GDShore

Actually Mr. Taylor, there may be a real world analogy to how much that factor might be. The average height of the Japanese male born between 1910 - 1920 was 159 to 160 cm. at the start of the second world war, those born in 1980 it was 171.7 cm. an increase of +12 cm. The average height of the American/Canadian born between 1910 - 1920 at the start of WWII was 172 to 173 cm. for those born in 1980 it is 179 cm. an increase of +6 cm. The reason for this leap upwards in Japan is massively improved nutrition in particular animal protein. If we extrapolate from this it would appear that improved nutrition and health care lead to stronger, taller, heathier persons. The average medieval peasant was probably taller, stronger and healthier than we have previously believed. There is one known exception, the Russian peasant who was only allowed to eat meat on rare occasions, the meat they raised was reserved for the "Boyars" table.

Its more likely that the glaive acts like a war scythe, the military fork derives from the pitch fork, the war hammer from the blacksmith's, ect. ect. ect.

Mr. R has nailed it on the head. Although the stats are more important in Hero than in D & D it is in the skillsets that the player chooses for their character that the differences occur. Two wizards (D&D) of the same stats and experience points, created 20 years and 4000 km. apart will play almost identical. Two Hero wizards of the same stats created by the same person but with different skillsets will play completely different. That is Hero's biggest strength.

Yes the Royal Cubit was a kingdoms standard for a reign, the next king up however could well change it to his specification. A specific cubit might last 2 or 3 reigns but like royal law it depended on the royal whim. The English standardized measurements, mostly for trade (also currency) though why they chose the rather arcane system they chose is still ,,, beyond me.

The problem with cubit is that no two are actually the same, I am 1.7 meter tall, my cubit is very different than that of a man who is 1.98 meter tall. It can vary between 2.5 cm. and 10 cm. in length. In a feudal society taking the weapons from a Baron, a Count or a Duke is likely to have unpleasant and serious consequences for who is trying to do the taking. Far more likely is peace bonding, the tying of the weapon into its sheath. (besides throwing knives and axe's are a lot shorter than a cubit)

When I was younger, much younger, high school younger I found a friend who was an escapee from Aparthied with his family. They were Zulu, and his father had 3 - 4 shields and 3 Asagai, all beautiful weapons. I am not large. At 17, I was 1.7 meters tall and a strapping 39 kg. and the weapons were beautifully balanced, they flowed in ones hand but the real surprise were the shields. Varying in length from 1.2 meter to 2 meter and up to 1 in width. A cruciform substructure with an oval of withy overlaid with bull hide (apparently the best are made from Cape Buffalo Bull hide) the vertical portion of the cruciform is sharpened top and bottom, to allow the holder to stab an errant foot or a misplaced jaw. It's almost as dangerous a weapon as the bloody Asagai. Finally the Asagai can be used as a brace weapon form. My friends father would dance with the Asagai's on occasion and it was awe inspiring a true thing of beauty!

The British soldiers at Isandlwana did have ammunition, well 10 rounds each, the real problem was bureaucratic intransigence, the quartermasters insisted on a signed order from an officer of rank higher than a subaltern. That bottleneck cost them their lives. The Asagai does function much like a gladius, a meter and a half long gladius but do not forget that overhand mace swing which probably came as a surprise to many an enemy.

Actually the scythe was used to good effect in a couple of peasant revolts in Germany, "if the peasant doesn't break (iffy at best) the scythe is useful for dismounting cavalry, by simply chopping the legs of the horses. As for a weapon to stand in line versus sword armed infantry (or spear armed) you might as well cut your own throat with it, faster and less painful than what's coming. The Asagai may be the best war spear designed, it has the versatility of a sword, it can stab or thrust, cut, slash, chop, block and parry. Paired with the Zulu shield it makes them one of the best light infantries ever fielded. From the gaming point of view, it may out perform the sword, choked up just below the "head" and swung you have a mace for crushing. What beat the Zulu wasn't a superior foe but superior technology,... the gun and remember the gun did not save the British at Isandlwana.

First, a str. min of 10 is probably best, warriors are not average humans. Second, the Duke is right, in a confined space a horse is a horrible melee weapon, almost as bad as an Asagai is from horse back.

For a long time when starting a new group of players, regardless of what we were going to actually play, I ran them thru "Zombie Apocalypse". We used Justice Inc. ruleset, seldom played more than 3 sessions (including character creation) I would know everything I needed to know about strengths and weaknesses of the players in particular their blind spots. A six week countdown to the apocalypse reaching them, creating themselves and only the assets they actually had or could reasonably acquire in that time frame. In the thirty years I have been doing this, about 12 groups, only one lasted more than 2 play sessions and that group went 18 months. Few people can actually see themselves as they really are, the last group I ran like this were so individualistic that by half way through the second session the last of them died in a blind alley, alone and helpless.

There is at least one spear intended as a 1 handed weapon. The Zulu Asagai. The weapon is intended for stabbing, thrusting, and slashing as well most have a spherical weight at the base of the weapon which when flipped around can be used as a mace. The blade is a broad leaf shape, that is one third the length overall on a weapon that is usually 1.25 to 1.5 meters long. The users of this weapon were big strong chaps, so a requirement of strength 12 is probably valid. In a confined space might even be a more flexible and functional weapon than a sword, ahorse not so much.

