Help needed with WotVB!!! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help needed with WotVB!!! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Mysticnurse
05-08-05, 08:16 PM Hi gang! My group and I are playing Whispers of the Vampire's Blade. We're about to get to the section called "Sky Raiders to Starboard!" I am reviewing the material in detail since it's a bit of a complicated combat session. There are some things I noticed missing from the details of the section that I need help with:

The four skiffs that fly over to Cloud's Destiny from Jade's Fury: how do they fly? do they have little baby elementals bound in them? The text of the adventure states that "These small, eight-person vessels are made of soarwood but don't have bound elementals to provide speed." So how do they stay aloft/fly? The ECS on p.127 just says that "ships made from soarwood skim effortlessly over the surface of the water. Soarwood is a necessary component of the airships and elemental galleons manufactured by...." But I still can't see how the skiffs fly!!

Also, the skiff crew are not detailed for use in combat. I was thinking of giving them the same stats as the Cloud's Destiny crew. Whaddya think?

Thanks to all in advance for your advice.
Uller999
05-08-05, 10:26 PM well I wouldn't worry to much about the skiff construction unless your PCs ask and than yeah smaller elementals, an emedded dragon stone with fly, or a dragonstone with gust of wind and a rudder attached. Myself I was just gonna have the skiffs docs with the boat and for the one's still flying I'd have one of the emerald claw goons still "pilot" the thing. I guess it would depend on how you say the skiff works.
Salla
05-09-05, 03:14 AM Huh ... I hadn't noticed that.

Annoying, but minor ... I'm recalling an old adventure from a previous edition where there was, literally, no way into the final battle because whoever drew the map forgot to put a hallway and a door linking the last room to the rest of the dungeon. :)
ekomega
05-09-05, 04:06 PM I figured the skiffs were connected to the elemental bound on the airship, and the skiffs could only travel so far from the airship. Maybe they have a dragonshard in them that is tethered somehow to the bound elemental, so they are powered but for limited range. It's never really explained.

I would make the skiff crew weaker than other crew members because if they were meant for combat, they'd have their stats listed. They're probably like expert 1 or 2 or something. I think if you commandeer a skiff you're supposed to just push those guys over and do what you want.
Andrus_Shade
05-10-05, 06:47 AM The skiffs are a real mystery. Since my party stole one to escape the ship i had to come up with stats. They are supposed to be short range vehicles according to the module, but they can catch up with an airship going 250ft/per round(30 mph). My solution was that they can hover and move slowly, then travel fast for short amounts of time. Here is what i came up with.

Powers
Levitate 0-20 feet at will (pilot can leave it at any height desired)
fly spd 20ft at will. pilot bonus +4 (If no pilot at controls ship will fall to 20 ft)
Fly fast 4 charges per day
1 charge 15mph for 2 hrs pilot bonus +0
2 charges 30 mph for 2 hrs. pilot bonus -2
4 charges 60 mph for 2 hrs. pilot bonus -4

this may be a bit too much, but it was the only way I thought they could catch up with the airship that is running away at full speed.
Streamweaver
05-10-05, 08:04 AM - Same stats as Cloud Destiny's crew is sensible, or just use the average NPC charts from the DMG for the level you need.

- I am ruling Soarwood itself can be enchanted to levitate, and this is how Airships (and the skiffs) stay aloft. The elementals are only used for propulsion in my interpretation so the Skiffs are rigged with actual small sails. Because of the low drag, skiffs are able to keep pace with the larger airships. The reason works well enough or me in my game anyway.
Kid SixXx
05-10-05, 09:15 AM - - I am ruling Soarwood itself can be enchanted to levitate, and this is how Airships (and the skiffs) stay aloft.

This is pretty much what I did. The Soarwood is enhanced with a small dragonshard containing Levitate and Feather Fall.

The skiffs don't actually fly IMC: they levitate a safe distance from the airship and then slowly descend.

Once the skiff reaches the ground, the magic ends permanently, thus preventing anyone from getting a free, motorboat-sized airship.

Ultimately I didn't have the skiffs from Garrow's ship overtake the airship that the PC's were on by sheer speed. I ran the typical Grappling Hooks/ Boarding scenario and the pirates linked with the PC's airship long enough for the skiffs to reach it.

Meanwhile most of the combat during the boarding took place in the form of missile fire, as the pirates kept the crew of the CD from attempting to cut themselves free of the enemy's grappling hooks.
Bluebrush
05-10-05, 09:26 AM I think a temporary fly effect does sound good. Though I like the featherfalling boats idea.

