RE: [DL] Re: Steam needs water

["Jodi and Clint Black" <cblack@abts.net>]

for players: "GHOST ROCK ISN'T REAL!"
don't question the physics of the game!
(actually, if you really WANT to know why ghost rock
wouldn't need water, just keep reading)
but remember, "mad science is just that: MAD"

Actually, a lot of the science is real (why do you think so many of the
gadgets are just steampunk versions of what are now real world devices)
which is why Mad Scientists have to have real Science skills.  Ghost Rock
simply burns hotter and longer than coal.  Oh yeah, it can also be used in
place of coke to make ghost steel.

As far as needing water to run ghost rock boilers, since the Collegium has
come out with their personal water condenser, you can simply say that man
sized boilers have one to generate their own water supply.  You could even
add a possible malfunction that the condenser has blown.  Easy enough.


for marshals: keep reading, and I'll explain why the
two phrases above should always be uttered to players
who ask too many questions

Please do keep reading.


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ghost rock, it is revelaed in Hell On Earth is
actually the physical embodiment of the manitou on the
earth. it's hard for me to accept that science can not
only explain how demons can be compressed into a solid
coal-like matter but also justify in a "reasonable"
and scientifically "accurate" way how they can be
released through "normal" steam-power

Your wrong here.  Ghost rock is the physical presence of the souls of the
damned not the manitous.  And the science of the day has no knowledge of
what ghost rock is made from, only what it is capable of being used for.
It's like prehistoric man burning wood for his fires and having no concept
of photosynthesis.


the ghost rock is flammable, it gives off ALOT of
steam
'nuff said (my opinion)
after all, "Ghost rock isn't real!" and "Mad science
is just that: mad"
if mad science weren't totally insane and didn't make
sense, it wouldn't be called "mad"

What?  Flammable items do not give off steam.  Boiling water gives off
steam.  It's why they're called ghost rock boilers.  And IMHO, it's called
"mad" science because the scientists can be driven insane.  Unfortunately, a
flamethrower is all too real and makes perfect and logical scientific sense.
I think maybe your confusion is coming from the description of the smoke and
fumes of ghost rock, quite a different thing from steam.

My 2 cents,

Clint Black