>Imagine you are in a sealed room. How long does it take a person to die
> because the air gets bad - and why? Is it lack of Oxygen, or the
> presence of impurities?
I think you eventually pass out from the unrecycled air - you fall asleep
as your brain gets oxygen starved, and you don't wake up until the New Era
;)
>If the room is filled not with air, but with Oxygen only:
You will die. Pure oxygen is poisonous to people, especially at
high pressures (this from a Cthulhu adventure I ran based on the bottom of
the South Pacific, but also corroborated by my J-o-T skill).
>- - what atmospheric pressure should it be at to be safe? I believe that if
> the pressure is too high the atmosphere promotes any sort of minor
> spark into a serious fire/explosive hazard.
See above. I'm not quite sure that oxygen is poisonous at normal
pressure, but I'm sure it is under pressure. And yes, pure oxygen and
sparks do not mix in a pleasant fashion.
>- - how long before a typical human unfortunate dies from bad air in this
> scenario.
Depends on how much such a human had to start with. How big is the
room? When does the air shut off? Are thei spare tanks?
I think you could hedge on this to whatever is appropriate to the
adventure. Just assume that the room had x hours of air left, or had x
hours of backup air, or that x hours of air are in some convenient Vacc
Suits lying in the corner.
>At what tech level can you build guns out of non metallic materials?
Define Gun. You can build a simple gun-like contraption from natural
materials. If you want something more refined then you will have to wait
until the proper process comes along. I would say that only at TL7-8 (I'm
more used to GURPS TLs, but I think those are the corresponding Traveller
TLs for Modern Times) for the ceramic/plastic guns that seem to get past
metal detectors.
> .. What sort of non metallic materials are possible - plastics, carbon
> fibre, or what?
I'd bet MacGyver could build a simple Cannon-Locke or Matchlock out of
Bamboo and twine. . .
> .. At what tech level can you build caseless ammo and weapons to use it?
> And when does the result become as practical as weapons using cased
> ammo?
I would say the modern day. Caseless ammo requires being able to
manufacture a round with the powder already on it and not held by a
cartridge. Of course, technically I guess the old ball-and-musket was
"caseless" in a sense. . .
- -----
>I rifled the barrel. Is this ok on a pistol? (I am afraid I don't know
>anything >about real guns).
You mad, impetuous fool! Yes, it is A-OK :)
_________________________________
Eugenics: Chlorination of the Gene Pool.
Consistency is a Flaw.
J Roberson [email removed] [email removed]