# Airship Operations in RPGs **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 11, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837 "2020-08-11T22:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zelski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c67d28/32.png) [@Zelski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelski)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/21 "2020-08-31T03:51:54Z")
Yeah, I was trying to say that you would’t have to go into micro-detail (although GMs could if they wished to.) I was saying that if some supplement offered the big picture version of 30 different such technologies then they could offer RP possibilities even if no one (GM or players) ever actually calculated any crunch. Just saying (technobabble style) that players needed a different kind of fuel or a phase inverter can create motives inside the game. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/22 "2020-08-31T04:11:31Z")
The airship in Final Fantasy 1, at least in the original NES version, which Chronos referred to, appears to be more like a helicopter than a dirigible. Of course, maybe it just relies on the FLOATER for lift and the windmill looking things are just for steering. Anyway, if you have bound elementals or other unrealistic power sources available, you could make a helicopter-based air vehicle the size of a sailing ship. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/23 "2020-08-31T12:48:40Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > you could make a helicopter-based air vehicle the size of a sailing ship. Gotta be careful or it might get too crunchy [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasecki_PA-97) YouTube [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_7jENWKgMPY/hqdefault.jpg "Piasecki PA97 Helistat Accident Crash - helicopter helium blimp hybrid air vehicle heavy lift") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jENWKgMPY) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/24 "2020-08-31T14:14:09Z")
Ouchies. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/25 "2020-08-31T14:53:45Z")
Some bad ideas are their own rewards. It’s just a shame some businessgoof’s idea of how to defraud the DoD ended up killing people. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Reynolds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_reynolds/32/3707_2.png) [@Jack\_Reynolds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Reynolds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/26 "2020-08-31T20:33:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > fraud the DoD ended up killing people. It was actually an interesting idea which was terribly executed. They wanted to be able to land a ton of cargo, like timber or a tank, on an unprepared field. They just didn’t know the math and didn’t perform sufficient structural analysis. I mean, there were several German and British rigid airships with swiveling airscrews which worked perfectly fine. So, V-22 Osprey airships. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Reynolds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_reynolds/32/3707_2.png) [@Jack\_Reynolds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Reynolds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/27 "2020-08-31T20:36:35Z")
How have people dealt with “unqualified” characters in airship or ship fights? If a character doesn’t have skills in cannons or mechanics or airship operations, how do you keep them involved? I was thinking having lots of things to do on an airship would help with that. Combat monsters can still do combat, but techy people can work the engines or steer the ship. Magic users always can find a use, either fixing things around ship, throwing combat spells, healing people, etc. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837/28 "2020-08-31T20:36:44Z")
Aerostats in and of themselves aren’t insane. Haven’t been a big hit yet and probably won’t be. But they aren’t insane. That particular one was a low-budget Potempkin Village used to bilk the Navy. Despite the hallowed name attached to the company it wasn’t their father’s Piasecki. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airship-operations-in-rpgs/917837.md?page=1)