Suh-WEET Airship battle in last night's game

[UniversalMonster]

I use three programs...

Well- three things. I use the Jamis Buck NPC generator- but usually only in preparation, and I usually modify the results.

I also use Everchanging Book of Names for npcs on the fly.

I also use the Monster Monograph document for quick monster stats. I usually print out my notes before the game and don't use the laptop.. but lately I've been just flipping open the laptop. Laziness.

 

[UniversalMonster]

There are more galleries up, now!

This is the one with the big spider-web-thingy. You'll have to skip a few pages. The black counters represent 'goblin-driders'.. sort of miniature driders with 4 hit points. The red splotches represent dead bodies. I think the body count was like 78 or something at the end. There was a horde of 128 in the encounter! Skip to the pictures near the end. Eventually we'll photoshop the people holding their flying characters out.


I set the big giant encounter at the end up so one of the 10th level characters could show off his cleave and great-cleave feats against a big batch of little tiny guys.

You may also notice a giant demon-lord looking guy up at the top of the structure with a bunch of barrels. Yes- this is a subtle homage to Donkey Kong- the demon Lord was Mulcibere- a half-fiend Frost Giant with several levels of Barbarian. He was able to chuck barrels and boulders at the players while they hacked their way through the horde of mini-driders. Thus, they eventually resorted to flying. One of the players has promised to photoshop-enhance a lot of the pictures from this group as well (you can see one picture where a porticullis gate drop-slams one of the characters and we used a book for the picture, for example).

 

[gamecat]

Cool airship battle... Try Spelljammer... Airships in space!

 

[Darraketh]

The spider-thingy is great. Reminds me of a Necromunda style battle set.

What did you use that red threaded handle for?

 

[UniversalMonster]

It's kinda goofy- Randy wanted some pictures of his character flying in to battle with Mulcibere so we rigged up the broom handle with fishing line and suspended the miniature from above for the pictures. Someone will eventually photoshop the picture so that the character is 'flying'.

Hey, it was fun!

Stop looking at me like that!

It wasn't even my idea!

 

[Darraketh]

Stop looking at me like that!

It wasn't even my idea!

lol I should have guested that but I was picturing them as hanging from the ceiling.

I saw the flying PCs and the shots with the towel behind them made it easier.

I have to say I think it would be so cool to play in one of your games.

I remember I was in sub school and this fellow was after us for days to get in on our game but the DM really didn't want to try to teach someone new. We would only be together for a few weeks so he wanted experienced players only.

Finally he relented. We helped the guy roll up a fighter while explaining the basics. Then we got down to playing. We sat around on our bunks in the barracks rolling dice in a box.

I noticed that our new player was just sitting there holding his character sheet. He did say anything for an hour other than the occasional sure or ok when asked a question.

Finally he just stood up and said, "I'm sorry but I just don't get it. I can't see what you are doing here. I'm sorry." With that he turned and walked out of the barracks.

We stared after him with our jaws hanging. The DM rolled a die into the box and said "the fighter just took a fatal arrow in the chest, Ambush!"

Maybe if we had props and minis that fighter would still be alive to this day.

 

[sfgiants]

That was an inspiring post! Quick question: are there any supplements that examine or use airships? Might be handy/useful to me (especially after seeing how cool that adventure seemed to go).

 

[rayners]

I'm going to try and start weeding out the bad pictures and cleaning up the good ones tonight.

I'll make the flying pictures a priority.

 

[UniversalMonster]

sfgiants- sorry I missed your post.

I have some "partial" airship/serial battle rules on my website (Http://the-never.net)

I actually use a few other rpg sources, though.

One is just a general interest in ships and sailing. I can't really qualify this one; it's a general thing. My dad had owned a sailboat dealership in New York in the 1970's, and I went to one of the first Operation: Sail events and I was really impressed by the big ships.

I know use Mongoose' Seas of Blood altered for airships. It's 'sea' ships that fly under wind-power.

The other three are

1) 'Challengers of Mystara' boxed set - an old basic D&D supplement about airships.

2) 'Top Ballista'- another basic D&D supplement about orcs and gnomes using gliders and flying ships.

3) Spacefarers Handbook- an AD&D Spelljammer supplement with a few bits about Spelljamming (which is essentially the same thing as airships..)


These are all simplified down into a very simple version of d20-esque mechanics for the actual game.

 

[UniversalMonster]

Update!

Here is the latest <a href=http://www.arrakis.homeip.net/gallery/album12>gallery</a> from Thursday. There was another big airship battle- the group against a group of 8 winged red slaad, that attacked the group as they made their way to the Rift of Penitain in an attempt to stop their old mentor from re-awakening an ancient Chaos Lord.

At one point one of the characters was attempting a tumble to get behind one of the slaad. He made a backflip and meant to land somewhere balanced on the port-side rail. Unfortunately, he missed his tumble check and went over the side. Luckily, he made a reflex save and caught a loose hanging rope underneath the ship (well, he had a ring of feather-falling too). The next round he continued swinging in a wide arc undeneath, and tumbled around to land on the deck from the starboard side- where he backstabbed and killed the slaad he had been fighting earlier.

Cool battle. The campaign is winding down, by the way. Probably completed it's current story arc by Gen Con.