lighting rail question [Archive] - Wizards Community

lighting rail question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Gath
03-14-05, 04:59 PM would my Pcs be abe to take weapons onto the lighting rail with them? or do you thinkl there taken and put away

also would there be any gaurds on the lighting rail?
Knuckles
03-14-05, 05:57 PM I played a game, where my character was riding the rail and he was not allowed to cary his weapons with him (the other PCs too). I think that this is more realistic, because the rail is supposed to be guarded and the only thing posing a threat would be people allowed to bring in weapons. Of course, the lighting rail was ambushed at a stop and some bad people tried to rob it. Good that we have a kalashtar psion and warforged fighter in the party, yes? :D
Gunrock
03-14-05, 06:48 PM would my Pcs be abe to take weapons onto the lighting rail with them? or do you thinkl there taken and put away

also would there be any gaurds on the lighting rail?
Official answer: Run it however best fits your games.

I haven't seen any official stuff on this point. I have seen 12 page threads that discuss it, so the real answer is up to you.

I'd say Yes and Yes, but that's me.
Cloud Divider
03-14-05, 06:58 PM would my Pcs be abe to take weapons onto the lighting rail with them? or do you thinkl there taken and put away

also would there be any gaurds on the lighting rail?
Depends on where they're sitting.

Let's presume you've got "First Class" and "Coach Class" seats. I figure that if you've got the cash for those 1st class seats (which are for all intents and purposes private rooms), you can do pretty much whatever you want. Weapons should probably be peace-tied or somesuch, but that'd mostly be ceremonial than anything else. Your travel papers may even specifically grant you the right to carry arms.

Consider what little good it does to take away your fighter's sword, when Mr. Arcane Spellcaster over there can toss off a Fireball if he were so inclined. Locking his spellbook shut doesn't really do any good, and it does zero for the Sorceror. Take away their spell component pouch? How hard would it be to hide a tiny pinch of <spell component x> on your person if you really wanted to? Are you going to take away a Cleric's holy symbol? While that may prevent him from Flamestriking someone in the bar, that probably also prevents him from healing anyone in the case of an emergency. You've got a roughly similar situation with Psions and the like.

The typical passenger, probably does check their weapons (assuming they carried or possessed them, which is not necessarily the case) into the cargo carts. And the typical passenger likely isn't a spellcaster, so that's largely irrelevant (though there'd be a few odd Adepts and Magewrights aboard).

I figure that yes, there are guards aboard - approximately 1 per cart (the cargo and luxury carts get two), plus one attendant/steward(ess) for every two passenger/lounge cars.

If you look at the lightning rail maps in WotVB, there's a little circle-x at the door of each train. It's not described what that symbol represents, so I assumed it was a guard. The placement seemed fairly logical for that (they're reasonably close in case of emergency, but they're not getting in your way, either).

All that said, it's still probably a Really Bad Idea to start trouble on the lightning rail. While the guards may only be Warrior 1 or 2's (maybe even the odd Ftr 2), you really don't want to make the Orien mad at you. Robbing one of their trains would most definitely do that.

Also, don't discount the fellow passengers on the train. You're fairly likely to have at least a few people aboard with PC classes that just might step in if things get ugly.

In fact, for a lightning rail encounter last session, I even went and used the Community Building rules to figure out what the passenger list looked like (I've got a little Excel generator to make it easy). You can then do some really fun word-association for social encounters on the train. Did the rolls come up with a Monk and a couple Adepts (plus gobs of Commoners)? You've now got a religious pilgrimage! How about an Expert 4, Aristocrat 2 and a Warrior 2? A young student on his way to the university, escorted by his tutor (Exp4) and his bodyguard (War2). Or it's a politician (Ari2), his aide-de-camp (Exp4), and bodyguard. A gaggle of Warriors and Fighters becomes a band of soldiers returning home after a tour of duty.

