For some insight i looked to the Silt Sink hazard in the DSCC but i'm not really sure it would apply to a large body of silt as a general rule. As per the hazard, you can roll to escape + move up 10 feet but im not sure that this is supposed to reflect the fact that this particular hazard is a pit and you're crawling up the side of the pit or if its actually implying that you can swim through silt to a degree.
So...do you just fall to the bottom and are s.o.l. or can you "swim" the unswimmable silt, making your way to the surface?
...you're screwed? I'm trying to figure out exactly what happens when somone falls into a deep stretch of silt. From what i can tell, it seems that you really can't swim through silt but this sounds extremely deadly to me.
For some insight i looked to the Silt Sink hazard in the DSCC but i'm not really sure it would apply to a large body of silt as a general rule. As per the hazard, you can roll to escape + move up 10 feet but im not sure that this is supposed to reflect the fact that this particular hazard is a pit and you're crawling up the side of the pit or if its actually implying that you can swim through silt to a degree.
So...do you just fall to the bottom and are s.o.l. or can you "swim" the unswimmable silt, making your way to the surface?
I always thought of it as a quick-sand like environment. You could possibly 'swim' in it, but the effort would be devestatingly tiring and you would soon be struggling to keep your head up, and then it's only a matter of time...
The silt is at least partially magical, and mimics fluid to an extend (the DSCG not that it neither blows away nor compacts.) The fact that silt skimmers work, which is a travesty of physics, suggests that it has properties far different from normal dust. I think you could swim in it for a time, but I agree you need to be close to shore or get back on a ship in short order or you would be seriously dead.
I'm pretty sure it was mentioned that silt skimmers cannot sail across silt if it is more than 15 ft. deep. You'll need the psionic-powered silt schooner to traverse the deeper parts of the Sea of Silt.
The silt is at least partially magical, and mimics fluid to an extend (the DSCG not that it neither blows away nor compacts.) The fact that silt skimmers work, which is a travesty of physics, suggests that it has properties far different from normal dust. I think you could swim in it for a time, but I agree you need to be close to shore or get back on a ship in short order or you would be seriously dead.
Silt skimmers are basically just lightweight wagons with sails that roll through shallow silt. They usually use slave power (or undead) to operate the wheels. There isn't anything strange or magical about them.
The silt is at least partially magical, and mimics fluid to an extend (the DSCG not that it neither blows away nor compacts.) The fact that silt skimmers work, which is a travesty of physics, suggests that it has properties far different from normal dust. I think you could swim in it for a time, but I agree you need to be close to shore or get back on a ship in short order or you would be seriously dead.
Silt skimmers are basically just lightweight wagons with sails that roll through shallow silt. They usually use slave power (or undead) to operate the wheels. There isn't anything strange or magical about them.
Try getting a wagon to roll if it is burried up to the axels in loose sand. The sail isn't going to do a bloodly thing. I am not saying that I don't like them, or that they are not a cool part of the setting, but if they work in the silt with nothing special/magical going on, they should work even better on a road, because there is not any drag/friction/resistance from the silt. Try building a 20-30 foot long wagon (small boat sized), loading it with a few tons of cargos, 6-8 crew/passengers, putting a sail on it, and getting to move with no draft animals. When it fails to go anywhere, everyone grabs a capstan and tries to move the wheels that way. At best, I think you make about 1/17 of a mile an hour that way. Now, add the drag of having it push through the silt.
The physics of silt skimmers is ABSURD. Which is ok, its a magical world, thats magical silt, and maybe even a magical boat. But there is no way, now how, that a skimmer is going anywhere if we are letting Issac Newton do all the driving.
For your players you could allow a save not to fall in, and maybe an athletics check or two for a frenzied effort to lash out and cling onto anything they can (the side of the skimmer, a loose rope, whatever) before they go down. Even then some games may feel that's too harsh. $0.02
Actually, rolling to save vs falling over anything is in the rulebook. ie, An attack, or a power that forces movement over some sort of edge requires a save to avoid falling over. You got the action descriptions right tho. :D
@baronspam What drag? There is no drag from the silt. It is magical dust that is so light that it doesn't compact upon itself. It is free floating YET it does gather together. And as for the "should work even better on a road, because there is not any drag/friction/resistance from the silt" ... Sailing any sort of lightweight sailboat across bare rock/road is stupid. Wood does not last long being dragged along a stone road, not unless it has rubber wheels attached to em.
Try getting a wagon to roll if it is burried up to the axels in loose sand. The sail isn't going to do a bloodly thing. I am not saying that I don't like them, or that they are not a cool part of the setting, but if they work in the silt with nothing special/magical going on, they should work even better on a road, because there is not any drag/friction/resistance from the silt. Try building a 20-30 foot long wagon (small boat sized), loading it with a few tons of cargos, 6-8 crew/passengers, putting a sail on it, and getting to move with no draft animals. When it fails to go anywhere, everyone grabs a capstan and tries to move the wheels that way. At best, I think you make about 1/17 of a mile an hour that way. Now, add the drag of having it push through the silt.
The physics of silt skimmers is ABSURD. Which is ok, its a magical world, thats magical silt, and maybe even a magical boat. But there is no way, now how, that a skimmer is going anywhere if we are letting Issac Newton do all the driving.
