Sunday game help - one-upping Avatar

[The Little Raven]

Because it looks like a live action anime - lots of pretty but terrible cliched plot.

Movie advertising these days does little to really give you an idea of what the movie is going to be like. I've seen so many trailers and commercials that have turned me off to the movie, but upon seeing it I actually love it. I think the best way to judge whether a movie will be good is to look at the names behind it and the precedent their previous projects have set. James Cameron has delivered success after success, with all but one of his hits being action movies, usually of the sci-fi variety. The guy knows his stuff.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I dunno why people do that. I mean, it's James freakin' Cameron.

Because everyone has to make a bad movie eventually

It was more because of the "I bet it's just Fern Gully with furries!" and garbage like that. The plot is predictable, yes, but it's familiar, and in a good way. Star Wars was predictable, and so was Rocky, and those are two of my favorite movies.

I think it's also partially that there's been so many stinkers that it's better to go in with low expectations and be pleasantly surprised then to do the opposite.

Well, that's good to hear. I'm not sure I'm convinced, but it's good to hear.

Let me ask you this: what did you think of Braveheart?

Not a fan of Braveheart, all things considered. Also not sure what that has to do with anything.

 

[Celebrim]

Not a fan of Braveheart, all things considered. Also not sure what that has to do with anything.

That's the right answer. I'm testing to see if your taste in movies is trust worthy.

 

[RangerWickett]

Great advice guys. Keep it up.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Shuttles are for ship to ship transportation, and typically aren't built to escape a gravity well. The general process is that space elevators bring things between surface and orbit, and ships fly between planets.

Also the bad guys are near to both the space elevator landing and the mine, so orbital bombardment is infeasible. Though that's a good point, they should be able to scan from orbit to see what they're up against, and via communication with the ship they can get real-time birds-eye views of the terrain.

I figured that was the case with your shuttles, but decided to make sure.

Don't be too sure about orbital bombardment being infeasible. Depends on what they have and what they think they can do with it. (Re: how accurate they think it is.) Also, look carefully at what else they have. Some everyday piece of equipment might be far more usefull than you might think.

Star Trek: "We've got antimatter and transporters, right...?"

 

[Aeolius]

...the pirates having a mining operation where they use mecha to extract the hazardous exotic matter that FTL ships use for fuel. The main mining operation is in a jungle, and the pirates could have used 'slave collars' to mind control a few of the native megafauna.

Perhaps the exotic fuel is made from an extract obtained from the glands of the native megafauna? The pirates do not want to use them as slaves, they want to use them as fuel.

 

[RangerWickett]

Perhaps the exotic fuel is made from an extract obtained from the glands of the native megafauna? The pirates do not want to use them as slaves, they want to use them as fuel.

I'll take this and tweak it, so the native critters are a bit more like Cthulhu mythos critters, with reality warping abilities (I already established that this exotic matter makes your brain hurt when you look at it, but it allows warp drives). The 'ore' being mined is tentacle monster fossils. Adds some nice flavor.

 

[Aeolius]

and for a bit of additional Avatar-style crunchiness:

Regarding your Background
[sblock] Perhaps the crew members that were left behind have been placed in special stasis pods where their brainwashed drug-fogged minds remotely control the very pirates that the PCs must now engage. A bit of "The Prisoner" meets "The Matrix" meets "The Lawnmower Man". [/sblock]

 

[Herobizkit]

Does your mecha transform? No? Why not?

What ya need is some really awesome motorcyles-come-airships for a chase scene.

This show, Storm Hawks, reeks of pure awesome in kid form. They're Sky Pirates. On flying ships. Just watching this trailer makes me think of how 4e should 'look' to a player.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QVqRVNZN5Y&feature=related]YouTube - Storm Hawks ~ 90 Second Trailer[/ame]

 

[ProfessorCirno]

While I can't give much on the crunch level, I can advise that, the best things that make a game seem more cinematic aren't action or cool moments, but descriptions and world building. The difference between talking about a movie and seeing the movie isn't the action taking place, but how it's shown or described. And the difference between a good sci-fi movie and a bad one can often be how the setting is portrayed.