Travel range of a hopper?

By TheWizard77, in Shadow of the Beanstalk

Ok for some reason I can't for the life of me find what the average range of a hopper is. Does anyone know? Oh and to clarify I mean in a single hop.

Edited by TheWizard77

I don't think any media specifies. I imagine they have different ratings. For instance; a traditional city hopper might have a few hours (because charging pads are everywhere) while low gravity or exploration hoppers might have days or weeks because they go out across the surface of Luna or Mars.

Well, "hopper" is just a futuristic term for an automobile (because it's short for "skyhopper"). So asking for "a single hop" doesn't make much sense to me.

The EPG says that the default is 6hrs, so I'd use that as a base. It's like a modern-day vehicle, it just uses a different fuel source. Of course, like modern-day vehicles, they can refuel and I can only assume that New Angeles is littered with refueling stations (are they fully electric? Do they use liquid hydrogen fuel cells? I'm not sure) so as long as you're in an urban environment and not in the middle of a chase, the range is as unlimited as your fuel budget.

The Android board game had hopper ranges, but I assume that was more an abstraction of how fast the hopper could go in a single unit of time rather than a literal range limit on a single hop. I always got the impression hoppers were just flying cars in the setting (or more accurately they are described as mid-altitude rotor crafts). Therefore their range limit for a hop is the charge in their fuel cells like conventional cars. In Shadows they say hoppers have "short duration hydrogen fuel cells" and use "electromagnetic hoverfoil rotors", but they aren't more specific than that.

I would also assume the landscape in New Angeles is littered with hopper refueling stations.

Add: Worlds Of Android says the fuel cells can power the rotors for hours at a time. The cells recharge by contact with landing pads in a process called "flash charging" that lasts for only a few seconds. So every time the hopper lands on a pad it recharges, and it can fly for hours at a time on a full charge. Though the book doesn't talk about the range of speeds on a hopper. Shadows describes a hopperbike as blistering fast. To be honest it sounds like the hoppers are mimicking the speed and fuel economy of conventional automobiles. At least that's the impression I'm getting.

Edited by phillos
On 2/3/2020 at 9:56 AM, phillos said:

To be honest it sounds like the hoppers are mimicking the speed and fuel economy of conventional automobiles. At least that's the impression I'm getting.

That's the impression I get, as well. It's a flying car that uses 'future fuel'. Easy enough for almost everyone to understand!

Thanks the six hour range on the hydrogen cells was what I was wanting in essence. I missed getting The Worlds of Android book and thus did not have that info.

8 hours ago, TheWizard77 said:

Thanks the six hour range on the hydrogen cells was what I was wanting in essence. I missed getting The Worlds of Android book and thus did not have that info.

You can get a scan of it on DTRPG . Sadly it's not a "proper" PDF, it's a scan of the original book, so no searching or copy/paste of text.

But it's better than nothing, I guess 😛

I'm using the PDF I got from Drive Thru and I can do word searches just fine. In fact that's how I was answering his questions. For a dense book like Worlds the PDF is a better way to purchase it IMO. I think the print book is OOP anyway.

Also I can cut and paste text. For example see this text from the article on the Tenma line that I just cut and pasted:

"The Tenma line of clones has been one of Jinteki’s most popular products since its introduction.
Specimens offer unparalleled natural aptitude for piloting any type of vehicle,
from hoppers to spacecraft to motorsailers. This role is ideally suited for a clone, as
Tenmas exploit the human brain’s natural aptitude to rapidly assess the dangers of
a changing environment and make the best possible choices quickly. Their carefully
honed abilities complement their natural appearance and friendly personality to give
the human touch to any transportation role—whether it’s delivering goods or chauffeuring
corporate executives.
Tenmas have been in production for years. During that time, over one million clones
have been delivered to grateful owners. Jinteki has made minor revisions to the line
over its production run (such as small quality engineering adjustments), but the latest
units share 99.9% of their genetic identity with the very first units produced. Cybernetic
components have also been upgraded to keep pace with the latest available technology,
but these play a comparatively minor role in the line’s expertise."

I'm using version 1.2 of the PDF. Maybe earlier versions were just flat scans.

Edited by phillos
On 2/5/2020 at 1:13 AM, c__beck said:

You can get a scan of it on DTRPG . Sadly it's not a "proper" PDF, it's a scan of the original book, so no searching or copy/paste of text.

But it's better than nothing, I guess 😛

The only (bad) scan I know of is of the trove-variety :) On DTRPG it is a legit PDF.

2 hours ago, Mixxathon said:

The only (bad) scan I know of is of the trove-variety :) On DTRPG it is a legit PDF.

It's a PDF of images, so no copy/paste, no search functionality. So yes, it's a "legit PDF" but it doesn't have what most people consider PDF features.

but what version of the DTRPG pdf are you using? Cuz my version does all the things you are talking about.