Etheric “Paddlewheel” Engine

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Etheric “Paddlewheel” Engine

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a unique method of thrust that uses the Etheric Modulator Component
• Image Source: (X)
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions:
  • For Dar'Manda Industries (X)
  • Members of the Nomadic Peoples Coalition and the Elysium Imperium are hereby permitted to use this technology in the creation of starship/vehicle submissions as they wish as long as those submissions are affiliated with these aforementioned factions.
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Dar'Manda Industries
• Affiliation:
  • Nomadic Peoples Coalition
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: Etheric “Paddlewheel” Engine
• Modularity: No
• Production: Limited Production
• Material:
  • Circuitry
  • Rotating Motors
  • Durasteel
  • Etheric Rudder Components
  • Etheric modulator components
  • Emitters

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Generates thrust by “shoving” against the luminiferous aether using etheric rudder “paddles”. Etheric modulators are used to change the state of the local luminiferous aether to make this method possible.

STRENGTHS

• Zero emissions — While this engine is not capable of stealth on its own, the fact that it produces absolutely no emissions at all makes this technology a viable candidate to use in conjunction with genuine stealth technology. Otherwise, this engine can still be detected by its energy signature, magnetic signature, or physical presence.
• Unstoppable Motion — when compared to conventional forms of thrust, this engine trades speed for raw power. This makes it a viable choice for designing ships that are meant to haul heavy loads, move more quickly through Predator Interdiction Drive fields, or fight back much harderagainst tractor beams than other engine types.

WEAKNESSES

• Many Moving Parts — this engine uses rotating motors and gear trains to spin the etheric paddlewheel. Impacts from highly kinetic weapons can often cause jam-ups and breakdowns when the engines are struck.
• Incompatible with conventional engines — when the etheric paddles are activated, they operate by “rowing” against the luminiferous aether in space and/or atmosphere. But if emissions based thrusters such as ion engines or sublight thrusters are attempted to be used at the same time as when the etheric paddles are activated, the paddlewheels can create drag against the aether which works against other engines instead of with them.
• Low Speed — This engine is designed for power over speed. Therefore, it is exceptionally difficult to design a ship that uses this engine to create higher speed. When designing ships that use this engine, it is easy to achieve designs that can travel at lower, or even average speeds, but in order to go any faster, sacrifices must be made. (OOC: players are encouraged to either avoid or justify making vessels with speed ratings that are higher than average when using this engine.)

DESCRIPTION
Built as an alternative to emissions-based thrusters, this engine is considered to be a unique use of the Etheric modulator component technology. In this particular case, there is a “paddlewheel” of Etheric Rudders that rotates and generates thrust by pushing against the luminiferous aether. This has been been attempted before, of course, but has not been successful due to the state of the aether in its natural state. Thanks to the invention of etheric modulators by Viken Dobson, the modulators temporarily change the state of the luminiferous aether into a “substance” that can be used to generate thrust in an efficient manner. The engines are slower than conventional thrusters, but are extremely powerful and can move extreme loads with very little effort.

 

[MANIAC]

Grand Shepherd Burtch

• Affiliation, You wrote a company, a person, a minor and a major faction. So please modify this and reduce the numbers according to the Factory rules:
  

  Limited (Only one small group of characters. IE: A Single Minor Faction, Company, or Group within a faction.)

• About these two. You cannot force the players or the Factory judges to do this. You can say in the OOC permission, they have to consider this, because you asked this from the use, but you cannot state these in the submission. Please delete these lines.
  

  (OOC note to judges: see weaknesses section whenever this submission is used in a vehicle/starship submission)

  (OOC: any speed ratings higher than average in a starship/vehicle submission cost two ratings instead of one.)

• The technology is not able to resist Predator Interdiction Drives, or pull back against tractor beams. It may fight against their effects more than other ships, or their effects are smaller on this engine, but it cannot be resist. Please, reword it.
• And please add at least one more weakness to the weakness list, because the submission is not balanced, it is not too big weakness the engine is slow, especially in the light, you have to delete the OOC part. And try to not think only in the point system when you figure out this, but try to write real weakness.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

MANIAC

Excellent, thank you.

The fixes that have been made are as follows:

• Fixed the affiliation section. As before, still not sure what the heck I was thinking.
• I deleted the header OOC note, but I attempted something different in the weaknesses section if that’s ok. I made it less of a hard rule, and more of a soft suggestion as advice to players that want to use it in their ships. I can still delete that if you want, but I thought I’d try this, just to keep it from being misused within the confines of my original concept. My goal is to have a selection of ship components for players to choose from when they join our faction and want to build their own ship. Like “build-a-bear” but with ships, so I’d like to avoid conditional permits of that nature if at all possible. At your discretion, of course.
• I have adjusted the verbiage on the strengths section regarding the predator interdiction drives and tractor beams. I am happy to adjust this further, if need-be.
• I have added two more weaknesses as requested. As always, I am happy to adjust this further if needed.

And I think that is all. As before, I am more than happy to make more changes if you think of any. This etheric technology is experimental in IC and OOC, so the feedback is very helpful.

 

[MANIAC]

Grand Shepherd Burtch

Thank you! And try to not abuse it.

Approved.

 

[John Locke]

This submission is being archived since it uses a retroactively denied submission.