arm off and ignoring a lightning bolt.

The novels are called 'Sword Play', 'Dangerous Games', and 'Mortal Consequences', and detail a group of heros and villains as they go across planes and time to show the immense power.. And obscene decadence.. Of the Empire.

[SirNitram]

IIRC, a round in 2e was 1 minute. Also, the Quad of Thay is quicker at Spelljamming speeds, though it only has 4 piercing rams for weaponry. Additionally, note that the charts are incorrect for the helms, as it says to round UP in one of the books (or errata, don't recall which), and the charts round DOWN.

And the Phlogiston is just weird. Fire sorcerers from Al'Qadim hate it. I'll try to grab my Spelljammer resources next time I go home, I have the main set, the War Captain's Companion, the Legend of Spelljammer, and SJA1-4, plus Lost Ships.

Thanks!

If you have a scanner, I wouldn't mind looking over those, but any data you can throw in is great.

[SirNitram]

IIRC, a round in 2e was 1 minute. Also, the Quad of Thay is quicker at Spelljamming speeds, though it only has 4 piercing rams for weaponry. Additionally, note that the charts are incorrect for the helms, as it says to round UP in one of the books (or errata, don't recall which), and the charts round DOWN.

And the Phlogiston is just weird. Fire sorcerers from Al'Qadim hate it. I'll try to grab my Spelljammer resources next time I go home, I have the main set, the War Captain's Companion, the Legend of Spelljammer, and SJA1-4, plus Lost Ships.

Thanks!

If you have a scanner, I wouldn't mind looking over those, but any data you can throw in is great.

As for the Thay ships, I don't have any resources on those, but if you can show them, I'd be greatful.

Next, of course, I work out gravity and air pockets.. The Spelljammer's is looking like it could drag the Andromeda around without slowing down.