Does anyone still play Dragon Star?

[Pagan priest]

Lately, a friend of mine has been getting some of the DS books from me for birthdays and Yule, along with hints that this would be a neat game for our group to play sometime...

 

[Storyteller01]

Just be careful with the spellware. No limit as to how much you can carry, other party members can't steal it. Some folks would be willing to sacrifice the exp to abuse this.

 

[Drowbane]

Lately I've been tempted to try running Dungeon/Dragon's "Incursion" campaign using Dragonstar, Starwarsd20, d20 Modern Future, and Starcraft elements.

* The invaders being more Protoss, less Githyanki
* Possible appearence of the Zerg (far-realm aberrations!) at mid-high level
* weapons and armor from d20 SW and/or Dragonstar
* Jedi as a Protoss (Dark Templar / Templar / Zealots) class
* Use of d20 Future's mecha rules... if I can tweak them enough to make them make sense

I need to go pick up a new Dragonstar book however (seems my X has mine).

I'll try. No guarantees though. I'm about as computer literate as the local rock.


Iaijutsu is in Oriental Adventures. I didn't like that snipers had to get within 30 ft to snipe, so I converted the skill over to ranged weapons. WOrked out well so far.


IK = Iron Kingdoms. Their magic item rules for them make crafting straight magic items harder and potentially dangerous. Instead they use 'tech' to create magic items (arcane accumulators [batteries], conduits [wiring] etc). Less dangerous, less expensive, but constanly recharging the accumulators make tech an eve cheaper option for most effects. The rare true magic items have my players dancing the jig when they find them...

Iaijutsu as sniping...

simply brilliant!

How exactly did you run that? Ranged attacker vs flat-footed foe rolls on Iaijutsu table? What attribute did you govern the skill with? Cha makes sense for Iaijutsu (somewhat)... Int for Sniping?

If you don't mind, I'd like to absorb some of your House Rules into the collective

 

[Storyteller01]

Iaijutsu as sniping...

simply brilliant!

How exactly did you run that? Ranged attacker vs flat-footed foe rolls on Iaijutsu table?

Yep, largely the same as the Iaijutsu rules (Treat it as a surprise action; no iterarive attacks while sniping). If you manage to stay hidden you get another surprise action at the beginning of the next round. No sniping with explosive weapons. No getting to hide after sniping with blasters.

I still roll Hide vs Spot to find snipers, but the distances involved makes that near impossible. I allow fighters to use Knowledge (Tactics) as a sort of spot check (where's the best place for a sniper to hide?). Sensors work great for this as well.

What attribute did you govern the skill with? Cha makes sense for Iaijutsu (somewhat)... Int for Sniping?

Stuck with Cha, given the focus bewteen iai duels and sniper fire is similar. Wis would probably work as well.

If you don't mind, I'd like to absorb some of your House Rules into the collective

Be my guest! Let me know how they work out. Be careful mixing weapons from Dragonstar with d20 Modern/Star Wars. My experince is that DS weapons tend to do more damage than equivalent D20M/SW weapons. Their ranges are also MUCH farther. An M-16 has a 70 ft range inc in d20M (or so I've seen). A DS assault rifle has a 200 ft range inc.

 

[Pagan priest]

That really is an elegant solution to the problem. I have long thought that the d20 system in general needed a good mechanic for the one-shot-one-kill idea of sniping. Iaijutsu focus works beautifully as the mechanism.

 

[Ranger REG]

That really is an elegant solution to the problem. I have long thought that the d20 system in general needed a good mechanic for the one-shot-one-kill idea of sniping. Iaijutsu focus works beautifully as the mechanism.

What's good for the goose (PCs) is also good for the gander (NPC BBEGs).

That is, until my group dwindles to one player in attendance.

 

[Drowbane]

not a real quote

Iaijutsu as Sniping

What do you think of a Sniper PrC that is based off the Iaijutsu Master?

Mainly the 5th and 8th level abilities?

5th - Strike from the Void One shot, one Kill (Ex): +cha (or whatever attribute modifier you use with Sniping. I'm thinking of using Int or Wis) mod on each extra damage die gained from using the Iaijutsu Sniper's Focus skill.

8th - One strike, two cuts One Shot, Two Kills (Ex): the sniper can make two attacks with a rifle as a standard action. This means he can shoot twice during a surprise round.

Replace other Iai Master class features with something Sniperish.

 

[Storyteller01]

What's good for the goose (PCs) is also good for the gander (NPC BBEGs).

That is, until my group dwindles to one player in attendance.

Did that, but the player brought it on himself.

He played a drow sniper. They were on a mission to find a criminal who had taken refuge with a gang. he got frustrated as to how the mission was going, so he started sniping gang members to get their attention. For what ever reason, he actually waited for news vans!

It worked, until a police sniper returned the favor.


His next character has beefed up on the Know (Tactics) skill to keep it from happening again.


I added that skill for that reason: keeps BBEG's and players alike from owning an area.

Well, that and anyone scrying, vehicle with sensors and weaponry, etc...

 

[Storyteller01]

What do you think of a Sniper PrC that is based off the Iaijutsu Master?

Mainly the 5th and 8th level abilities?

5th - Strike from the Void One shot, one Kill (Ex): +cha (or whatever attribute modifier you use with Sniping. I'm thinking of using Int or Wis) mod on each extra damage die gained from using the Iaijutsu Sniper's Focus skill.

8th - One strike, two cuts One Shot, Two Kills (Ex): the sniper can make two attacks with a rifle as a standard action. This means he can shoot twice during a surprise round.

Replace other Iai Master class features with something Sniperish.

I've been partial to using IK's Sniper PrC, adding Sniper Focus as a class skill. Nothing says lovin' like a x6 crit in addition to SF damage!!

I did think about converting the PrC to a Quickdraw Pistol Master (Iaijutsu becomes Quickdraw Focus, with a max range of the weapons first range inc). Gives a nice kick for the kinetic firearms (they usually have a longer range compared to their energy equivalents). None of my players took the bait though.

I had thought about a sniper conversion, but I couldn't think of a way to reconcile the last ability.

 

[scourger]

With any luck, I'll be running Don't Count You Eggs, one of the free DS modules that was on the FFG web side (not sure if it still is). Of course, I'm running it in a D&D game with D&D minis for the loose critters and Star Wars minis for the 2 factions on the ship...but it still harkens me back to DS.

Prisoners of Aphex was a great free DS module, too. I modified and used it for another game a couple of years ago. I got 3 great sessions out of it, too!