Grrl Power #1026 - Earl Gray, hot!

Then let it hang for 300+ episodes before making a vague reference to it.

Ok, so this just popped into my head. Imagine Dabbler going to seduce Dues (that rhyme was not intended), and Dues says to her that he has had sex with a succubus before. -pause- In fact you might know her 'name one of Dabbler's birth mothers.'. Cue shocked pumpkin face. Wait! That can't be possible cause Dabbler is 187 years old. Or can it be possible? Dues asks if she has checked Ancestry.com lately.

Spoilsport!

Martin Croft

Discovering alien tech on earth makes her...frothy. 😏😈

D.A. Lamont

Given her flirtatious personality, I feel like there is an army of Paparatzo that swear they almost got a shot of a wardrobe malfunction from dabbler, only to find out that they took the picture one second to late or early, entirely because she has magic shenanigans.

Tannerbot

The Ryan XV-5 in the '60s had flight capabilities comparable to contemporary planes without fans in the wings; the project was cancelled due to issues with the Ejector Seat. The main issue that the USAF had with the fan system was that the engines for it took up a lot of internal space in the plane, so less room to store bombs ¬_¬

James C

Dave's design looked to be fixed rotor, not tiltrotor…

James C

Ducted fans have been used as substitutes for jet engines in model airplanes for a long time. They are impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwv4o9D7s78 Some folks do require more accuracy in their models though - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwY_dPjkz7c

Dan Pollack

Dave, also try searches for Autogyro and Gyrodyne.

Comeliness was introduced in Deities & Demigods as a stat that only gods could have, with appropriate effects for deities. Gygax then put it into UA for PCs to use, with the exact same effects.

Evil Midnight Lurker

Curious about how the Mass Fab operates. To be believable (to me at least) it would need to have a mass source to convert/rearrange. Something like the fabricators in The Diamond Age, where they're all hooked up to a Feed that provides basic raw material atoms, sort of like how a 3D printer has filament.

Kevin Wright

Academic question: do the bubble cover the backside?

Kevin Wright

I don't think she does it like this to be sexy, I think she does it to wind maxima up

Lilbobchicago

I think he sold porn, since it's already established as valuable throughout the galaxy.

akrasia

Dave if we don't get a link to the reference image for Dabbler in this comic, I will personally start a coup.

Jay

I can definitely see how Dabbler's not a Decorus Succubus here. I've yet to see one of her "sexy" outfits actually seem more like she lives and breathes the thing than like she's just trying too hard. EDIT: I'm mentally making comparisons to a pair of Succubae from the Dresden Files; one is semi-modestly dressed but gets a far better reaction than the one doing... Dabbler-like things.

James

I've imagined Charles Grey, the first Earl Grey, repainted to look sexy.

Stephen Gilberg

Comeliness was a core stat introduced in the 1st Edition of AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) in the Unearthed Arcana book. It was later reintroduced into 2nd Edition AD&D as a substat of Charisma (though it may have been called Appearance) in the Players Option: Skills and Powers which broke down the 6 core stats into 12 substats for more bookkeeping fun... and to better define certain things like speed vs coordination, personality vs appearance when looking at your Dexterity or Charisma score. Someone has probably already mentioned this, but I don't have time before work to read the other comments, and figured I'd throw in my two cents.

PucThePlayful

also depends on if its primarily flown with lifting surfaces like an airplane and the ducted fans are for V/STOL [F35B], if they also rotate for forward propulsion but lift is still provided by the wings [Osprey], or if they are the primary form of lift like a Helicopter [J.Cameron Avatar gunships and transports]. I think they still just refer to them as "Helicopters" even though they use ducted fans instead of rotating air foils. The closest thing you to what you are talking about are Ospreys [V-22 and similar vehicles], and they call those "Tilt-rotor aircraft". Would wager the name would be similar or the same even though its a "ducted fan" instead of a "rotor" Your design resembles more the "Quinn-jet" from the Marvel-verse in operation. Biggest issue would be the big open fan holes in the wing causing turbulence, etc, unless they rotated from vertical propulsion to horizontal propulsion in flight...which is doable [again, people are working on designs like that for the private and commercial flight market right now]

William Elliott

Ok, he BOUGHT them on the station - how did he PAY for them?

A Patreon of the Ahts

there are a few companies actually working on "Ducted Fan" designs like that right now. Basic ducted fans have a drag and flow issue that has prevented designs like that from being more popular than helicopters. Some of the new designs use a variable geometry intake so it can have a wider in flow during low speed, but contract down and be less draggy during higher speed horizontal flight. https://contest.techbriefs.com/2016/entries/aerospace-and-defense/6836

William Elliott

Anything goes in fiction, but the problem is that in-wing rotors are not very efficient. Helicopter blades that stick out have a lot more air to grab on to and provide a lot more speed control. For the in-wing type, you would need separate gyro motors to be able to move the rotors around for maneuverability. Not sure if your craft just uses the rotors for VTOL, or if that is also the main propulsion of the vehicle.

Matthew Paulin

Like the Orca from Command and Conquer. "Turbo-Fan powered VTOL"

+5 Distraction bonus to AC against those attracted to your gender, + 5 stealth in foggy/foamy conditions, Piercing attacks supereffective.

Michael Obert

The reason you're having difficulty finding such aircraft is that the design is more science fantasy than fiction. Aerodynamically speaking, the wings are useless at any descent speed.

Goner

See: Osprey, Firefly, Razorcrest,

Alex H

I believe it is tiltrotor or similar, still one of the coolest designs

Alex H

The combat effectivenss of Bubble-Mail would depend on what the bubble are composed of. If they were produced from a substance that has toughness of steel but has high elasticity it could provide good protection. The advantage of the attacker "accidentally" missing which creates wind that attempts to remove the bubbles could be also be a very good defense.

Demian Buckle

thats a cool aircraft its very reminiscent of the swordfish II from cowboy bebop

killernat

Okay I’ve got more info now, technically that would be a Lift-Fan aircraft, specifically a Ducted Lift Fan Flying Wing. The best current example is AugustaWestland’s Project Zero

Aaron Mauthe

I’d probably refer to any plane like that as a “Ducted Tiltrotor V/STOL” since ducted tiltrotors appear to be a subclass of standard tiltrotors

Aaron Mauthe

AIUI, an ornithopter is one where the wings actually flap

BW78

When you described it, I thought you meant a tilt rotor aircraft like an Osprey.

No one important

That is a tilting ducted fan V/STOL. See the Bell X-22

Aaron Mauthe

I think ornithopter?

Justaguy

The thing about Comeliness is, it was originally an extra stat that only the gods had, then Gygax brought it in for regular player characters without changing how it worked. One of several questionable choices from Unearthed Arcana 1e.

Evil Midnight Lurker