Though it might make a bit more sense to use a larger community to determine the highest level passenger but reduce the actual numbers to fit. This would better represent the train passengers generally being of a higher economic level.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gath 03-14-05, 04:59 PM	would my Pcs be abe to take weapons onto the lighting rail with them? or do you thinkl there taken and put away also would there be any gaurds on the lighting rail?
Knuckles 03-14-05, 05:57 PM	I played a game, where my character was riding the rail and he was not allowed to cary his weapons with him (the other PCs too). I think that this is more realistic, because the rail is supposed to be guarded and the only thing posing a threat would be people allowed to bring in weapons. Of course, the lighting rail was ambushed at a stop and some bad people tried to rob it. Good that we have a kalashtar psion and warforged fighter in the party, yes? :D
Gunrock 03-14-05, 06:48 PM	would my Pcs be abe to take weapons onto the lighting rail with them? or do you thinkl there taken and put away also would there be any gaurds on the lighting rail? Official answer: Run it however best fits your games. I haven't seen any official stuff on this point. I have seen 12 page threads that discuss it, so the real answer is up to you. I'd say Yes and Yes, but that's me.
Cloud Divider 03-14-05, 06:58 PM	would my Pcs be abe to take weapons onto the lighting rail with them? or do you thinkl there taken and put away also would there be any gaurds on the lighting rail? Depends on where they're sitting. Let's presume you've got "First Class" and "Coach Class" seats. I figure that if you've got the cash for those 1st class seats (which are for all intents and purposes private rooms), you can do pretty much whatever you want. Weapons should probably be peace-tied or somesuch, but that'd mostly be ceremonial than anything else. Your travel papers may even specifically grant you the right to carry arms. Consider what little good it does to take away your fighter's sword, when Mr. Arcane Spellcaster over there can toss off a Fireball if he were so inclined. Locking his spellbook shut doesn't really do any good, and it does zero for the Sorceror. Take away their spell component pouch? How hard would it be to hide a tiny pinch of <spell component x> on your person if you really wanted to? Are you going to take away a Cleric's holy symbol? While that may prevent him from Flamestriking someone in the bar, that probably also prevents him from healing anyone in the case of an emergency. You've got a roughly similar situation with Psions and the like. The typical passenger, probably does check their weapons (assuming they carried or possessed them, which is not necessarily the case) into the cargo carts. And the typical passenger likely isn't a spellcaster, so that's largely irrelevant (though there'd be a few odd Adepts and Magewrights aboard). I figure that yes, there are guards aboard - approximately 1 per cart (the cargo and luxury carts get two), plus one attendant/steward(ess) for every two passenger/lounge cars. If you look at the lightning rail maps in WotVB, there's a little circle-x at the door of each train. It's not described what that symbol represents, so I assumed it was a guard. The placement seemed fairly logical for that (they're reasonably close in case of emergency, but they're not getting in your way, either). All that said, it's still probably a Really Bad Idea to start trouble on the lightning rail. While the guards may only be Warrior 1 or 2's (maybe even the odd Ftr 2), you really don't want to make the Orien mad at you. Robbing one of their trains would most definitely do that. Also, don't discount the fellow passengers on the train. You're fairly likely to have at least a few people aboard with PC classes that just might step in if things get ugly. In fact, for a lightning rail encounter last session, I even went and used the Community Building rules to figure out what the passenger list looked like (I've got a little Excel generator to make it easy). You can then do some really fun word-association for social encounters on the train. Did the rolls come up with a Monk and a couple Adepts (plus gobs of Commoners)? You've now got a religious pilgrimage! How about an Expert 4, Aristocrat 2 and a Warrior 2? A young student on his way to the university, escorted by his tutor (Exp4) and his bodyguard (War2). Or it's a politician (Ari2), his aide-de-camp (Exp4), and bodyguard. A gaggle of Warriors and Fighters becomes a band of soldiers returning home after a tour of duty. Though it might make a bit more sense to use a larger community to determine the highest level passenger but reduce the actual numbers to fit. This would better represent the train passengers generally being of a higher economic level.