[OOC] Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

[The New Yorker]

And your assumption is that Sarel's telekinesis spell is weak? Indeed, it is not.

[EliteCommander]

I don't think he assumed it was weak. Rather, he assumed that even the strongest telekinesis could lift over a hundred pounds. I know a vampire lord can do that, though they have the power of blood magic backing them up. Ultimately, if one can do that, it wouldn't be a walk in the park. The mage would have to exert considerable effort to lift that kind of weight and sustain it.

[Lucius Cypher]

I would never dare make any assumptions. There is some uncertainly, indeed, but I would refrain from making assumption unless I have some valid evidence to support any hypothesis.

[EliteCommander]

That word does not exist.

[Lucius Cypher]

Not up till now. He's making this stuff on the go.

[EliteCommander]

I strongly disapprove.

[Lucius Cypher]

Well, it's just an idea Malakaus wants to pursue. If you don't want to, have Sharee not accept. He'll just have to find someone else to help him improve the design.

[EliteCommander]

I'm referring mostly to word choice here, though guns in ES are never something I've really approved of. The developers have never been keen on including them, and I would say it breaks the theme.

[The New Yorker]

And what about the fire salt business. As far as I know, summoning is such, along with the amulet of kings and things like that, where you cannot harvest things from a dead deadra because they immediately vanish back into Oblivion, immediately.

EliteCommander said
I don't think he assumed it was weak. Rather, he assumed that even the strongest telekinesis could lift over a hundred pounds. I know a vampire lord can do that, though they have the power of blood magic backing them up. Ultimately, if one can do that, it wouldn't be a walk in the park. The mage would have to exert considerable effort to lift that kind of weight and sustain it.

We've already discussed how misleading information from the games can be. I see it this way, Telekinesis is a mystical property, to put hard limits on mystical properties, especially when these properties are committed by someone with over a lifetime of experience and with the assured assistance of a deity, is a little silly. I can imagine Sarel using his spell to stop falling rocks or stop an arrow, the pressure of which could well be over 100 pounds, with some effort. Sure, maybe it would take some magical bolstering, but I do not believe it is outside of his capabilities.

[The New Yorker]

EliteCommander said
I'm referring mostly to word choice here, though guns in ES are never something I've really approved of. The developers have never been keen on including them, and I would say it breaks the theme.

I disagree. I think it would be cool at some point in the story if there was a modern world surrounded by ES magic, but the story is set at a time where this is kind of impossible. It would take several more decades of scientific advancement in order to make clockwork pistols even. I see our current era as the end of the middle ages of ES.

[Lucius Cypher]

Bullet's came way before guns. It was just another word for pellets or rocks that you'd fling from a sling, based off the french word for "Little Rock", cause most bullets back than were little rocks. And besides that, the Dwemer already created steam power, and you've created smoke bombs. A bowless crossbow seems like a viable thing to attempt, powdered by explosives and and swinging it as a club is more effective in melee than trying to beat someone with a bow. Besides, if we're doing pirates, the old pistol and sword is a classic theme for pirates everywhere. Tamriel can only stay in a medieval stasis for so long. It's not like Hermaeus Mora kills everyone who tries to advance technology.

[EliteCommander]

Beyond my aversion to the idea, there is a legitimate issue I see with the design, mostly in terms of scalability. I think I'll have Sharee mention it.

[Lucius Cypher]

Could you elaborate? I'll admit, it won't be perfect. Even if Malakaus and Sharee can create the Boom Stick that Malakaus thinks of, it's much less effect for long-range combat compared to bows and arrows. But the purpose of the Boom Stick is to give fighters a ranged-off hand cudgel, as well as improve a flaw with the box-fed crossbow that annoys Malakaus; needing two hands to ready the next shot. Also obviously, ill suited as a stealth weapon. Likely prone to jamming, but that's why he needs to improve it. Just because it's not good at first, doesn't mean it can't get stronger later. He just needs help figuring out how bullets work, and than create the boom sticks to use them. Throw in some magic and now you have magical boom sticks. Certainly better than just making non-exploding magic sticks.

