Thursday, December 24, 2009

Proposal: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Fails 2-7-2.—alethiophile

Adminned at 26 Dec 2009 15:48:35 UTC

The following text shall be added to the subrule “Movement” if it exists, or if not, shall be a new dynastic rule entitled “Movement”:

There is a class of objects in the Universe called “Vehicles”.  A Vehicle is a mechanical means of conveyance, a carriage or transport that is capable of transporting or carrying at least one normal-sized human being, that has its own article in the Reference Source, that exists or existed on Earth at or prior to the Reference Time, and that is not designed for space travel.  For example, “Japanese battleship Yamato”, “Harley-Davidson Super Glide”, “South Pointing Chariot” and “Vasa (ship)” are all Vehicles, while “Space Battleship Yamato”, “HMS Atropos” and “Ariane 5” are not Vehicles.  All Vehicles are unique, so for example there can never be more than one “T-34” in existence at one time. 

Each Vehicle falls within exactly one of the following classes: “Flying Vehicles”, “Sea Vehicles”, and “Other Vehicles”.  Flying Vehicles consist of Vehicles designed for flight.  Sea Vehicles consist of Vehicles that are not Flying Vehicles and that are designed for operation on, in or under water.  Other Vehicles are Vehicles that do not fall within the other two classes.

An Adventurer may own zero or one Vehicles.  Each Adventurer initially owns no Vehicle, and may acquire a Vehicle as a result of a Wish that is granted by the Djinni or as the ruleset otherwise permits.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Adventurer may not acquire or hold a Vehicle if prohibited by the “Vehicle Incompatibility” subrule, nor, while owning a Vehicle, change his location to any Location that is prohibited by the “Vehicle Incompatibility” subrule.  An Adventurer may voluntarily cease to own a Vehicle at any time.  The GNDT shall track the Vehicle, if any, owned by each Adventurer.

An Adventurer who owns a Vehicle may (subject to the previous paragraph and the Vehicle Incompatibility subrule) change his Location as a Daily Action as follows: if he owns a Flying Vehicle, to any Location located a maximum distance from his current Location equal to the maximum distance that the Vehicle can travel in one half hour under normal conditions according to the Reference Source; if he owns a Sea Vehicle, to any Location located a maximum distance from his current Location equal to the maximum distance that the Vehicle can travel in twelve hours under normal conditions according to the Reference Source; and if he owns an Other Vehicle, to any Location located a maximum distance from his current Location equal to the maximum distance that the Vehicle can travel in two hours under normal conditions according to the Reference Source.

In the case of any dispute or uncertainty regarding the legitimacy of a Vehicle, or its permitted Locations or capabilities with respect to Movement, the determination of the Djinni shall be conclusive and binding.

Add a subrule, entitled “Vehicle Incompatibility”, as follows:

- Flying Vehicles cannot be located indoors, underground or within a municipality with a population greater than 10,000.  Flying Vehicles cannot be located in a body of water (unless the Flying Vehicle is of a type that is designed to take off or land from water), but may engage in Movement that passes over a body of water.
- Sea Vehicles can only be located in a body of water that could, in the Universe, reasonably be navigated by that Sea Vehicle.  For example, the German Battleship Bismarck cannot be located in the San Antonio River because the river is much too shallow.
- Other Vehicles cannot be located in a body of water, but may engage in Movement that passes over or under a body of water to the extent that a means of passage exists in the Universe that is reasonably capable of accommodating that Other Vehicle.  For example, the Yamaha WR250F is capable of passing under the Hudson River to cross between Manhattan and New Jersey by means such as the George Washington Bridge or the Lincoln Tunnel.  However, Other Vehicles require a particular kind of infrastructure to accommodate them (such as trains requiring rails) may only be located, or engage in movement, to the extent that the infrastructure exists in the Universe where required.

Comments

Ornithopter:

25-12-2009 00:42:46 UTC

against
Way more complicated than we need. It would require more work to discover if a given vehicle could take me from A to B than I would do to prepare for the same real-world trip. And if we’re going for this level of realism, (which I will vote against) it makes no sense that vehicles disappear when we get out of them, instead of staying put so we can come back and use them later.

Klisz:

25-12-2009 00:44:45 UTC

for

90000:

25-12-2009 00:49:37 UTC

imperial just too confused

Darknight: he/him

25-12-2009 02:36:37 UTC

imperial

SingularByte: he/him

25-12-2009 08:42:12 UTC

against

Kevan: he/him

25-12-2009 14:44:25 UTC

against Great idea, but far too complex. We could just have a simple list of defined vehicles in a rule somewhere, and let players add to it through wishes.

Oze:

25-12-2009 16:38:57 UTC

against

Qwazukee:

26-12-2009 05:24:53 UTC

against

alethiophile:

26-12-2009 06:03:34 UTC

against
Also, I’m planning on adding a teleportation ability in a future proposal; this rule would prevent people from going somewhere, even by teleportation, that their vehicle cannot go to (or at least that’s my impression).

NoOneImportant:

26-12-2009 21:48:02 UTC

against

Ornithopter:

26-12-2009 23:44:33 UTC

Aleth: You’d just need to modify this rule in your proposal to keep that from happening.