Mystaraspace: Navigation
by Bruce Heard This is where things get really
weird. Feel free to jump in and suggest different approaches for
this. I'm just putting down some ideas -- this isn't a final
contribution, naturally.
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Navigation: Planets hurtle through space at high speeds, however,
their Skyshields prevent air friction from interfering with their
course to some degree. Mystara's moon, Matera, is an airless
satellite by design. It has its own Skyshield to prevent air from
reaching it. Vast quantities of air filling Mystara's outer-space
move along with the planets and their moons. The further one
travels from a planet's orbital path, the more turbulence, until
reaching another air current. "Cosmic turbulence" is more than
enough to rip apart any ship attempting to cross through without
protection.
Magic can be used to avoid some of the effects of cosmic
turbulence. Find the Path not only allows a travelling ship to
target the appropriate spot to reach a planet, but if cast at
sufficient level, enables the ship to accelerate to planetary
speeds (the "warp* speed described in Champions of Mystara). The
spell causes the ship and its passengers to become partly
incorporeal, thereby avoiding the problem of air resistance, cosmic
turbulence, and intervening obstacles in the ship's path. Crossing
regions of cosmic turbulence remains a rough ride nevertheless. The
experience level needed to cast the spell amounts to one level for
10 tons of material to be displaced (ship, cargo, and passengers
for example).
Travelling ships also have to contend with pockets of rarefied air
and varying temperatures. So far, no humidity has slipped into the
breathable space, so no earth-like storms should be expected. There
could be pockets of other gases and electrical phenomena affect
Mystara space.