[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 632 - Archvillain's Yacht (1920sVersion)

[Gabe Johanns]

>>>> > I'm not sure that a 120 foot heavy boot could be made to do 30 knots
>>>> > using 20's technology.
>>>>
>>>>  The boat is still firmly TL6, but cinematic.
>>>
>>> Oh sure.  I'm not terribly concerned about reality when I game.
>>
>> Post the vehicle using the
>> rules as written by SJGames. Any post-production house rules may be
>> added after posting.
>
> In this special case I think it would make sense to have a short notice
> with the Yacht's design about the maximum speed according to the Laws of
> Physics compared with that according to Vehicles rules.
>

<Excuse my snipping your well done rebuttal>



This is a very well thought out argument, and I agree with your assessment 
that users of these vehicles may need to know the physical limitations of 
the design.



However, the question then becomes, who is responsible for remembering and 
stating all physical limitations on the design that are not already 
specified in the rules set by GURPS.



Should the vehicles designer be responsible for this? I think that it not an 
unreasonable request. On the other hand, I think if we asked this of every 
designer it could stifle the creativity that we see (not as many people 
posting vehicles anymore, but it used to happen...)



Should the user of the vehicle be responsible for any limitations not 
mentioned in the build? In my opinion, yes. If I want to use a pre-built 
120' boat that does 30 knots, *and* I want the heros to have a reasonable 
chance to catch it; I will need to use a faster mode of transportation. 
While a deep understanding of boats and their physical properties would help 
me know that this boat could actually only go 20 knots, in the end it does 
not matter very much if the boat was limited 20 knots or 30.



Although, I'm sure, the post was appreciated by anyone that wishes to use 
this particular VotW, it is beyond the designers job to research rules that 
appear outside the SJGames game manuals. In this particular case, Onno may 
want to add an addendium to this build before he posts it to the web site 
stating the maximum sustainable speed. That he missed this particular fact 
before posting it here is not a problem for most uses.