Actually, you did suggest exploiting uranium, as well as saying that this would spark increased industries ect. ect. While the budget does propose nuclear power investment in the last budget, support for same is not high in particular in the western provinces and by almost all of the First Nations people. The politics of founding a new city in the west would make for an interesting back story.

While you are right about the budget, the climate for new major resource projects is grim, the environmentalist would oppose more importantly so would the the First Nations. If you think otherwise check what is happening in southern Alberta over coal mining. Maybe, and I do mean maybe a new source of Lithium might slip thru an environmental review right now, nothing else is going to. The provinces are fighting this, but the feds. hold the high cards.

"Old proverb" -- Beware of little old men who carry brooms. (or little old ladies in gray)

Actually LL, not uranium (Canadians right now are down on nuclear and new mining projects, Lithium however could be the exception) a mining project for it would face massive opposition from first nations and greens.

Assault, the crane need not be an insurmountable issue. Design your crane to operate from the center of you linking deck, use a telescoping boom to reach beyond the edge of the deck. Use four braces (these braces would be removeable) that attach to your deck and also to the vertical beam, when not in use the crane can be lowered to the horizontal, with proper design into a recess flush with the deck. Thus will be removed a drag force while sailing and a failure point in a storm. The problem you would now have to solve is take off with a vehicle that flaps its wings.

Okay, I will grant that heating the air in the envelope is not an issue, the size of the envelope however is. It would be improbable to impossible to do so on a single hulled three masted vessel, and only slightly more feasible on a large catamaran. The ornithopter by definition flaps its wings, the German device is a helicopter a small one but nonetheless a helicopter. A catapult or ballistae device is possible on a very large scale vessel, on the same point on the same scale vessel so is the balloon launch, also using a seaborne launch and landing is possible, (I would avoid pontoons, they create drag a lot of drag, use a single hulled vehicle) but if you have a magic society the simplest solution is to use a levitation spell. Something independent of a magic caster probably with charges that could be recharged. IT is how I am using it in my world.

Have you seen how large a hot air balloon is? A simple 1 person craft is 5 to 7 meters in diameter, the greater the mass to lift the greater the diameter needs to be. My greater problem though is how to heat the air in the envelope, an open flame on a wooden sailing vessel regardless of design is playing Russian roulette with death. Now with magic one could heat such a device fairly easy. The idea of an open flame on a wooden ship.... shudder.

There is a saying "that knowledge is power" but knowledge is not a power. Anyone who applies themselves to the effort can acquire knowledge and can learn a range of things that can be applied in many ways. The character will come up with their own uses for this set of skills. There was a character in a Justice Inc. campaign that never failed to amaze and astound when we played by applying their knowledge skills. Somewhat like the "Man of Bronze -- Doc Savage",

I do not think that this is unfair, the school marm' with her education is not smarter than the plainsman just different. I doubt that she could track a snake across the prairie or find water when it is needed. The knowledge she has "worked" for is not common or often appreciated.

A gunfight is really fast, IIRC ranging between 1.8 to 2.3 seconds from go to hit target. I have experience with pistols,, I was never that fast, my father was, I prefer a rifle. If the max range in stats, and powers both level and type are limited it could work. This could be a lot of fun, let us know how it goes.

Actually finding adventures is not that hard. There were the penny dreadful's , and westerns by such as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and many many others. The great myth of the lone hero standing against insurmountable odds and by virtue of his virtue defeats them. Add to those the movie western in all it's various heroes and story lines. The noble frontiersman, the lone Sherriff/deputy, the wagon train crossing the endless plain, the mining town gone wild, cavalry - native wars (I always root for the natives), the righting of an ancient wrong, ect. ect. ect. In fact most of the same tropes that you use in a champions campaign.

I suppose someone should have asked what you intended to use the ornithopter for? Better late than never>

When I heard ornithopter, my mind immediately went to a crewed device, but Opal makes a very valid point, it could be a drone. It could be a spy or a font of knowledge (aka Clash of Titans) or an item of power.... launching it becomes a moot exercise, a simple arbalest or small Roman ballista that can go anywhere on a ship.

Tom Cowan suggests firing the aircraft off the stern, for a purely mechanical launch this would most likely have the greatest degree of success. If launched directly into a following wind TO velocity might be achieved. There is a sailing maneuver called Stealing the Wind, ship A crosses directly behind ship B crossing the path of the wind thus stealing it. This would also prevent it from being launched from the prow the ships own sails steal a following wind. My wife is a nature nut, and I have had to watch more nature programs than I care to contemplate, she particularly likes birds. The Albatross, Goonie and some of the bigger Seagulls, have problems taking off from "land or sea". On water they turn into the wind then begin flapping their wings which lifts them partway out of the water, where they actually run on the surface giving them just enough lift to fly. Unless the propulsion system can overcome the drag of both the water and gravity you are not taking off from the water.