[EliteCommander]

The largest issue I see is the nature of the weapon itself. As a cudgel, the point of the thing is to hit stuff with it with enough force to damage the target. If you put a barrel in the middle of it, then it is invariably going to bend after enough use. That could cause it to violently backfire. Now, ES does have some unnaturally strong metals, like ebony, but they are expensive, hence the scalability issue. Morphing the design into a blade instead of a cudgel would likely negate that issue, since it wouldn't stress the barrel as much, but you would end up with a weapon that is less effective at range than a bow, and more clumsy than a normal sword due to the excess weight. Being the first version, that is to be expected, though in reality, gun swords were a thing that never really took off, apart from bayonets.

[The New Yorker]

They may take off in a world like this however.

[EliteCommander]

Usually, if something wasn't popular in history, there was a reason for it. The gun-swords did exist, so it's not an impossibility, but it was more effective to have a sword and pistol instead of a swordpistol.

Though, ES does have magic.

[Lucius Cypher]

I have an idea to work around that issue thanks to the wider variety of sturdy metals in the ES universe. Gunblades and even Gunblugeons never took off in our world due to the limitations of steel, but in the ES world there are metals stronger than steel, which allow for even sturdier firearms. I doesn't even need to be Ebony; Dwarven or Orcish are strong enough metals to advance the design of the Boom Sticks to use heavier calibers and take more damage. And I can assure you: Hardiness and durability is what orcs are known for, and it reflects in their crafts. And besides that, we can always add Bayonets to the Boom Sticks and make them into spears if need be. Bayonets are still pretty popular today too.

Frankly, I find gunswords to be a very... Impractical idea. I wouldn't be surprise if a daedric artifact would take the image of one, but you'd need the power of the gods to make a bonefide gunblade that isn't just a dagger on a Boom Stick. Plus, it's easier to teach people to to hit something with a stick than to show them proper slashing and stabbing techniques with a gun blade. Malakaus isn't looking for exotic weapon supremacy here; he needs to make something the whole crew can pick up and use with as little training as he can get them to do. While "Point and shoot" is an oversimplification of gun usage, it's certainly easier to tell them to do that than to hand them a bow and arrows and expecting them to figure out how to notch and aim with a bow on the fly.

A Boom Stick should be able to be given to a random peasant and make them capable of killing an armored warrior simply by telling them to point the barrel at the target and pulling the trigger. Additional the Boom Stick would give fighters a Medium Range option; against enemies that's too far away for melee but too close to attempt using a Bow without the opponent closing the distance. And since not everyone is magically capable, the Boom Stick can be used as the alternative for the magically inept.

[EliteCommander]

Honestly, I dislike the entire idea and do not think it fits ES, but whatever. Dwarven and Orichalcum would present the same problem to a lesser extent, though, so they would need to save up funds regardless.

[Lucius Cypher]

Well if we can scheduled a journey into a Dwarven Ruin, getting the metal won't be hard. Can't swing an axe without hitting some random dwemer junk that can be melted down and repurposed. Orichalcum will be a bit harder to get his hands on, but it's pretty much a poor man's ebony. And making money won't be too hard if we use our skills to the fullest. Being a fairly proficient Smith and Enchanter, Malakaus can always make some cheap enchanted necklaces with or weapons if he can get a steady supply of petty soul gems, and pest to kill. Malakaus knows how to apply Fiery Soul Trap, which is a rather expensive enchantment that ought to bring a pretty penny. Even if he can't enchant items, he can still just mass master-work weapons using recycled metal since Malakaus himself is a rather skilled smith. He can create iron katanas and sell them simply because of their exotic quality.

By the way Commander, would we be doing any quest from the Daedric Lords at some point? I may have reason to obtain Azura's Star if Malakaus is going to be using his Enchanting skill with great regularity.

[The New Yorker]

I think you're putting to much importance in this idea Lucius. This is a world with magic and gods and monsters, why reduce the action to point and click? It's something that may seem important to you, for some reason or another, but EC and I don't understand it's usefulness, both in terms of practicality and plot wise. So why not just let it go?