Also, a permanant levitate effect would be useful for airships I think. It'd explain how they can hover in place.
Radiating Gnome
05-10-05, 09:47 AM The speed differential between Skiffs and the airships is a real problem. When I ran whisper I simply glossed over the skiffs, and my players didn't ask, but the stats I had in my head for the air skiffs were the stats for similar vehicles from the Sharn book -- which, as I recall, gave those ships a top speed of 2 mph. Hardly enough for the ship to be able to keep up.

The problem is that I actually LIKE the slower air skiff model -- more like rowboats and launches from sailing ships, and less like fighters and aircraft from an aircraft carrier.

But then how do you make the encounter work? The Air skiffs can't catch up to the fleeing airship, and there really isn't a good way for the one airship to catch up with the other.

You could try a couple of different things, but they would require some pretty hefty revisions to the opening of the encounter.

1. Diving/Falling attacks from above. Certainly an air skiff could fall, as has been suggest by others, faster than an airship can move. That, however, sets a precedent for these sorts of diving attacks, and I don't know if you want that for your campaign.

2. Captain Rarwog and his minions find a way to stop the other airship. The airship only moves forward while there's a dragonmarked member of house Lyrandar at the helm (never mind that there isn't such a dragonmarked member of Rarwog's crew.). If the captain of the PC's vessel could be disabled somehow, the PCs would have to try to get to the flying bridge and take over the controls, and asusming that there isn't a dragonmarked half-elf from houst lyrandar in the party, they will have to make charisma checks to get the ship to do anything, and it will certainly run slower, in fits and starts, that the pursuing ship. hat will allow Rarwog to catch up and drop off his skiffs in a pattern that surrounds the stalled airship.

3. Captain Rarwog could pull some sort of trick. A stunt. Something to trick the fleeing airship into changing course and turning back.

4. Captain Rarwog could have an agent aboard the other airship, someone who could disable the captain -- poison him, or something like that.

There are a lot of ways to handle it, but if you don't want the skiffs to be super fast (and I don't think they should be), then you may find that it works better to come up with a more reasonable explaination for how Rarwog manages to catch up.