In the words of many a DM: A wizard did it. Is it that hard to believe in Dungeons and Dragons? Magic breaks physics, and HARD. And I think I'm perfectly fine with the physics of the silt being so weird and magical and morphed that it provides almost no resistance to the skimmers, whivh I envision working through a mixture of contact with the bottom, and the strange properties of the silt.
Try getting a wagon to roll if it is burried up to the axels in loose sand. The sail isn't going to do a bloodly thing. I am not saying that I don't like them, or that they are not a cool part of the setting, but if they work in the silt with nothing special/magical going on, they should work even better on a road, because there is not any drag/friction/resistance from the silt. Try building a 20-30 foot long wagon (small boat sized), loading it with a few tons of cargos, 6-8 crew/passengers, putting a sail on it, and getting to move with no draft animals. When it fails to go anywhere, everyone grabs a , capstan and tries to move the wheels that way. At best, I think you make about 1/17 of a mile an hour that way. Now, add the drag of having it push through the silt.
The physics of silt skimmers is ABSURD. Which is ok, its a magical world, thats magical silt, and maybe even a magical boat. But there is no way, now how, that a skimmer is going anywhere if we are letting Issac Newton do all the driving.
In the words of many a DM: A wizard did it. Is it that hard to believe in Dungeons and Dragons? Magic breaks physics, and HARD. And I think I'm perfectly fine with the physics of the silt being so weird and magical and morphed that it provides almost no resistance to the skimmers, whivh I envision working through a mixture of contact with the bottom, and the strange properties of the silt.
Glad you agree with me. That is exactly my point. I wan't posting to say that silt skimmers should not exist. I was posting in respose to those folks who were saying "its a wagon with a sale, nothing special going on here." Yes, a wizard did it. Either the silt does not behave like normal dust/sand/dirt (which it doesn't) or the boat is magic, or both. The silt must have magical, fluid like properties that make it easier for the skimmer to travel, because even if the silt was baby powder fine a non-magical craft driven by classical mechanics through axle deep dirt aint goin nowhere. Ever. Which is why in my first post I said I thought that these fluid like properties would let you swim for a period of tiime.
@Angelus_obscura : Silt skimmers do have wheels. Thats why everyone was telling me they are bascially big wagons that travel in shallow silt. Which I understand. But my point was that without magic that was an absurd propositon. Again, imagie a 50 foot wagon (i checked the size in DSCG, 10 squares) with several tons of cargo, up to 20 passengers, being pushed along a road by a sail? I dont think so. And it would be even more difficult with the wheels pushing through silt and the drag being added by the botton of the hull rubbing on the stuff. And as far as turning the wheels with a capstan, the thing has a crew of three. Maybe with a crew of 30 and a capstan the size of a the wheel of pain from the first Conan movie you might get somewhere. But we are talking about a staggering amount of mass to move around by the strength of your back.
but: the silt has boyancy,
Direct reference/quote from official source[books] or it didn't happen.
but: the silt has boyancy,
Direct reference/quote from official source[books] or it didn't happen.
There is no source!
There is no source!
(handwave) then these are not the silt you were looking for.
but: the silt has boyancy,
Direct reference/quote from official source[books] or it didn't happen.
Well, the DSCG does say that the dust has unusual properties, neither compacting (much like a fluid) nor blowing away (much like a fluid). It doesn't use the word fluid or boyancy, but clearly this isn't just a normal bunch of dust. And if the stuff didn't support the skimmers in some way, ain't no way they are going anywhere.
The silt is at least partially magical, and mimics fluid to an extend (the DSCG not that it neither blows away nor compacts.) The fact that silt skimmers work, which is a travesty of physics, suggests that it has properties far different from normal dust. I think you could swim in it for a time, but I agree you need to be close to shore or get back on a ship in short order or you would be seriously dead.
Silt skimmers are basically just lightweight wagons with sails that roll through shallow silt. They usually use slave power (or undead) to operate the wheels. There isn't anything strange or magical about them.
Try getting a wagon to roll if it is burried up to the axels in loose sand. The sail isn't going to do a bloodly thing. I am not saying that I don't like them, or that they are not a cool part of the setting, but if they work in the silt with nothing special/magical going on, they should work even better on a road, because there is not any drag/friction/resistance from the silt. Try building a 20-30 foot long wagon (small boat sized), loading it with a few tons of cargos, 6-8 crew/passengers, putting a sail on it, and getting to move with no draft animals. When it fails to go anywhere, everyone grabs a capstan and tries to move the wheels that way. At best, I think you make about 1/17 of a mile an hour that way. Now, add the drag of having it push through the silt.
The physics of silt skimmers is ABSURD. Which is ok, its a magical world, thats magical silt, and maybe even a magical boat. But there is no way, now how, that a skimmer is going anywhere if we are letting Issac Newton do all the driving.
Lol. I agree with you, there clearly is something bizarre, but according to the descriptions it is the silt not the skimmer. It does appear to have absurdly low drag (note giants can get up to their chests in the stuff and wade across it). The skimmers themselves are essentially big flimsy wagons powered by sails (a little bit) or slaves (much more often) walking along inside the hollow wheels.
Note also it isn't sand, it's closer to powder.