Spider Silk
Sep. 2nd, 2019 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethAm currently wondering if the GURPS spell Spider Silk makes silk you could weave with.
Like it says duration one minute, so probably not, but if that's the duration you can shoot more web, maybe the web stuff lasts?
If not it just needs another spell.
I don't know which one it would be like though.
Plant spells logically ought to be useable to make plant fibers, but Shape Plant specifies it's for Carpentry or Artist Woodworking, which is not the same thing at all.
Plant Growth can make a month's worth of plant, but not process it.
There's a Create Paper spell, but that doesn't necessarily need matter to start from. Is a pretty good spell though. Fabric would have more complex structures, maybe I could make it one up from there?
... it says papermaking can use Artist Woodworking. That's an application of the word I'd not thought of.
Join Plants specifically says it can be used to turn a braid of ivy into an ivy rope. Presumably other plant matter too. But you have to start with the plant.
Plant to Object can turn any plant to any object, but needs to start as wood to make wood, so you can't make a club from leaves. Which is ridiculous and I'm sure I can think of ways around it if I ponder. ... also now I'm thinking of fun with amber. Starts as a plant stuff...
But Plant to Object is definitely fancy enough to make fibre, since it mentions hemp rope.
Again, need to start with plant.
Those were mostly from the Plant Spells supplement.
When they make stuff it mostly stays made. Not the tree bark armour though, that magics away as quick as it appears. So I guess the useful in combat stuff has fancy rules.
But it still seems like spider silk should be like paper, and exist once it is made.
The Hair Growth and Haircut spells seem like the most obvious ways to get fibers. Haircut can be used to sheer sheep, per the description. Hair Growth sounds like it's thinking of humans only. It says it makes hair grow a million times faster, so you get an inch of hair in five seconds. That seems less fun than it could be.
But if it grows a million faster then would a sheep need shearing a million times a year? Because that would be like every 30 seconds. Six inches of wool? And it's 1 to cast 1 to maintain, which means even at average skill you could do that several times a day, but at high enough skill you could just do that continuously. All wool all the time, shearing it quick enough being the only obstacle, and Haircut spell is only 2 energy. That is a lot of wool. A Lot.
And there's no reason to limit it only to sheep.
Unless it is meant to be a humans only spell. But Haircut explicitly isn't. So.
The Making and Breaking college has spells to Dye, Knot and Fasten, but not specifically to weave. Copy ought to do just as well for printing on fabric as paper.
Animate objects on the loom might actually be simpler than direct creation, but it's a sight more exhausting than weaving by muscle power.
The Repair spell could certainly take worn or chopped up fabric and fibre and turn it into as new fabric, but is a lot of bother for that.
And Rebuild can make anything up to and including a starship from any shattered part, which one must assume is overkill for even fancy damask, so if you got a strip of fabric it would give you back a completed original bolt... but if you got a strip of dress you'd get a dress again.
I don't think any of the spell descriptions mention how to get leather, with or without starting matter.
But many things make permanent things so an upgrade on spider silk is logical.
I realise wondering how magic would effect the economics of fibrecraft is rather besides the point, seeing as it's all made up, and there's not really rules because it's unlikely to come up under adventuring conditions, but fibre, cloth, and clothing was so essential to the economy, and indeed survival.
And wearing a spidersilk gown would be really cool.
But there's ways of calculating how the Plant spells increase yield on a particular bit of land. I haven't seen the math on animals. And the wool thing ought to be very interesting. Especially if easy magic can make giant piles of wool but only really difficult magic or actual skill can turn it into stuff.
Still seems like fabric should be closer to the paper spell than the rebuild a starship one.
But the weird trades that spellcasters would have to do to get their materials made into things they want...
Like it says duration one minute, so probably not, but if that's the duration you can shoot more web, maybe the web stuff lasts?
If not it just needs another spell.
I don't know which one it would be like though.
Plant spells logically ought to be useable to make plant fibers, but Shape Plant specifies it's for Carpentry or Artist Woodworking, which is not the same thing at all.
Plant Growth can make a month's worth of plant, but not process it.
There's a Create Paper spell, but that doesn't necessarily need matter to start from. Is a pretty good spell though. Fabric would have more complex structures, maybe I could make it one up from there?
... it says papermaking can use Artist Woodworking. That's an application of the word I'd not thought of.
Join Plants specifically says it can be used to turn a braid of ivy into an ivy rope. Presumably other plant matter too. But you have to start with the plant.
Plant to Object can turn any plant to any object, but needs to start as wood to make wood, so you can't make a club from leaves. Which is ridiculous and I'm sure I can think of ways around it if I ponder. ... also now I'm thinking of fun with amber. Starts as a plant stuff...
But Plant to Object is definitely fancy enough to make fibre, since it mentions hemp rope.
Again, need to start with plant.
Those were mostly from the Plant Spells supplement.
When they make stuff it mostly stays made. Not the tree bark armour though, that magics away as quick as it appears. So I guess the useful in combat stuff has fancy rules.
But it still seems like spider silk should be like paper, and exist once it is made.
The Hair Growth and Haircut spells seem like the most obvious ways to get fibers. Haircut can be used to sheer sheep, per the description. Hair Growth sounds like it's thinking of humans only. It says it makes hair grow a million times faster, so you get an inch of hair in five seconds. That seems less fun than it could be.
But if it grows a million faster then would a sheep need shearing a million times a year? Because that would be like every 30 seconds. Six inches of wool? And it's 1 to cast 1 to maintain, which means even at average skill you could do that several times a day, but at high enough skill you could just do that continuously. All wool all the time, shearing it quick enough being the only obstacle, and Haircut spell is only 2 energy. That is a lot of wool. A Lot.
And there's no reason to limit it only to sheep.
Unless it is meant to be a humans only spell. But Haircut explicitly isn't. So.
The Making and Breaking college has spells to Dye, Knot and Fasten, but not specifically to weave. Copy ought to do just as well for printing on fabric as paper.
Animate objects on the loom might actually be simpler than direct creation, but it's a sight more exhausting than weaving by muscle power.
The Repair spell could certainly take worn or chopped up fabric and fibre and turn it into as new fabric, but is a lot of bother for that.
And Rebuild can make anything up to and including a starship from any shattered part, which one must assume is overkill for even fancy damask, so if you got a strip of fabric it would give you back a completed original bolt... but if you got a strip of dress you'd get a dress again.
I don't think any of the spell descriptions mention how to get leather, with or without starting matter.
But many things make permanent things so an upgrade on spider silk is logical.
I realise wondering how magic would effect the economics of fibrecraft is rather besides the point, seeing as it's all made up, and there's not really rules because it's unlikely to come up under adventuring conditions, but fibre, cloth, and clothing was so essential to the economy, and indeed survival.
And wearing a spidersilk gown would be really cool.
But there's ways of calculating how the Plant spells increase yield on a particular bit of land. I haven't seen the math on animals. And the wool thing ought to be very interesting. Especially if easy magic can make giant piles of wool but only really difficult magic or actual skill can turn it into stuff.
Still seems like fabric should be closer to the paper spell than the rebuild a starship one.
But the weird trades that spellcasters would have to do to get their materials made into things they want...