-rg
Mysticnurse
05-10-05, 09:58 AM Thank you all for your input. I've got a good idea of what I'll do: sorta a glom of each person's advice.
Thanks again!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mysticnurse 05-08-05, 08:16 PM	Hi gang! My group and I are playing Whispers of the Vampire's Blade. We're about to get to the section called "Sky Raiders to Starboard!" I am reviewing the material in detail since it's a bit of a complicated combat session. There are some things I noticed missing from the details of the section that I need help with: The four skiffs that fly over to Cloud's Destiny from Jade's Fury: how do they fly? do they have little baby elementals bound in them? The text of the adventure states that "These small, eight-person vessels are made of soarwood but don't have bound elementals to provide speed." So how do they stay aloft/fly? The ECS on p.127 just says that "ships made from soarwood skim effortlessly over the surface of the water. Soarwood is a necessary component of the airships and elemental galleons manufactured by...." But I still can't see how the skiffs fly!! Also, the skiff crew are not detailed for use in combat. I was thinking of giving them the same stats as the Cloud's Destiny crew. Whaddya think? Thanks to all in advance for your advice.
Uller999 05-08-05, 10:26 PM	well I wouldn't worry to much about the skiff construction unless your PCs ask and than yeah smaller elementals, an emedded dragon stone with fly, or a dragonstone with gust of wind and a rudder attached. Myself I was just gonna have the skiffs docs with the boat and for the one's still flying I'd have one of the emerald claw goons still "pilot" the thing. I guess it would depend on how you say the skiff works.
Salla 05-09-05, 03:14 AM	Huh ... I hadn't noticed that. Annoying, but minor ... I'm recalling an old adventure from a previous edition where there was, literally, no way into the final battle because whoever drew the map forgot to put a hallway and a door linking the last room to the rest of the dungeon. :)
ekomega 05-09-05, 04:06 PM	I figured the skiffs were connected to the elemental bound on the airship, and the skiffs could only travel so far from the airship. Maybe they have a dragonshard in them that is tethered somehow to the bound elemental, so they are powered but for limited range. It's never really explained. I would make the skiff crew weaker than other crew members because if they were meant for combat, they'd have their stats listed. They're probably like expert 1 or 2 or something. I think if you commandeer a skiff you're supposed to just push those guys over and do what you want.
Andrus_Shade 05-10-05, 06:47 AM	The skiffs are a real mystery. Since my party stole one to escape the ship i had to come up with stats. They are supposed to be short range vehicles according to the module, but they can catch up with an airship going 250ft/per round(30 mph). My solution was that they can hover and move slowly, then travel fast for short amounts of time. Here is what i came up with. Powers Levitate 0-20 feet at will (pilot can leave it at any height desired) fly spd 20ft at will. pilot bonus +4 (If no pilot at controls ship will fall to 20 ft) Fly fast 4 charges per day 1 charge 15mph for 2 hrs pilot bonus +0 2 charges 30 mph for 2 hrs. pilot bonus -2 4 charges 60 mph for 2 hrs. pilot bonus -4 this may be a bit too much, but it was the only way I thought they could catch up with the airship that is running away at full speed.
Streamweaver 05-10-05, 08:04 AM	- Same stats as Cloud Destiny's crew is sensible, or just use the average NPC charts from the DMG for the level you need. - I am ruling Soarwood itself can be enchanted to levitate, and this is how Airships (and the skiffs) stay aloft. The elementals are only used for propulsion in my interpretation so the Skiffs are rigged with actual small sails. Because of the low drag, skiffs are able to keep pace with the larger airships. The reason works well enough or me in my game anyway.
Kid SixXx 05-10-05, 09:15 AM	- - I am ruling Soarwood itself can be enchanted to levitate, and this is how Airships (and the skiffs) stay aloft. This is pretty much what I did. The Soarwood is enhanced with a small dragonshard containing Levitate and Feather Fall. The skiffs don't actually fly IMC: they levitate a safe distance from the airship and then slowly descend. Once the skiff reaches the ground, the magic ends permanently, thus preventing anyone from getting a free, motorboat-sized airship. Ultimately I didn't have the skiffs from Garrow's ship overtake the airship that the PC's were on by sheer speed. I ran the typical Grappling Hooks/ Boarding scenario and the pirates linked with the PC's airship long enough for the skiffs to reach it. Meanwhile most of the combat during the boarding took place in the form of missile fire, as the pirates kept the crew of the CD from attempting to cut themselves free of the enemy's grappling hooks.
Bluebrush 05-10-05, 09:26 AM	I think a temporary fly effect does sound good. Though I like the featherfalling boats idea. Also, a permanant levitate effect would be useful for airships I think. It'd explain how they can hover in place.
Radiating Gnome 05-10-05, 09:47 AM	The speed differential between Skiffs and the airships is a real problem. When I ran whisper I simply glossed over the skiffs, and my players didn't ask, but the stats I had in my head for the air skiffs were the stats for similar vehicles from the Sharn book -- which, as I recall, gave those ships a top speed of 2 mph. Hardly enough for the ship to be able to keep up. The problem is that I actually LIKE the slower air skiff model -- more like rowboats and launches from sailing ships, and less like fighters and aircraft from an aircraft carrier. But then how do you make the encounter work? The Air skiffs can't catch up to the fleeing airship, and there really isn't a good way for the one airship to catch up with the other. You could try a couple of different things, but they would require some pretty hefty revisions to the opening of the encounter. 1. Diving/Falling attacks from above. Certainly an air skiff could fall, as has been suggest by others, faster than an airship can move. That, however, sets a precedent for these sorts of diving attacks, and I don't know if you want that for your campaign. 2. Captain Rarwog and his minions find a way to stop the other airship. The airship only moves forward while there's a dragonmarked member of house Lyrandar at the helm (never mind that there isn't such a dragonmarked member of Rarwog's crew.). If the captain of the PC's vessel could be disabled somehow, the PCs would have to try to get to the flying bridge and take over the controls, and asusming that there isn't a dragonmarked half-elf from houst lyrandar in the party, they will have to make charisma checks to get the ship to do anything, and it will certainly run slower, in fits and starts, that the pursuing ship. hat will allow Rarwog to catch up and drop off his skiffs in a pattern that surrounds the stalled airship. 3. Captain Rarwog could pull some sort of trick. A stunt. Something to trick the fleeing airship into changing course and turning back. 4. Captain Rarwog could have an agent aboard the other airship, someone who could disable the captain -- poison him, or something like that. There are a lot of ways to handle it, but if you don't want the skiffs to be super fast (and I don't think they should be), then you may find that it works better to come up with a more reasonable explaination for how Rarwog manages to catch up. -rg
Mysticnurse 05-10-05, 09:58 AM	Thank you all for your input. I've got a good idea of what I'll do: sorta a glom of each person's advice. Thanks again!