Airship to Airship battle - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Airship to Airship battle

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Novacat
Aug 22, 2010 3:59:26 In my campaign, there's an upcoming story arc where the country in which the heroes reside will be under attack from a northern nation, and that nation's assault will take the form of a fleet of airships bypassing all of the normal defenses and flying straight to the capital. The party, and the people of their native country, are not familiar with airships; this is a new and strange thing to them, and they are ill-prepared to defend against it.

I want to have an extended airship battle, where the party boards one of the ships and must commandeer it to help defend the capital of their homeland. This will, I'm thinking, involve leaping from one airship to another below it, or climbing ropes tying two together while suspended hundreds of feet above the ground.

I'm not sure exactly what the scenario's exact objectives should be. I know I want it to be a single encounter; no time for even a short rest, but there won't be a large force of enemies all in one spot, either. There should be a goal, and a time limit, with the enemy forces only a blockade toward that goal.

I'm looking for suggestions on both encounter design and implementation ideas. My campaign is designed and run by the Rule of Cool, so I'm looking for something that grabs the attention and will be a change of pace from the usual "wet-erase marker on vinyl grid" setup that I normally have.
#2
legendary_badger
Aug 22, 2010 22:23:52 This actually sounds like a really exciting encounter.

Maybe you could have the PCs go on a plank extending from an airship so they can jump to another ship, but an enemy swings onto the plank from above and another enemy comes from behind, trapping the PCs in the center? And they'd have to keep their balance, as well, to avoid falling off.

Are these airships powered by magic, or something else?
#3
atomicbanana
Aug 23, 2010 10:08:26 I'd say if you're running with the Rule of Cool, then the most important thing to do is encourage your players to attempt the ridiculously awesome. Ergo, swinging off conviently placed ropes, assaulting the engines of the opposing ship then escaping at the last second, etc. The best ideas may come at the table itself, is all I'm saying.

And explosions are just plain cool.
#4
Ktulu
Aug 30, 2010 15:34:42 I ran an entire campaign using airships...they're awesome.

A few things - Be wary of push/slide effects. It's a long drop with a short stop.

The stuff I found exciting?

Multiple levels - Airship battles should be in 3d. Ships attacking from above, dropping along side, etc... If you have to, build columns to hold the ship tiles (whatever you use...gamemastery map packs has a great set of ship maps). above and below others, building a 3d map. Then use string or tiles, or paper to denote planks and other things that can be grabbed, swung, etc.. Really helps liven the whole encounter.

Movement - Don't leave the ships stationary. Every round or so, move them so many squares. People on planks need to make checks to grab on. Masts get stuck together and ripped apart, etc.. If it stays dynamic, it's awesome

Think about roles - Killing the guy at the wheel should make for a change in combat. Same as wiping out the ballista shooter. Think about what a person's doing on the ship and how/why their death will alter the encounter (seriously, an out of control airship crashing into another one is just loaded with awesome)

Hope that helps.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Novacat Aug 22, 2010 3:59:26	In my campaign, there's an upcoming story arc where the country in which the heroes reside will be under attack from a northern nation, and that nation's assault will take the form of a fleet of airships bypassing all of the normal defenses and flying straight to the capital. The party, and the people of their native country, are not familiar with airships; this is a new and strange thing to them, and they are ill-prepared to defend against it. I want to have an extended airship battle, where the party boards one of the ships and must commandeer it to help defend the capital of their homeland. This will, I'm thinking, involve leaping from one airship to another below it, or climbing ropes tying two together while suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. I'm not sure exactly what the scenario's exact objectives should be. I know I want it to be a single encounter; no time for even a short rest, but there won't be a large force of enemies all in one spot, either. There should be a goal, and a time limit, with the enemy forces only a blockade toward that goal. I'm looking for suggestions on both encounter design and implementation ideas. My campaign is designed and run by the Rule of Cool, so I'm looking for something that grabs the attention and will be a change of pace from the usual "wet-erase marker on vinyl grid" setup that I normally have.
#2 legendary_badger Aug 22, 2010 22:23:52	This actually sounds like a really exciting encounter. Maybe you could have the PCs go on a plank extending from an airship so they can jump to another ship, but an enemy swings onto the plank from above and another enemy comes from behind, trapping the PCs in the center? And they'd have to keep their balance, as well, to avoid falling off. Are these airships powered by magic, or something else?
#3 atomicbanana Aug 23, 2010 10:08:26	I'd say if you're running with the Rule of Cool, then the most important thing to do is encourage your players to attempt the ridiculously awesome. Ergo, swinging off conviently placed ropes, assaulting the engines of the opposing ship then escaping at the last second, etc. The best ideas may come at the table itself, is all I'm saying. And explosions are just plain cool.
#4 Ktulu Aug 30, 2010 15:34:42	I ran an entire campaign using airships...they're awesome. A few things - Be wary of push/slide effects. It's a long drop with a short stop. The stuff I found exciting? Multiple levels - Airship battles should be in 3d. Ships attacking from above, dropping along side, etc... If you have to, build columns to hold the ship tiles (whatever you use...gamemastery map packs has a great set of ship maps). above and below others, building a 3d map. Then use string or tiles, or paper to denote planks and other things that can be grabbed, swung, etc.. Really helps liven the whole encounter. Movement - Don't leave the ships stationary. Every round or so, move them so many squares. People on planks need to make checks to grab on. Masts get stuck together and ripped apart, etc.. If it stays dynamic, it's awesome Think about roles - Killing the guy at the wheel should make for a change in combat. Same as wiping out the ballista shooter. Think about what a person's doing on the ship and how/why their death will alter the encounter (seriously, an out of control airship crashing into another one is just loaded with awesome) Hope that helps.